Easter Day is the most important Christian festival in the year. Our liturgy is rich and triumphant, reflecting our joy and confidence in Christ’s victory over death and our share in eternal life: death no longer has the last word.

For those Christians who have journeyed through the forty days of Lent, the Easter liturgy is one of deliberate contrast, reflected also in today’s service:

Sight: the reappearance of flowers, the richly coloured vestments and, most of all, the newly blessed Easter Candle pointing to the Risen Christ , which also leads the procession at the beginning and the end.

Sound: the sound of Eastertide is ALLELUIA! Musicians across the centuries have given their best efforts to providing a feast for ear, voice and heart.

Touch: today we may well feel the blessed waters of baptism; let this be a reminder of the joy we share with Christians throughout the world, a joy shared with every denomination because we accept that we are all baptised into the Church of God, not into a particular denomination.

Smell: the use of incense is a symbol of our prayer and thanksgiving rising to God. The Nails in the Easter Candle contain within them a grain of incense reminding us that death is the sweeter because of Jesus’ victory on Easter Day. Incense is a sign of honour and a reminder of the holiness and mystery of God.