I understand that the beautiful Easter Vigil ceremony is very ancient. How old is it and how did it begin?
The Easter Vigil ceremony is indeed ancient. It goes back to Apostolic times, where it was modelled on the Jewish Passover vigil, which is described in Exodus 12. Christians kept prayerful watch on Holy Saturday night, awaiting the Resurrection of Christ.
From the fourth century on, the Easter Vigil was celebrated especially by lighting numerous lamps and candles so that churches were ablaze with light. The ceremony was called by such titles as the “Mother of All Holy Vigils”, the “Great Service of Light”, and the “Night of Radiant Splendour”.
The Christian historian Eusebius says that the Emperor Constantine (331AD) “transformed the night of the sacred vigil into the brilliance of day by lighting throughout the whole city [Milan] pillars of wax, while burning lamps illuminated every house, so that this nocturnal celebration was rendered brighter than the brightest day” (De Vita Constant., IV, 22). St Gregory of Nyssa (394AD), in one of his Easter sermons, spoke of “this glowing night which links the splendour of burning lamps to the morning rays of the sun, thus producing continuous daylight without any darkness” (Oratio IV in S. Pascha).
In addition to the element of light, the early Christians also lived the vigil through prayer. Francis X. Weiser, in his Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs, says that the custom of spending the Easter Vigil in prayer seems to date from the time of the apostles. In the third century Tertullian speaks of prayer per noctem (throughout the night) and even earlier writings indicate that the early Christians spent the night in prayer together.
In the early centuries the vigil service began with the lighting of the Paschal Candle, a symbol of Christ. The various hymns that accompanied the lighting of the candle were in use from the end of the fourth century. One of the best known, entitled Inventor rutilis and written by Prudentius (405AD), a layman and government official of the Roman Empire, says: “Eternal God, O Lord of Light, who have created day and night, the sun has set, and shadows deep, now over land and waters creep; but darkness must not reign today, grant us the light of Christ, we pray.”
The hymn that is sung today alongside the Easter candle, the Exultet, is also of ancient origin, the earliest manuscript dating from the seventh or eighth century. After the blessing of the candle, a prayer service was held which included reading passages from the Bible, especially from Exodus and other Old Testament texts, followed by the recitation of psalms, antiphons, and prayers. The service was long and could last all night.
Toward midnight the bishop, clergy and catechumens went in procession to the baptismal font, a large basin built in a structure outside the church, where the baptismal water was blessed with the prayers and ceremonies we use today. An interesting feature was that when the people renounced Satan, they faced west, the direction of the setting sun and of darkness, and when they professed their faith in Christ, they faced east, the direction of the rising sun, of Christ, the Sun of Justice.
Then the catechumens, who had been preparing for baptism, took off their ornaments and jewellery and stepped into the water along with the bishop, who baptised them one by one. After being baptised they were anointed, as they are today. Then they put on flowing white linen garments which they wore for all the services throughout the week. Towards dawn on Easter Sunday, the vigil concluded with the customary praying of the litanies and the celebration of the Sacrifice of the Mass, at the hour when Christ would have risen from the dead.
The lighting of the fire, with which the Easter vigil begins today, is of slightly later origin. The Irish bishops and monks, who took the faith to the continent in the sixth and seventh centuries, brought with them the custom instituted by St Patrick of lighting big bonfires outside the church on Holy Saturday as a symbol of Christ, the light of the world. In the early eighth century the custom of the blessing of the fire was incorporated into the liturgy of Rome.
So, yes, the Easter Vigil is truly ancient, dating back to the early centuries of the Church.
