Christian religious observance that ends the Lenten season, falling on the day before Easter Sunday. The early church celebrated the end of Lent with large baptismal ceremonies; but, for many centuries, no services were held on Holy Saturday in the Western churches, recalling the suspended state of Christ’s followers in the period between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. Beginning in 1955, the Roman Catholic and some other churches restored the Easter Vigil; Eastern Orthodox churches never abandoned the ceremony. The vigil celebration may include lighting fires to symbolize Christ’s passing from death to life and tolling bells to signify the joyous end of Lent.
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