reminder of the Last Judgment and the fires of purgatory (Matthew 3:11, 1 Corinthians 3:15).





The priest then sprinkles the whole church with the newly blessed water, similar to the Asperges ceremony before Sunday Mass, except in silence. Returning to the font, he mixes both Oil of Catechumens and Sacred Chrism into the baptismal water, which were blessed two days prior by the bishop (page 48). If there is no one to be baptized, the Easter Vigil continues with the Litany of the Saints.





Baptism

The reception of new Christians into the Church has been an integral part of the Easter Vigil since antiquity. After the fall of the Roman Empire, when the Benedictines were spreading Christianity throughout Europe, people converted in massive flocks to the Catholic Church. In Constantinople inAD 404, three thousand people were baptized at a single Easter Vigil. The first six parts of the ceremony are done either earlier in the day or during the prophecies. This includes the renunciation of Satan and the threefold exorcisms. The seventh part, taking place inside the baptistery, takes place here, after the blessing of the font (pages 48-50). (Infants are not usually baptized at the Easter Vigil.)





Because it is a joyful occasion, the priest removes his purple cope and stole and puts on a white cope and stole. The catechumens are asked their names and then profess the faith into which they are being baptized. In ancient times, when there was great fear of persecutors infiltrating the Church, the Church leaders wanted to be certain that no