by Bishop James Conley
At the beginning of the Easter Vigil, the Church chants the ancient hymn proclaiming the Resurrection of Christ called the Exsultet. The Exsultet – named after its first word in Latin “Exsultet” which means “Rejoice” – is an ancient hymn of praise.
It has its origins in the 4th and 5th centuries in the churches of Spain, Italy and France, and was only slowly adopted into the liturgy of the Church of Rome. The text we use today seems to have been written at some time between the 5th and 7th centuries. Sometimes known as the Laus Cerei – the “praise for the candle” – it is a long prayer of blessing, most properly sung by a deacon or, if there is no deacon, the priest himself. In the modern Roman Rite, it has become known as the Praeconium Paschale – the “Easter proclamation.”
After exhorting all Creation and Mother Church to raise a song of praise, the Exsultet, takes the form of a Preface, such as is used in the Eucharistic liturgy. This sung prayer recounts the wonders of the saving work of Christ, whose new and risen light, shining in the darkness, the Paschal Candle itself represents.
Again and again, the prayer tells of Christ’s work, which comes to completion on this night of Easter, drawing much of its symbolism from the Old Testament. For “this is the night” when Christ paid Adam’s debt to the eternal Father with his own blood. This is the night of the Passover, when Christ, the true Lamb, was slain to save Israel from slavery. This is the night when Christ, the pillar of fire, led his people through the Red Sea and the desert from slavery to freedom. This is the night when Adam’s fault won for the world so great a redeemer, when God gave his own Son to ransom a slave.
Within this ancient hymn of praise, we hear the line: “The sanctifying power of this night dispels wickedness, washes faults away, restores innocence to the fallen and joy to mourners, drives out hatred, fosters concord, and brings down the mighty.”
It is not an overstatement to say that we live in a very dark and broken world. But we, as Christians, possess the powerful virtue of hope. And this hope is what we celebrate at Easter. Jesus Christ, Crucified and Risen, is alive! Sin and death have been destroyed. Our hope, even amid the woes of this world, is profoundly revealed in the Resurrection of Christ.
The truth of the resurrection dispels wickedness, as the darkness of evil cannot coexist with the Eternal Light of Christ. It washes our faults away and restores our innocence after we return to our Lord in confession, the sacrament of mercy. This gives us joy amid sorrow, as we see our future destiny in our own promised Resurrection. The truth of Jesus’ victory over death drives out hatred and is the only thing that can bring peace in our world.
The last part of the Exsultet takes the form of a prayer of blessing and consecration. The Paschal Candle, a fire divided but undimmed, is made a solemn offering to God. In the very last phrase, we hear that Christ, the true Morning Star, will find the candle – the flame of faith – still burning, that same Christ whose risen light shines peacefully on all humanity.
The Exsultet is thus a theological introduction to the whole of the Easter Vigil, a sort of “overture” to the drama of salvation which culminates in Christ’s resurrection. The Paschal Candle, from which all the lights in the Church are lit, and which remains lit through Eastertide, symbolizes the light of the Risen Christ. But perhaps most tellingly, it is bathed in that light that we hear in the readings at the Vigil. It is by that new light of Christ that we interpret all those Old and New Testament readings – from the narrative of Creation to the finding of the Empty Tomb.
The actual graces produced by the Exsultet are acts of faith in the Resurrection of Christ, and in its re-enactment in the Easter celebration, proclaimed and described in such fervent, glowing colors; acts, moreover, of expectant hope, of reverence and admiration for the Easter mysteries; acts of gratitude for the charity and mercy of God, for so great a Sacrifice, for so great a glory merited for us by the Redeemer.
Yes, brothers and sisters, Jesus is alive, and we have every reason to rejoice. He is alive, and the evil in our world is being driven out by this truth which has “banished the darkness of sin.”
May you find a renewed hope this Easter Season, and may it strengthen you to be ever more faithful to him.
Exult, let them exult, the hosts of heaven,
exult, let Angel ministers of God exult,
let the trumpet of salvation
sound aloud our mighty King's triumph!
Be glad, let earth be glad, as glory floods her,
ablaze with light from her eternal King,
let all corners of the earth be glad,
knowing an end to gloom and darkness.
Rejoice, let Mother Church also rejoice,
arrayed with the lightning of his glory,
let this holy building shake with joy,
filled with the mighty voices of the peoples.
(Therefore, dearest friends,
standing in the awesome glory of this holy light,
invoke with me, I ask you,
the mercy of God almighty,
that he, who has been pleased to number me,
though unworthy, among the Levites,
may pour into me his light unshadowed,
that I may sing this candle's perfect praises.)
(V. The Lord be with you.
R. And with your spirit.)
V. Lift up your hearts.
R. We lift them up to the Lord.
V. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
R. It is right and just.
It is truly right and just, with ardent love of mind and heart
and with devoted service of our voice,
to acclaim our God invisible, the almighty Father,
and Jesus Christ, our Lord, his Son, his Only Begotten.
Who for our sake paid Adam's debt to the eternal Father,
and, pouring out his own dear Blood,
wiped clean the record of our ancient sinfulness.
These, then, are the feasts of Passover,
in which is slain the Lamb, the one true Lamb,
whose Blood anoints the doorposts of believers.
This is the night,
when once you led our forebears, Israel's children,
from slavery in Egypt
and made them pass dry-shod through the Red Sea.
This is the night
that with a pillar of fire
banished the darkness of sin.
This is the night
that even now, throughout the world,
sets Christian believers apart from worldly vices
and from the gloom of sin,
leading them to grace
and joining them to his holy ones.
This is the night,
when Christ broke the prison-bars of death
and rose victorious from the underworld.
Our birth would have been no gain,
had we not been redeemed.
O wonder of your humble care for us!
O love, O charity beyond all telling,
to ransom a slave you gave away your Son!
O truly necessary sin of Adam,
destroyed completely by the Death of Christ!
O happy fault
that earned so great, so glorious a Redeemer!
O truly blessed night,
worthy alone to know the time and hour
when Christ rose from the underworld!
This is the night
of which it is written:
The night shall be as bright as day,
dazzling is the night for me,
and full of gladness.
The sanctifying power of this night
dispels wickedness, washes faults away,
restores innocence to the fallen, and joy to mourners,
drives out hatred, fosters concord, and brings down the mighty.
On this, your night of grace, O holy Father,
accept this candle, a solemn offering,
the work of bees and of your servants’ hands,
an evening sacrifice of praise,
this gift from your most holy Church.
But now we know the praises of this pillar,
which glowing fire ignites for God's honor,
a fire into many flames divided,
yet never dimmed by sharing of its light,
for it is fed by melting wax,
drawn out by mother bees
to build a torch so precious.
O truly blessed night,
when things of heaven are wed to those of earth,
and divine to the human.
Therefore, O Lord,
we pray you that this candle,
hallowed to the honor of your name,
may persevere undimmed,
to overcome the darkness of this night.
Receive it as a pleasing fragrance,
and let it mingle with the lights of heaven.
May this flame be found still burning
by the Morning Star:
the one Morning Star who never sets,
Christ your Son,
who, coming back from death's domain,
has shed his peaceful light on humanity,
and lives and reigns for ever and ever.
R. Amen.
Excerpt from the English translation of theRoman Missal© 2010, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation. All rights reserved. USCCB.org
