When did the lights come on at your Vigil?

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Phemie

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Wondering when the lights came back on at your Vigil.

When I went in last night and asked when we were going to turn the lights on nobody seemed to know. I consulted the Roman Missal and the rubrics show that the lights are supposed to come on after the third “Light of Christ. Thanks be to God.” so before the Exsultet!

When I asked Fr. he said we’d go with the rubrics this year but that we might not next year and we might revert to only lighting up the church at the Gloria as we had done for the last several years.

Now I know that many were really happy to be able to follow the readings in their missals and I find that it makes perfect sense to turn on the lights when you’ve just proclaimed light. But some were heard to comment that they preferred the pageantry of putting the lights on at the Gloria.
 
At the Gloria. I think people enjoy the extended period of candlelight and the drama of the lights coming on with the bells at the Gloria, although I realize the rubrics say otherwise.
 
The Exsultet was chanted by candlelight, the worship space lights came on at the beginning of the Old Testament readings.
 
We compromised. Some of the lights came on according to the rubrics, the rest came on at the Gloria. So technically it was done according to the rubrics.

We have our Vigil early–at 7pm, so there is not really any darkness until we are about halfway through.
 
The lights in the Sanctuary came on after the Exsultant. There was just enough light to follow in the missal if you really tried (and I was near the back). All the lights came on during the Gloria. It was beautiful as always.
 
At the Gloria. I have never known it any differently. I’ve been to Easter Vigils in many different parishes and even at a monastery.
 
with the exception of lights at the ambo to help reading everything was done by candle light until the gloria.
 
Some of the lights came on after the Exultet and the rest came on at the Gloria.
 
We turned then on at the Gloria, although we had a few really dim lights before that. No candles, though. We’re temporarily in the Union Ballroom while they’re building a new church, and I don’t think the university was too keen on the idea of a couple hundred candles. We still got them for the Service of Light outside, though. 🤷
 
Choir and sanctuary lights after the Christ our Light chanted…

then, house lights, in sections, at the Gloria…was fabulous.
Best Vigil we’ve had in years. New Choir Director…beautiful music. Fully Bi-lingual.
6 Baptisms by full immersion, many people Confirmed and First Communion, 2 marriage blessings.
Was dark and rainy. Bonfire on the patio. Splendid.

Happy Easter everyone!
 
Right when the exultet was begining. My candle was dripping wax big time by then We did all 7 readings I would of had to extinguish mine by the second reading if we would of kept the lights off due to the wax dripping big time
 
CB_Catholic said:
We compromised. Some of the lights came on according to the rubrics, the rest came on at the Gloria. So technically it was done according to the rubrics.

We have our Vigil early–at 7pm, so there is not really any darkness until we are about halfway through.
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We start at 9pm…the bonfire was awesome…the lights came on at the Gloria.
 
The Latin vigil I attended opened up the lights at the Gloria. It was the same last year, and in 2011. The liturgical committees seem to know better than the rubrics.

Ironically, it’s been done this way in so many places for so many years that people probably consider it an abuse to turn the lights on after the Exsultet.

I personally believe it’s more amazing for the lights to come on at the Gloria. I don’t know what the rationale is for doing it at the Exsultet. There is a certain symbolism in keeping darkness for the Prophecies to show the hidden typology of the Gospel during the Old Testament. The Gloria or triple alleluia are perfect times for the lights.

No matter how bad a parish may be, that moment when lights come on and everyone rings bells is the most magical point in the whole liturgical year. The Cosmos echoes with joy.
 
We extinguished our candles when the 7 readings began. The only light was the Easter candle, a small light at the ambo for the reader, and the choir turned on and off their light (in the choir loft behind us) for singing in between the readings. Lights came on at the Gloria. Our Easter Vigil was very beautiful. We had the tallest Easter candle I have ever seen. It looked beautiful for the Vigil, but I don’t know how the altar servers are going to deal with lighting it for the rest of the year.
 
CB_Catholic said:
We compromised. Some of the lights came on according to the rubrics, the rest came on at the Gloria. So technically it was done according to the rubrics.

We have our Vigil early–at 7pm, so there is not really any darkness until we are about halfway through.
Click to expand...
Wow, why? That is a serious rubrical violation. Both the Holy See and USCCB have repeatedly indicated that the Easter Vigil must never begin before darkness.
 
All the lights came on at the Gloria. A few lights were lit after each reading, and then everything was on at the Gloria.

It makes more sense to me to turn them all on after the Exsultet.
 
Chatter163 said:
Wow, why? That is a serious rubrical violation. Both the Holy See and USCCB have repeatedly indicated that the Easter Vigil must never begin before darkness.
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Well, that is when it begins. It is nonetheless a beautiful liturgy. I don’t know why, and I really don’t care, because the time is fine with the parish, as there are a lot of elderly and small children who attend who would otherwise probably not because of the late hours. It’s not a deal breaker for me.
 
CB_Catholic said:
We compromised. Some of the lights came on according to the rubrics, the rest came on at the Gloria. So technically it was done according to the rubrics.

We have our Vigil early–at 7pm, so there is not really any darkness until we are about halfway through.
Click to expand...
That is sort of how we did it. In the past we were in darkness until the Gloria. But since it does say to have the lights on they are on but on a dimmer setting
 
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