Page:Goffinesdevoutin00goffuoft.djvu/222

 What does it mean when the priest dips the Easter candle thrice into the baptismal water?

The immersion and withdrawal of the candle from the water denote that it is sanctified by Christ to be a means through which the baptized are drawn out of the abyss of sin.

What is the meaning of the mixing of the holy oils with the consecrated water?

The holy oils are mixed with the consecrated water partly to indicate the union of Christ with His people, and partly also to denote that the grace of the Holy Ghost, of which the holy oil and chrism are figures, together with faith, hope, and charity, is infused into the heart of the catechumen.

No Christian should forget to-day to revisit the holy sepulchre, to thank Jesus for His passion and death, and to venerate the sorrowful Mother Mary.

hat is the feast of Easter?

The celebration of the day on which Jesus Christ, according to the predictions both of Himself and the prophets, by His almighty power, reunited His body and soul, and arose alive from the grave.

Why is this feast sometimes called Pasch or Passover? From the Latin Pascha, and the Hebrew Phase, meaning "the passing over," because the destroyer of the first born in Egypt passed over the houses of the Israelites who had sprinkled the transom and posts of the door with the blood of the paschal lamb; and because the Jews were in that same night delivered from bondage, passing over through the Red Sea into the land of promise. Now we Christians are by the death and resurrection of Christ redeemed and passed over to the freedom of the children of God, so we call the day of His resurrection Pasch or Passover.

How should we observe the feast of Easter?

In such manner as to confirm our faith in Jesus Christ and in His Church, and to pass over from the death of sin to the new life of grace.