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Barnes in Commonthe magazine of Churches Together in Barnes
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The Paschal Candleby Fr Anthony Logan
The entire sacramental life of the church, through which Jesus is made present to us, has its origin in his sacrificial death and his resurrection. Without Good Friday and Easter there would be no basis for any liturgy of the new covenant. The Easter Vigil is the prayer of his people standing ready for the arrival of the bridegroom. The Easter or Paschal Candle has a prominent place in the sanctuary, representing Christ, the true Light of the World. It stands there throughout the fifty days from Easter to Pentecost, testimony to the promise of Jesus to be with his people until the end of time. As the Vigil begins, before the candle is carried in procession from the entrance of the church the priest blesses it, incorporating the words : 'Christ yesterday and today, the beginning and the end, Alpha and Omega : all time belongs to him, and all the ages, to him be glory and power through every age for ever. Amen.' While reciting this he inscribes on the candle firstly a cross, then the letters alpha and omega, and the date. Five small grains of incense in metal containers are then inserted into the candle in the form of a cross. These represent the five wounds of Jesus as revealed in his risen body to the apostles : 'By his holy and glorious wounds may Christ our Lord guard us and keep us. Amen.' The candle is then lit and carried in procession to the sanctuary. On the way the deacon or priest sings 'Christ our Light' and the people answer 'Thanks be to God.' The entire congregation have their candles lit from it - for we have been told 'You are the light of the world ... let your light shine in the sight of men ...' The Easter proclamation (the Exultet) sings of the beauty of the holy night that saw Christ rising from the tomb. No evangelist describes the event, for when the first disciples come at dawn the tomb is already empty. There is wonderful imagery in this hymn. In praising God we hear how this night was prefigured in the Exodus, but now the true Lamb is slain, breaking the bonds of death. We hear of Adam's sin - the felix culpa, without which we should never have known such a Redeemer - that to ransom us slaves God gave away his Son. We are called to rejoice in the night that brings reconciliation with God. The hymn was pruned a little in the reforms of the 1960s - I can remember when there was included an acknowledgement of the efforts of the bees in producing the wax for this candle. As the baptismal water is blessed later in the Vigil service the candle is lowered into the water with a prayer that the Spirit of God may come down upon the water, so that those who are buried with Christ in baptism may rise with him to newness of life. All the days of Lent are directed to the celebration of Easter, whether in preparation for baptism or recalling our baptism and observing penance for our sins. Now that time has passed and we proclaim 'the Lord is risen - surrexit Dominus vere, alleluia'. |
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