About this Event
If you have your choice of Easter services to attend, this is the one you should attend.
The Easter Vigil is intended as the first (and arguably, the primary) celebration of Easter in the Book of Common Prayer (pp. 284-95). It is also known as the Great Vigil.
The service begins in darkness, sometime between sunset on Holy Saturday and sunrise on Easter, and consists of four parts:
- The Service of Light with the kindling of new fire, lighting the Paschal candle, and the Exsultet
- The Service of Lessons with readings from the Hebrew Scriptures interspersed with psalms, canticles, and prayers
- Christian Initiation (Holy Baptism) or the Renewal of Baptismal Vows
- The Eucharist
Through this liturgy, the Book of Common Prayer recovers an ancient practice of keeping the Easter feast. Believers would gather in the hours of darkness to hear scripture and offer prayer ending at dawn on Easter. This night-long service of prayerful watching anticipated the baptisms that would come at first light and the Easter Eucharist.
Easter was the primary baptismal occasion for the early church to the practical exclusion of all others. This practice linked the meanings of Christ’s dying and rising to the understanding of baptism.
- 9:00 pm to 11:30 pm, In-person and on-line Great Vigil of Easter
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Church of the Redeemer, 6210 Northeast 181st Street, Kenmore, United States
USD 0.00
