Easter Vigil 2011 - when to start?

[John Ainslie]

Easter being on April 24 this year - almost as late as it can be - it is necessary to review the time at which the Easter Vigil should start.

Sunset in London is at 8.13 pm, in Cardiff at 8.25, in Glasgow at 8.41 and in Aberdeen at 8.39 (computed figures).

Civil twilight - the period during which the horizon is clearly visible, and terrestrial objects are easily perceptible, without artificial light - lasts about 40 minutes in Britain.

'The entire celebration of the Easter Vigil takes place at night. It should not begin before nightfall; it should end before daybreak on Sunday.' (Roman Missal, Easter Vigil, para 3 and elsewhere)

Many parishes have been used to starting the Easter Vigil at 8 pm, or even earlier. I suggest that, if the Vigil "on this most holy night" is to achieve its desired symbolism of light v. darkness, it should not start before 9 pm.

It is not too early to be planning for this.

[nazard]

We discussed this last year:

http://www.ssg.org.uk/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1048

Perhaps this year we might come to a conclusion.

The link I posted to the Cambridge University Chaplaincy is probably dead by now, but they held their vigil at 3:00 am.

[lesley wright]

What is one to do when the PP thinks that because the parish church is surrounded by trees it will be dark enough to hold the Easter Vigil at 7.30 - and isn't prepared to be at all flexible about it?

[Nick Baty]

Watch a few Ealing Comedies (and a couple of Carry-Ons) for suggestions of how to keep the PP locked in his house for an extra hour or so! With our PP, we find the best method is to make him think that whatever you want to do was actually his idea!

[Mithras]

But there is the practical point to consider - that many people would not feel comfortable about coming out after dark, especially on the Saturday night of a holiday weekend. For the same reason a marked decline in Christmas Midnight Mass attendance has been noted over the years....

M

[Nick Baty]

True. But it's also something of a Catch 22 (never sure if I'm using that term correctly).
Start too early and the fire and candle become meaningless.

I do know of three parishes (not saying where) I've worked in where they had all the OT readings first, then went out to light the fire! It certainly the gap between dusk and dawn but doesn't exactly fulfill the idea of recalling salvation history in the light of the risen Lord!

[musicus]

Yes, a lot of that shuffling and rearranging went on at one time, and Rome stamped on it eventually (I forget the reference). Rightly so, too: it works best as it is, but the symbolism (darkness, light, fire, water) needs to be respected and not compromised (e.g. by daylight).

[Nick Baty]

And it's of vital importance that I apologise for the missing "O" in the second line of my previous post!
Oh! The shame! The shame! The shame!

[musicus]

Don't worry, Nick, I fixed it for you.

[Nick Baty]