Easter Vigil & Paschal Candle

The liturgical service held on the night of Holy Saturday, in which a new fire is kindled, the Paschal (Easter) candle is lit and processed into a darkened church, and the Exsultet (a sung proclamation of the Resurrection) is chanted before baptismal rites and the first Eucharist of Easter. The Gallican Exsultet and Paschal candle rite were adopted by Rome by the 8th century, entering the Gregorian Sacramentary via Alcuin's supplement. Over the medieval period the full nocturnal Vigil was progressively advanced until it was celebrated in the morning of Holy Saturday, effectively dissociating it from its original nighttime character. Pope Pius XII restored the Vigil to its nocturnal form on an experimental basis in 1951 (decree Dominicae resurrectionis vigiliam) and made it permanent via the Holy Week reform of 1955 (Maxima Redemptionis); it is now the normative form of the Roman Rite and is observed across Anglican, Lutheran, and other Western traditions.