9:00 pm THE GREAT VIGIL OF EASTER (BAS)
Lighting of the New Fire
Entry of the Paschal Candle
Declaration of The Exsultet
Candlelight Vigil: Old Testament readings and Psalms
The First Communion of Easter
Presider & Preacher The Reverend Keith Joyce

Holy Saturday, during the day, brings Holy Week to a close. That seeming forgotten, silent day reminds us that Jesus did lie dead and abandoned in the cold tomb after his death on the cross.

EASTER EVE brings us to the climactic and most significant service of the whole Church year in The Great Vigil of Easter. We arrive in darkness which is then broken by the lighting of the new fire which is passed to the congregation’s candles as the large Paschal Candle is processed in from the new fire. The glorious words of The Exsultet celebrating the power of the light of Christ over darkness are declared immediately. We then, in Vigil, listen to Old Testament readings interspersed with prayer and Psalms to mark the history of God’s redeeming work.

Finally, we celebrate the first glorious Communion of Easter to mark God’s great victory over sin and death in the fact that Jesus has risen from the dead and the tomb is now empty. We then leave in the joy of the new light of Easter. Jesus has risen from the dead and he is alive today! The glory and power of Christ’s crucifixion bursts out and into the world from the open door of the now useless grave.