Let us meditate on the signs that surround the Easter Vigil ceremony: the darkness of the environment; the flame, in which all the candles are lit… Each sign has a meaning about the times of Christ and also about our times.

Newsroom (16/04/2022 16:33, Gaudium Press) On this holy night, the darkness that welcomes the faithful is broken only by the stars.

The same stars that served as a promise to Abraham and as a path for the Magi also today mix their light with that of the Paschal Candle, a symbol of Him who is the Way, the Truth and the Life, the fulfillment of all the promises.

Already the light of the stars, God created man in his image and likeness (Cf. Gen 1:26).

It is under stars that God promises Abraham a numerous offspring, and by Faith “Abraham, subjected to the test, offered Isaac, his only son, after receiving the promise and hearing the words: ‘A descendent with your name shall be given you in Isaac. He was aware that God is powerful even to raise someone from the dead” (Heb 11:17-19).

Still by faith and under the stars, Moses “left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, as surely as if he were seeing the unseen. It was by faith that he had the Passover celebrated and the gates sprinkled with blood, so that the angel who destroys the first-born would spare the children of Israel. It was by faith that he made them cross the Red Sea as through dry ground, while the Egyptians who dared to pursue them were drowned” (Heb 11:27-29).

Finally, how many promises and how many acts of faith have the stars not seen!?

But among all that they would tell us, one faith shone brightly: on this holy night, when the Body of Our Lord lay in the sepulcher, there was a single flame that sustained the whole Church: it was Mary’s Faith, Hope and Charity.

Only she who conferred and meditated on the words and events related to the Divine Master in her Heart kept her Faith intact in this hour of darkness and clouds.

Now, in our days, the stars seem to tell us that the Faith of the world also lies in a tomb, the kingdom of darkness seems to dominate the world. However, in this immense darkness, again a flame preserves the integrity of the deposit of faith. In this flame, though small and insignificant in the eyes of the world, a “new fire” is already burning: it is again the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which this time is beginning to triumph.

How many prophecies foreshadow its fulfillment today! Let us not allow ourselves to be dragged down by the illusions of the world.

Let us abandon the works of darkness and approach this “new fire”, warm our souls in it, and trace our future in its light. From these flames will gush abundant graces that will make us cross the Red Sea of this life and assure the life to come.

By Fernando Mesquita