Alleluia, Christ is Risen He is Risen, Indeed, Alleluia!

The Right Rev. Keith Ackerman, SSC / Pentecost, 2024, Issue 11

As I return to my childhood memories, now many decades ago, I realize that very little of what I experienced during the Easter Season required any explanation. The Liturgies of two millennia said it all. No one can possibly gather in the darkened church of what is prepared to be a Tomb, see flames shoot from a “pot,” hear the crackle of the flames, and see a large candle entering a darkened tomb without recognizing that the light has overcome the darkness. To see a Nave full of candles brighten the Nave at each of the three stops as the Deacon proclaims: “The Light of Christ,” and we say, “Thanks be to God” requires no explanation. From the youngest child to the most sophisticated theologian — this action says it all.

One of the reasons we call our worship “Liturgy” is because all of the People of God, as the word implies, participate in this annual celebration of Christ overcoming death. Again, as a child I recall the magnificence of the unusual tone used as the Deacon intoned one of the most ancient hymns of the Church — the Exsultet, with its constant repetition of the words, “This is the night.” Although as a child I remember that we usually had Nine Old Testament Lessons read, I felt as if I was having a crash course in Sunday School or Catechism Class: all the way from Adam and Eve to a greater anticipation of the coming of the Messiah. It was long, but in retrospect I now recall what an impact it had.

Decades later when I became a Deacon, I was thrilled to know what my role would be all throughout the Easter Season, and after I was ordained a priest, I must confess that I already missed singing those remarkable elements of the Liturgy where the roles of Deacon, Priest, and Bishop were never blurred, with the Laity reading to all of us Salvation History in those MANY lessons! We are deeply indebted to Egeria the “Spanish” Roman woman who was sent by her community in the 380’s charged with writing all that she saw in what we now call “The Holy Land.” Being able to understand how developed the Liturgical life was in the Church, particularly in Jerusalem allows us every Easter Season to return to our roots of worship. The Great Vigil is, of course, the fullest expression of the Resurrection Liturgies, and I must confess that it took a long time for me to warm up to celebrating Easter in daylight with an Easter egg hunt after the splendor of the night before.

One of the difficulties we have with our English language word for celebrating the Lord’s Resurrection is a bit of an embarrassment, since the word is probably derived from the name of the goddess associated with Spring! I once served in a parish where about 5 languages were still used in family settings, and I learned how to proclaim the Easter greeting in those languages: none of them said “Happy Easter.” They all said, “He is Risen.” Most languages focus on the Resurrection and many of them have as the root a variant form of “Passover,” often, even in English, rendered “Paschal.” Between us, I rarely say “Easter Season,” but rather the “Paschal Season.” “Christ our Passover is Sacrificed for us, therefore, let us keep the Feast, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and Truth.” 1 Corinthians 5:7-8. I encourage people not to hold the word Easter in disdain, but rather to adopt Christian terms that reflect that our emphasis is on the Resurrected Lord, Jesus Christ not a bunny.

As is the case with so many festivities, a number of the customs and celebrations that are now secularized have religious roots. As a parish priest I was thrilled on Holy Saturday to discover traditional Paschal Baskets (waiting for me to bless in a chapel) that contained numerous foods that would be shared at the Easter Sunday family meal. One such item in the basket is called “Pascha” which is a type of egg custard. The priest blesses the baskets and then with a knife cuts a sign of the cross on the Pascha. Another item in the basket is a “braided bread” that has a colored “Easter egg” in the middle. The basket is then placed in the center of the dining room table and reverentially the food is then shared on Sunday after our Easter Fast has ended. We must remember that we celebrate our history of the first Passover and then its celebration on a Thursday night with Christ our Passover, in the context of a meal.It is exciting also to see how having Resurrection Gardens has increased in popularity. Just as the Altar of Repose on Maundy Thursday is resplendent with Spring flowers and some palms from several days before (to create a Garden of Gethsemane) where we have the Watch: “Will you not Watch with me for one Hour,” so it is that in the Narthexes of many churches today a display of a small empty tomb with three crosses and Easter Lillies has gained popularity. Liturgy allows all of us to see with our eyes what we believe with our hearts and does not always require words. We must remember that the olfactory sense is the one that is most intimately related to memory. Therefore, when we provide not only those sacramentals, or physical liturgical items, we can include those things that remind us of past experiences that have blessed us. My own children can recall not only the colors of each Liturgical Season and the music that went with it, but also the different types of incense that highlight the season, from Frankincense at Christmas and Epiphany, to the more pungent fragrance at Lent, to the more floral fragrance for Easter.

One of the most obvious focal points at Easter is the Paschal Candle, lighted from the flames, carried in procession, used as a focal reference at the Exsultate at the Great Vigil, and highly visible, either being extinguished after the Gospel at the Ascension Day Liturgy, or for the Fifty Days, extinguished after the Whitsunday/Pentecost Liturgy having been caught up with the flames of fire that rested on the heads of the disciples. No matter which tradition a parish uses, one exciting Sunday School project can easily be made that can be taken home: a Dining Room Table Paschal Candle, blessed at the Altar of the church and taken home to be burned during meals throughout Eastertide/Paschaltide. Children understand the importance of symbols, and while good Liturgy does not always need much explanation, placing before children important symbols throughout their lives may be, in their darkest moments, one of the reminders of their Faith, when they recall the liturgical life of their Christian family.

Towards the end of Eastertide, we must never forget that just days before the Feast of the Ascension — the Fortieth day — we have several days called the “Rogation Days.” The word itself means to ask, and on those days in particular, we ask for God’s many blessings upon our crops and our gardens. Blessing at the Altar small crosses that were constructed in Sunday School, and then handing them to families as they leave the church on Rogation Sunday is a reminder of the relationship between the church and the home. The small cross is then placed in the garden at home, and the family is reminded of our utter dependence upon God’s grace. I had very busy Rogation Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays as a parish priest and then as a bishop as I went to everything from a functional farm to a small flower garden. As we always look with joy for the “growing season” so it is that we are dependent upon God’s grace, and as we see the plants emerge from the dirt we are reminded of the Resurrection of Jesus and His Ascension into Heaven. Some churches even send home little cartons filled with seed so that they can be planted and nurtured.

Finally ponder ways in which the Feast of the Ascension can become even more visual. Each parish should consider possibilities of a procession from the church on Ascension Day to the outdoors to look into the sky and recall the amazement of the Apostles as Jesus Ascended. I will admit that there have been times when I may have gone “outside the box” in finding ways for people to look up: homing pigeons, kites, helium balloons (no longer allowed), sky lanterns, and even a drone. Silly perhaps, but children still remember Ascension Day celebrations — a day so very often ignored in our churches or transferred awkwardly from the 40th Day to accommodate the busi-ness of the culture. And let’s not forget Pentecost/Whitsunday: parishioners wearing red, maybe the Gospel being read in a number of languages……………but another time, because while it concludes the Paschal/Easter Season, it also initiates another Season which has numerous liturgical possibilities!

Alleluia, Christ is Risen! He is Risen, indeed, Alleluia!

Bp. Ackerman serves as Forward in Faith’s Ambassador for Anglican and Ecumenical Affairs. He is the eighth Bishop of Quincy, retired. Formerly in the TEC, he’s been in the ACNA since its foundation. He serves on the ACNA College of Bishops and is on the Prayer Book Liturgy Committee. He serves as a Trustee on the Board of Nashotah House Seminary and he is the Chaplain for many devotional organizations including the Franciscan Order of Divine Compassion. He is the assisting Bishop of the Diocese of Fort Worth, living in Keller, TX.