It is the most important night of the year for Christians. There is no light, everything is dark… Christ had died…in this dramatic setting, Pope Leo XIV arrived to his first Easter Vigil as pontiff…
After the blessing of the Easter fire, he lit the Paschal candle, which is made of 100% natural beeswax—a powerful symbol of the Resurrection of Christ and the light of faith.
From this flame, all the candles in the church are lit. And now, moving from darkness to light, the message is clear: Christ is alive.
At the end of the entrance procession, the Exsultet—the Easter proclamation—began.
The Easter Vigil is known as the “mother of all vigils.” Pope Leo XIV explained the reason for this in his homily at the vigil Mass.
POPE LEO XIV
Dear brothers and sisters, this is a Vigil full of light, the most ancient in the Christian tradition, called the “mother of all vigils.” In it we relive the memorial of the victory of the Lord of life over death and the underworld.
The Gospel recounts how Mary Magdalene and the 'other Mary', as she is called, arrived at the tomb, expecting to find it sealed by a huge stone. Instead they became the first Christian witnesses of the Resurrection.
The pope pointed out that this stone represents sin, which confines and separates us from God. He compared it to the world today, where there are stones that seem immovable.
POPE LEO XIV
Some weigh upon the human heart—such as distrust, fear, selfishness, and resentment; others, as a consequence of these inner ones, break the bonds between us—such as war, injustice, and division among peoples and nations. Let us not allow ourselves to be paralyzed by them!
As tradition dictates for the the Easter Vigil, Pope Leo XIV then baptized ten catechumens from the Diocese of Rome, as well as from Korea, Great Britain, and Portugal.
