(Matthew 28: 5-6)
This is the great truth of the Christian faith, proclaimed in the Gospel of the Easter Vigil. In the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the bells marked the announcement of Easter. This is the only place in the world where the Mother of all vigils takes place on the morning of Holy Saturday. This is a profound experience because Christ has risen here.
MARIA TERESA CARRIÒN
Spain
"I have visited the holy places many times, but this is my first visit during the holy week. This has been a unique experience, marvelous and intense for our heart and soul!”
The Easter Vigil, which was presided over by the Apostolic Administrator of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, Bishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, brought together priests, religious and pilgrims in a celebration full of symbolism.
The light leads the first part [of the celebration] with the blessing of the fire in front of the anointing stone, the engraving of a cross on the Paschal candle (with the letters alpha and omega) and its lighting, through a light taken directly from the Holy Sepulcher .
The faithful repeated the gesture with their candle.
The liturgy of the word leads the second part: through seven readings from the Old Testament followed by a responsorial psalm and a prayer, the Church traces the prophecies and the history of the people of God, until the announcement of the resurrection.
The reading of the Gospel takes place in front of the door of the Edicule and introduces the third part [of the celebration]: the blessing of the water, followed by the renewal of the baptismal promises and the sprinkling of holy water, to symbolize the new life in Christ.
The Easter Sunday Mass was also presided over by the apostolic administrator and it took place in the Holy Sepulcher.
This year, due to the different calendars, the Catholic Easter coincided with the Orthodox Palm Sunday. This is the only place in the world where celebrations of different rituals take place simultaneously.
During the homily, Archbishop Pizzaballa stressed that wars and political conflicts that despise life, actually show the consequence and not the origin of death. The shadow of death is the cynical use of power that decides the fate of entire peoples and promotes wars. However, today we announce a hope that gives us the strength to come out of our sepulchers.
Br. VALDIR NUNES, ofm
St. Savior Monastery
"We should not be passive in this story, on the contrary, we should promote concrete actions of dialogue and reconciliation.
But above all, we should build a more fraternal, just and supportive world, so that it can be a reflection of Jesus' desire: that the kingdom of God may spread throughout the world.”
At the end of the holy mass, the story of the resurrection of the Gospels was proclaimed in four different points around the Edicule of the Holy Sepulcher, to communicate the announcement of Easter to the four corners of the world: an announcement to the world from the place that has changed the history of humanity. Because that tomb, in fact, is empty.
