Pope Leo XIV says with Jesus "we too can give life to a new world of peace" at his 1st Easter Vigil LIVE - Vatican - FULL TEXT Homily + VIDEO
Pope Leo XIV , on April 4, 2026, presides over his 1st Solemn Easter Vigil Holy Mass -
The liturgy begins in darkness, with the paschal candle being lit outside from the fire that is blessed by the pope. Light radiates progressively from the darkness, in a Basilica packed with 6,000 people (4,000 following on screens in St. Peter's Square and thousands more online). Ten catechumens received Baptism on this holy night - with their godmothers and godfathers beside them — the catechumens are men and women, five from the diocese of Rome, one from Korea, two from Great Britain, and two from Portugal. Water is poured on each of their heads, and then they are clothed in a white robe before receiving the sign of the holy oil, the seal of the Holy Spirit. "Always walk as children of light," the pope said to them.
FULL TEXT Homily of HIS HOLINESS POPE LEO XIV
in the Vatican's St. Peter's Basilica, on Holy Saturday, April 4, 2026
_______________________________________
«The holy mystery of this night…dispels hatred, bends the harshness of the powerful, promotes harmony and peace» ( Easter Proclamation ).
Thus, dear brothers and sisters, the deacon, at the beginning of this celebration, praised the light of the Risen Christ, symbolized in the Paschal Candle. From this one Candle we all lit our candles and, each carrying a flame drawn from the same fire, we illuminated this great basilica. It is the sign of the Paschal light, which unites us in the Church as lamps for the world. At the deacon's announcement, we responded "Amen," affirming our commitment to embrace this mission, and shortly we will repeat our "yes" by renewing our baptismal promises.
This, dearest ones, is a Vigil filled with light, the most ancient in the Christian tradition, called the "mother of all vigils." In it we relive the memorial of the victory of the Lord of life over death and the underworld. We do so after having journeyed, in recent days, as in a single great celebration, through the mysteries of the Passion of God made for us a "man of sorrows" ( Is 53:3), "despised and rejected by men" (ibid.), tortured and crucified.
Is there a greater charity? A more total generosity? The Risen One is the same Creator of the universe who, just as at the dawn of history he gave us existence from nothing, so on the cross, to show us his boundless love, he gave us life.
The first reading reminded us of this, with the story of the origins. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (cf. Gen 1:1), bringing the cosmos from chaos, harmony from disorder, and entrusting us, made in his image and likeness, with the task of being their custodians. And even when, through sin, man failed to correspond to this plan, the Lord did not abandon him, but revealed to him in an even more surprising way, through forgiveness, his merciful face.
The “holy mystery of this night,” then, has its roots even where humanity’s first failure occurred, and extends across the centuries as a path of reconciliation and grace.
The liturgy has proposed several stages of this journey through the sacred texts we have heard. It reminds us of how God stayed Abraham's hand, ready to sacrifice his son Isaac, to show us that he does not want our death, but rather that we consecrate ourselves to be, in his hands, living members of a lineage of the saved (cf. Gen 22:11-12, 15-18). It also invites us to reflect on how the Lord freed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, making the sea, a place of death and an insurmountable obstacle, the gateway to the beginning of a new and free life. And the same message returned like an echo in the words of the Prophets, in which we heard the praises of the Lord as the bridegroom who calls and gathers (cf. Is 54:5-7), the source that quenches thirst, the water that makes fruitful (cf. Is 55:1.10), the light that shows the path to peace (cf. Bar 3:14), the Spirit who transforms and renews the heart ( Ez 36:26).
In all these moments of salvation history, we have seen how God responds to the harshness of sin that divides and kills with the power of love that unites and restores life. We have recalled them together, interspersing the narrative with psalms and prayers, to remind ourselves that, through Christ's Passover, "buried with him in death [...] we too can walk in newness of life [...] dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus" ( Rom 6:4-11), consecrated in Baptism to the Father's love, united in the communion of saints, made by grace living stones for the building of his Kingdom (cf. 1 Pet 2: 4-5).
