Today is Holy Saturday and tonight's Easter Vigil will be the highpoint of the Easter Triduum. A Tridum (latin) refers to a three day period of fasting, prayer, and worship leading to a feast day.... in this case, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday, leading to the feast and celebration of Easter Day.

There are a few points of focus for tonight's Easter Vigil.

The first is the Paschal Mystery. Paschal comes from a Hebrew word meaning "passing over" and the root of the word "Pasch" means Lamb. The center of Jesus's work on earth is seen to be the Paschal Mystery... He is the passover Lamb who secures a way for His people to passover from sin and death to holiness and eternal life. It can also simply refer to The Passion of Christ... His trial, death, and resurrection.

That's a simplified version, of course, but enough.

The second point is celebrating Jesus as the Light of the World.

The Easter Vigil begins with the church in darkness. The priest (and other servants of the altar) stand in the rear of the nave as the great Pascal candle is lit and carried down the center aisle. Three times the priest halts his journey and proclaims that the Light of the World is come. The great Paschal candle remains before the altar until Ascension day (40 days after Easter) and from it all the other candles are lit.

The symbolism is, that all of creation has groaned in the darkness of sin and misery and alienation waiting for the Light of the World to come. Likewise, all of creation is groaning over His death and suffering and is awaiting His resurrection.

During the Vigil a fascinating reading occurs which tells a series of stories about how God in His great love interacted with humankind throughout history in preparation for the coming and redemptive work of His son, Jesus Christ.

The Vigil is a combination of celebration and reconciliation. Many people choose to be baptized this night and all are invited to renew their own personal baptism vows.

The great Exultet -- a marvelous poem praising God for His light and the coming resurrection is sung.

This is the holy night when Jesus passes over from death into Resurrection Life and the Vigil is a preparation, a waiting, for Easter morning.

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We were given two hands to hold, two eyes to see, two ears to listen & two legs to walk. But why were we given only one heart?
The other heart was given to another for us to find.