Fortunately for me, the Easter Vigil on April 4, 2026, was televised. There is a single camera, facing the altar from a viewpoint above the center aisle near the fifth pew. The screen was dark until the Pastor and the Pascal Candle approached the altar and the candles of the congregation has been shared.
= = =
What happened next caused me to post this news. The director of music, Jennifer Hegmann-Palmentieri sang the Exultet magnificently. The Exulet is a joyous proclamation with origins about the 7th century. It is rich in thoughts, including O Felix Culpa and the allusion to the toil of bees as described by Virgil.
- - -
From Holy Saturday 1951 to 1955, I attended lengthy Holy Saturday Masses at 6:30 a.m. when the celebrant mumbled nine readings facing the altar. In 1955, Pope Pius XII reintroduced the older nighttime Vigil, but still in Latin. It was joyous, as we young De La Salle Brothers had our freshman Catholic University classes in Troy, New York. The celebrant of this momentous change was Father Aidan Carr, OFM Conv.
---
The language of the Easter Vigil changed to English about 1970.
