Eberbach: The light as a symbol for new life – Eberbach

By Barbara Nolten-Casado

Eberbach. Easter is the oldest and most important festival in Christianity. It is about nothing less than the resurrection of Jesus from death to new life, combined with the hope for all people to participate in this resurrection. So it is not surprising that the liturgy of the Easter Vigil is full of rituals and symbols that want to suggest the incomprehensible. In an interview with this newspaper, the head of the Neckartal-Hoher Odenwald pastoral care unit, Edith Stein, Pastor Pavo Ivkic, explains the importance of the various elements of the Catholic Easter liturgy.

> The Easter fire: The Easter vigil is opened by the “light celebration”. First the Easter fire is lit in front of the church. The element of fire occurs only once in the liturgy, namely on Easter vigil. In pre-Christian times fire stood as a symbol for the sun, which enables life through its warmth and light, but in Christianity it becomes a symbol behind which the glory of the Lord shines. “Bless this new fire that lights up the night and kindle in us the longing for you, the immortal light …” the priest prays to God.

> Die Osterkerze: It is the symbol of the risen Christ as “the light of the world”. It is adorned with a cross and the Greek letters Alpha and Omega as well as the current year, as a sign that Christ is “the beginning and the end”. “To be is time and eternity”, it says in the corresponding interpretive words. As a sign of the wounds of Christ, five red wax nails and five grains of incense are pressed above, below, right, left and in the middle of the cross. Then the priest lights the candle with the blessed fire and moves with it into the dark church with the three shouts of “Lumen Christi” – “the light of Christ”. The candles in the church are lit by their light, the light is passed on to the candles brought by the believers. Some take it home and bring it to the graves of relatives, especially where the Easter Vigil is celebrated early on Sunday morning. In the Exsultet, the great song of thanks for the light of the Easter candle made from precious beeswax, it is said that Jesus Christ is the light that shone anew in his resurrection.

> The readings: In the second part of the Easter Vigil, the word service, three to seven readings from the Old and two from the New Testament are given. This shows the continuity in God’s history with his people. It begins with the creation of the world, continues with the exodus of the Israelites from bondage in Egypt and with God’s covenant with his people. After the last Old Testament reading, the Gloria sounds, “Glory to God”. In the letter of the apostle Paul to the Romans and in the following Easter Gospel it becomes clear: Christ died once and for all and rose again into divine life.

> The consecration of the baptismal water: In baptism we symbolically plunge into death with Christ and rise with him to a new life freed from original guilt. That is why it has been the custom since the first centuries after Christ to baptize people who have prepared for admission to the Church on Easter Vigil. For this, the baptismal water is first blessed. The priest lowers the Easter candle into the water with the words: “Through your beloved son, the power of the Holy Spirit descend into this water …”

> The Eucharistic Celebration: In the last part of the Easter Vigil celebration we come into contact with the risen One again. The signs of bread and wine make it clear: Resurrection affects the whole person – with body and blood. But it is not a matter of a simple resuscitation of the dead body, but of a transformed new creation. The body has become a seed that rises to new life.

–