Vigils

The Easter Vigil

Very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre,
bringing the spices which they had prepared and they found not the body of the Lord Jesus.

Luke 24:1,3
















The Christian symbolism of Easter bunnies might seem pretty obscure, and it's easy to suppose that the rabbits are simply a pagan symbol of fecundity taken over by Christianity. Even if so, bear in mind that the ancestors of pre-Christian (even pre-historic) pagans at some time knew about the true God ­ Adam and Eve and Noah, for example. Pagan beliefs about God's action in the world and about man's true destiny were far from the truth, of course, but many things can be understood through basic human intelligence ­ and that intelligence comes from God. The coming of spring is a cause for rejoicing for everybody, whether Christians or non-Christians.

The Easter bunny is actually a pretty good symbol of God's plan for his creatures (including humans) to "be fruitful and multiply," and of the renewed exuberance of all creatures in cooperating with God in creating new life. (The Easter bunny might seem to be more a metaphor for God's plan for His creation in Genesis than in the Gospels.)

The Easter egg is a symbol of the Resurrection. The shell represents the tomb which could not contain the Resurrected Lord.

(from: Women of Faith and Family)














So, tonight will be one of eager anticipation ... for some as we await in remembrance of the Hope that the resurrection brought to the world. For some, awaiting the arrival of E.B. (Easter Bunny). For some ... both! For us, Sarah is testing the waters as she enters the "age of not believing" in the myths that hold fast in childhood. Her question of the week was "Mom, is the Easter Bunny real?" She already knows about the Tooth Fairy, accepting that truth with some tears. This was a struggle with guilt for me, thinking about how to answer her question. Instead of doing it directly, we read about the traditions of the "Easter Bunny" and Eastertime according to various legends. (Her friend Mary at school had confided to Sarah that she had seen her own Mom filling baskets last year.) So, Sarah concluded that the Easter Bunny was not *real*. Many years ago, I told the children that I put the baskets out and also filled them with some things that *I* wanted to give them at Easter. That eased the pressure for me of then only having moderate guilt and made it much easier to purchase items and have them in the house, should the kids happen to come upon them. (However, some of those eggs and certainly the carrot crumbs and chocolate bunny paw print on the table were a mystery to me!) So, in essence I left it up to Sarah if she wanted to believe or not. The myth of a magical bunny might be true. We have had some odd things happen around Easter (last year ... we found some filled plastic eggs that I will swear to this day *I* *did* *not* place on the window sill.)

:o)