Last year I celebrated the liturgies of the Easter Triduum on my own! We were in lockdown, here in France. This year we are in lockdown again, but we can gather in church for worship providing we are careful to observe the necessary precautions. But one of features of the confinement is the curfew: we cannot go out after 7pm. This meant no Vigil during the night of Holy Saturday, and we were advised to celebrate it beginning before dawn on Easter morning.

The immediate cry of the faithful was “too early” but we pressed ahead with the arrangements. I had not attended such a pre-dawn celebration since my days at Kelham, when we had a truncated liturgy without the Mass. I had always defended (as well as enjoying ) the night Vigil – so what would this experience, forced on us by the times we are living in, mean for me?

I was immediately struck by our drive through the dark and silent villages on our way to the other end of this parish. We had simplified the rite as per the instructions and I missed gathering round the large bonfire outside the church, and looking in the gloom across the valley. We proceeded with the Exsultet: after five years I can sing it fairly fluently in french and the words now make a direct impression on me. When we reached the Gloria the bells of the carillon started to ring; I imagine that at least a few of the inhabitants of the village of Long were wondering what on earth was going on. We finished with the hymn “Allez par toute la terre” which repeated the words of the Risen Christ in St Mark’s Gospel, as we came out into the first light of Easter morning.

In spite of the initial reservations 40 people exactly came to the Vigil. (In 2019 there were 55 present at 9pm on Saturday evening). What did surprise me was the number who went home, had breakfast and then came to the 11 am Mass at Pont Rémy. I teased the singers and musicians that they sang better first thing in the morning: certainly, the music was good, and the participation by everyone clear and confident. This, I think, is the result of several years of consistent and straightforward liturgy in which the people are expected to be alert and intelligent – and not treated like children who have to be taught some novelty on every occasion!

The early morning Vigil has a different ethos: it is gentler (more English?) while the night Vigil has great strength and power in it. During Eastertide it will be helpful to hear the reactions of those who took part in this fresh expression of Easter worship.