In this light, we read the story of the Resurrection we heard in the Gospel of Matthew. On Easter morning, the women, overcoming pain and fear, set out. They wanted to go to Jesus' tomb. They expected to find it sealed, with a great stone at the entrance and soldiers standing guard. This is sin: a heavy barrier that closes us in and separates us from God, seeking to kill his words of hope within us. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, however, did not allow themselves to be intimidated. They went to the tomb and, thanks to their faith and love, were the first witnesses of the Resurrection. In the earthquake and in the angel sitting on the overturned boulder, they saw the power of God's love, stronger than any force of evil, capable of "dispelling hatred" and "bending the harshness of the powerful." Man can kill the body, but the life of the God of love is eternal life, which transcends death and which no tomb can imprison. Thus the Crucified One reigned from the cross, the angel sat on the stone, and Jesus presented himself to them alive, saying: "Greetings!" ( Mt 28:9).
This, dearest ones, is also our message to the world today, the encounter we wish to witness to with the words of faith and with works of charity, singing with our lives the "Alleluia" that we proclaim with our lips (cf. St. Augustine, Sermon 256 , 1). Like the women who ran to announce the news to their brothers, we too wish to set out tonight from this Basilica to bring everyone the good news that Jesus is risen and that with his strength, risen with him, we too can give life to a new world of peace, of unity, as "a multitude of men and at the same time [...] one man, since, though there are many Christians, there is only one Christ" (St. Augustine, Enarrationes in Psalmos , 127,3).
The brothers and sisters present here from various parts of the world are consecrated to this mission and will soon receive Baptism. After the long journey of the catechumenate, today they are reborn in Christ to be new creatures (cf. 2 Cor 5:17), witnesses of the Gospel. For them, and for all of us, we repeat what Saint Augustine said to the Christians of his time: "Proclaim Christ, sow [...], scatter everywhere what you have conceived in your heart. ( Sermon 116 , 23-24).
Sisters and brothers, even in our day there is no shortage of tombs to be opened, and often the stones that close them are so heavy and well-guarded that they seem immovable. Some oppress the heart, such as mistrust, fear, selfishness, resentment; others, the consequence of these internal ones, break the bonds between us, such as war, injustice, the isolation of peoples and nations. Let us not allow ourselves to be paralyzed by them! Many men and women, over the centuries, with God's help, have rolled them away, perhaps with great difficulty, sometimes at the cost of their lives, but with fruits of goodness from which we still benefit today. They are not unattainable figures, but people like us who, strengthened by the grace of the Risen One, in charity and truth, have had the courage to speak, as the Apostle Peter says, "with the words of God" ( 1Pt 4:11) and to act "with the energy received from God, so that in all things God may be glorified" (ibid.).
Let us be moved by their example and on this Holy Night let us make their commitment our own, so that everywhere and always, in the world, the Easter gifts of harmony and peace may grow and flourish.
in the Vatican's St. Peter's Basilica, on Holy Saturday, April 4, 2026
_______________________________________
«The holy mystery of this night…dispels hatred, bends the harshness of the powerful, promotes harmony and peace» ( Easter Proclamation ).
Thus, dear brothers and sisters, the deacon, at the beginning of this celebration, praised the light of the Risen Christ, symbolized in the Paschal Candle. From this one Candle we all lit our candles and, each carrying a flame drawn from the same fire, we illuminated this great basilica. It is the sign of the Paschal light, which unites us in the Church as lamps for the world. At the deacon's announcement, we responded "Amen," affirming our commitment to embrace this mission, and shortly we will repeat our "yes" by renewing our baptismal promises.
This, dearest ones, is a Vigil filled with light, the most ancient in the Christian tradition, called the "mother of all vigils." In it we relive the memorial of the victory of the Lord of life over death and the underworld. We do so after having journeyed, in recent days, as in a single great celebration, through the mysteries of the Passion of God made for us a "man of sorrows" ( Is 53:3), "despised and rejected by men" (ibid.), tortured and crucified.
Is there a greater charity? A more total generosity? The Risen One is the same Creator of the universe who, just as at the dawn of history he gave us existence from nothing, so on the cross, to show us his boundless love, he gave us life.
The first reading reminded us of this, with the story of the origins. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (cf. Gen 1:1), bringing the cosmos from chaos, harmony from disorder, and entrusting us, made in his image and likeness, with the task of being their custodians. And even when, through sin, man failed to correspond to this plan, the Lord did not abandon him, but revealed to him in an even more surprising way, through forgiveness, his merciful face.
