Easter 2026

On the evening of Easter Vigil, we remember the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead, and the Church communicates to us in a very deep way with the Church’s symbolic language. The three symbols that will help our understanding of all that happens on Easter Vigil are: The Light, Water and The New Song – The Easter Alleluia.

In the echoes of darkness as we wait for the arrival of the Easter Candle, it is comforting to know that God is aware of how dark we feel — how dark our nights are, how sin has created a veil of darkness in our life and how we live in darkness every day without noticing it. As we overflow in this dark night, God allows His fire of love to create a flickering flame, which is the light of Christ. That flicker begins to spread out, passing from person to person throughout the Church in the darkness and silence. This exemplifies how God's grace moves out among His people extending the light, warmth and hope of His grace to all, thus illuminating all our surroundings. Even though this might be very beautiful light, it is still only a dim reflection of the glory that is waiting for us at the banquet of His Kingdom.

When the lit Paschal candle is dipped into the baptismal water three times during the Easter Vigil, it visually illustrates the joining of water and light. Water symbolizes all of Earth’s true wealth; while light represents all that sustains life from Heaven. When the candle and the water are combined, the newly blessed water exists in a different state than before. Thus, the Easter Vigil indicates that a stream of resurrection life that is greater than anything on Earth flowed (along with blood) from Christ's pierced side when He was nailed to the cross. Water and blood flowed from Christ’s side; therefore, baptismal water comes from His side. People who are baptized into (physically immersed in) this stream receive new life. When the Paschal candle is immersed in the baptismal water at the Easter Vigil, a symbolic union of Heaven and Earth is formed, creating the development of God's New Creation—the offspring of the Resurrection.

The Easter song is the third Easter symbol and is a solemn recitation of the word Alleluia. Of course, we won't recite the complete song at this time nor will we do so with the same perfection we will achieve when we will be in the New Jerusalem, a place of complete renewal, where the saints of God will gather together to share in the eternal celebration. But we still will express the joy in our hearts through the Easter song because it is sung as an expression of our emotion and is a way for us to leave behind the ordinary and express all of the emotions that come from our innermost being rather than just from our throat. Additionally, music helps us to recognize the truth of ourselves and enables us to connect with those who have shared this deep and joyful experience of praising God.

These symbols convey the essence of life—indeed, they signify eternal life. They lead us through the three phases of our faith journey.

The illustration of light in the middle of darkness represents the journey we all take searching for that flicker of truth, the final path upon which we can walk. What is that light? Christ, the hope of the world, who shows us the way as we pass through our lives of faith.

The symbol of water conveys the abundance of God’s grace, representing the profound unity and unbreakable connection of baptism that transforms us into the Church, the Body of Christ on earth.

In the end, the emblem of the new song represents the fullness of joy to come —- the complete, pure and eternal joy of everlasting happiness to be bestowed upon us. The promise was given to the thief on the Cross; and when we also come to the end of our earthly journey, it will be marked by an incredible radiance and an abundance of overflowing, fruitful blessings to which we have been graciously invited (without any work of our own) as guests at the wedding banquet of the Lamb in His Heavenly Kingdom and with all the Saints who have gone before us, sealed with a sign of their faith in God. Indeed, we are praying with those who, this night, shall become our brothers and sisters in Christ through the water of Baptism and the oil of the sacrament of Confirmation.

His Eminence, Cardinal Arthur Roche

Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.

Member of the Pontifical Commission for the State of Vatican City.