Q: How many readings are used at the Easter Vigil?
A: The answer to this question has shifted with the rubrics of the most recently promulgated Roman Missal. The older 1985 Sacramentary states: “In this vigil, the mother of all vigils, nine readings are provided, seven from the Old Testament and two from the New Testament (epistle and Gospel)” (no. 20). To this same rubric, the current 2011 Missal adds: “all of which should be read whenever this can be done, so that the character of the Vigil, which demands an extended period of time, may be observed.”
Similarly, no. 21 of the 1985 Sacramentary states that at least three Old Testament readings should be read, but, for more serious pastoral reasons, the number may be reduced to two. The current 2011 Roman Missal removes the allowance for the number to be reduced to two. It also adds that these readings should be “both from the law and the Prophets and their respective Responsorial Psalms should be sung.”
This preference for using all the readings was also stated in the 1988 Circular Letter Concerning Preparation and Celebration of Easter Feasts from the Congregation for Divine Worship: “wherever this is possible, all the readings should be read in order that the character of the Easter Vigil, which demands the time necessary, be respected at all costs” (85). The same letter highlights the reason for the emphasis on using all of the readings: “The restored Order of the Vigil has seven readings from the Old Testament chosen from the Law and the Prophets, which are generally in use according to the most ancient tradition of East and West, and two readings from the New Testament, namely, from the Apostle and from the Gospel. Thus, the Church, ‘beginning with Moses and all the Prophets,’ explains Christ’s paschal mystery” (85).
This custom stands largely in continuity with past practice. Various readings and canticles have been used during the Paschal Vigil, varying by region and time. There is striking continuity between Le Comes de Murbach (eighth-century lectionary source) and the Missale Romanum of 1570. Both sources record the following twelve readings: Genesis (Creation), Genesis (Noah), Genesis (Abraham), Exodus with canticle (the Red Sea), Isaiah (“You who are thirsty”), Baruch (Importance of Wisdom), Ezekiel (Vision of the dry bones), Isaiah with canticle (Purification of Jerusalem), Exodus (Passover), Jonah (Jonah’s Obedience and the Ninevites’ Repentance), Deuteronomy with canticle (Commissioning of Joshua), and Daniel (Fiery Furnace). The same readings appear to have been used in the liturgy recorded in the Gelasian Sacramentary, with the exception of Baruch and Jonah. The current lectionary allows only seven Old Testament readings, five of which can be clearly traced to these older sources. The first Isaiah reading (the New Zion) and the Ezekiel reading (Regeneration of the People) are not clearly derived from these ancient sources. While the number of readings and the readings themselves have changed from age to age, there has remained consistently a large number of readings, and many of them have always been used.
Whether one follows the current rubrics and the mind of the Church, or one attempts to imitate past practices while still following the current rubrics, the maximum number of Old Testament readings should normally be used so that “the character of the Vigil, which demands an extended period of time, may be observed.”
