This is the most blessed and most joyful night of the year as we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection.
The Easter Vigil service begins in darkness. It is the darkness of the closed up tomb where Jesus' body lay on Holy Saturday. The stone has been rolled in front of it. No light enters. It is utterly dark. Jesus' torn and beaten body is already beginning to stink-the women are planning to bring spices to help preserve his body in the morning. But now, it is Saturday, in the dark, airless, deathly still tomb. It is not a pleasant place to be.