The Easter Vigil by Fr Jack

Holy Week 2026 sermon series

Holy Week and our day to day life now:

The events of salvation,
the font of Grace,
the sacramental life of the Church today.

Baptism: St John Chrysostom’s Easter Sermon

Each day of this week we have been holding the events of Holy Week against one of the sacraments we live out in the church today. How do these events of salvation reflect and illuminate the sacraments of salvation we Christians live out in the course of our lives? Tonight is THE night for Baptism.

In the Early Church it was the only moment for Baptism in the whole year. Candidates would have been preparing all year for this moment. Why this moment? Well, of course, because this is the moment of death and resurrection. And in baptism we die and are buried with Christ under the water, and when the water falls away, we rise with Him.

Death put behind us, hell, cast under our feet, ready to walk into this life, into death and into life again with Jesus. In baptism, we inherit our place in Christ’s Kingdom. We were not nailed to the cross, but in baptism it is as if we were. We did not pay the price for Adam’s sin, and our own for that matter, but in baptism we receive the bill, paid already. We did not trample down death, look satan in the eye, and walk back into life, but in Baptism, it is as if we did just that.

These are the word of St John Chrysostom’s Hieratikon on the Great and Holy Pascha of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ! That is to say an Easter sermon given in Constantinople around 400AD, where St John Chrysostom was Archbishop.

I’m going to read it in full, and then we’ll baptise Clement. It’s not short, nor is it very long, and it says everything, about tonight, about Baptism, about you and me, and about God in Christ. Alleluia!

‘Are there any who are devout lovers of God?
Let them enjoy this beautiful bright festival!

Are there any who are grateful servants?
Let them rejoice and enter into the joy of their Lord!

Are there any weary with fasting?
Let them now receive their wages!

If any have toiled from the first hour,
let them receive their due reward;
If any have come after the third hour,
let him with gratitude join in the Feast!
And he that arrived after the sixth hour,
let him not doubt; for he too shall sustain no loss.
And if any delayed until the ninth hour,
let him not hesitate; but let him come too.
And he who arrived only at the eleventh hour,
let him not be afraid by reason of his delay.
For the Lord is gracious and receives the last even as the first.
He gives rest to him that comes at the eleventh hour,
as well as to him that toiled from the first.

To this one He gives, and upon another He bestows.
He accepts the works as He greets the endeavour.
The deed He honours and the intention He commends.
Let us all enter into the joy of the Lord!

First and last alike receive your reward;
rich and poor, rejoice together!
Sober and slothful, celebrate the day!
You that have kept the fast, and you that have not,
rejoice today for the Table is richly laden!

Feast royally on it, the calf is a fatted one.
Let no one go away hungry. Partake, all, of the cup of faith.
Enjoy all the riches of His goodness!

Let no one grieve at his poverty, for the universal kingdom has been revealed.

Let no one mourn that he has fallen again and again;

for forgiveness has risen from the grave.

Let no one fear death, for the Death of our Saviour has set us free.
He has destroyed it by enduring it. He destroyed Hell when He descended into it.
He put it into an uproar even as it tasted of His flesh.

Isaiah foretold this when he said,
"You, O Hell, have been troubled by encountering Him below."
Hell was in an uproar because it was done away with.
It was in an uproar because it is mocked.
It was in an uproar, for it is destroyed.
It is in an uproar, for it is annihilated.
It is in an uproar, for it is now made captive.

Hell seized a body, and met God face to face.
It took earth, and encountered Heaven.
It took what it saw, and was overcome by what it did not see.
O death, where is thy sting? O Hell, where is thy victory?

Christ is Risen, and you, o death, are annihilated!
Christ is Risen, and the evil ones are cast down!
Christ is Risen, and the angels rejoice!
Christ is Risen, and life is liberated!

Christ is Risen, and the tomb is emptied of its dead;
for Christ having risen from the dead,
is become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
To Him be Glory and Power forever and ever. Amen!’