The “holy mystery of this night,” then, has its roots even where humanity’s first failure occurred, and extends across the centuries as a path of reconciliation and grace.
The liturgy has proposed several stages of this journey through the sacred texts we have heard. It reminds us of how God stayed Abraham's hand, ready to sacrifice his son Isaac, to show us that he does not want our death, but rather that we consecrate ourselves to be, in his hands, living members of a lineage of the saved (cf. Gen 22:11-12, 15-18). It also invites us to reflect on how the Lord freed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, making the sea, a place of death and an insurmountable obstacle, the gateway to the beginning of a new and free life. And the same message returned like an echo in the words of the Prophets, in which we heard the praises of the Lord as the bridegroom who calls and gathers (cf. Is 54:5-7), the source that quenches thirst, the water that makes fruitful (cf. Is 55:1.10), the light that shows the path to peace (cf. Bar 3:14), the Spirit who transforms and renews the heart ( Ez 36:26).
In all these moments of salvation history, we have seen how God responds to the harshness of sin that divides and kills with the power of love that unites and restores life. We have recalled them together, interspersing the narrative with psalms and prayers, to remind ourselves that, through Christ's Passover, "buried with him in death [...] we too can walk in newness of life [...] dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus" ( Rom 6:4-11), consecrated in Baptism to the Father's love, united in the communion of saints, made by grace living stones for the building of his Kingdom (cf. 1 Pet 2: 4-5).
In this light, we read the story of the Resurrection we heard in the Gospel of Matthew. On Easter morning, the women, overcoming pain and fear, set out. They wanted to go to Jesus' tomb. They expected to find it sealed, with a great stone at the entrance and soldiers standing guard. This is sin: a heavy barrier that closes us in and separates us from God, seeking to kill his words of hope within us. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, however, did not allow themselves to be intimidated. They went to the tomb and, thanks to their faith and love, were the first witnesses of the Resurrection. In the earthquake and in the angel sitting on the overturned boulder, they saw the power of God's love, stronger than any force of evil, capable of "dispelling hatred" and "bending the harshness of the powerful." Man can kill the body, but the life of the God of love is eternal life, which transcends death and which no tomb can imprison. Thus the Crucified One reigned from the cross, the angel sat on the stone, and Jesus presented himself to them alive, saying: "Greetings!" ( Mt 28:9).
This, dearest ones, is also our message to the world today, the encounter we wish to witness to with the words of faith and with works of charity, singing with our lives the "Alleluia" that we proclaim with our lips (cf. St. Augustine, Sermon 256 , 1). Like the women who ran to announce the news to their brothers, we too wish to set out tonight from this Basilica to bring everyone the good news that Jesus is risen and that with his strength, risen with him, we too can give life to a new world of peace, of unity, as "a multitude of men and at the same time [...] one man, since, though there are many Christians, there is only one Christ" (St. Augustine, Enarrationes in Psalmos , 127,3).
The brothers and sisters present here from various parts of the world are consecrated to this mission and will soon receive Baptism. After the long journey of the catechumenate, today they are reborn in Christ to be new creatures (cf. 2 Cor 5:17), witnesses of the Gospel. For them, and for all of us, we repeat what Saint Augustine said to the Christians of his time: "Proclaim Christ, sow [...], scatter everywhere what you have conceived in your heart. ( Sermon 116 , 23-24).
Sisters and brothers, even in our day there is no shortage of tombs to be opened, and often the stones that close them are so heavy and well-guarded that they seem immovable. Some oppress the heart, such as mistrust, fear, selfishness, resentment; others, the consequence of these internal ones, break the bonds between us, such as war, injustice, the isolation of peoples and nations. Let us not allow ourselves to be paralyzed by them! Many men and women, over the centuries, with God's help, have rolled them away, perhaps with great difficulty, sometimes at the cost of their lives, but with fruits of goodness from which we still benefit today. They are not unattainable figures, but people like us who, strengthened by the grace of the Risen One, in charity and truth, have had the courage to speak, as the Apostle Peter says, "with the words of God" ( 1Pt 4:11) and to act "with the energy received from God, so that in all things God may be glorified" (ibid.).
Let us be moved by their example and on this Holy Night let us make their commitment our own, so that everywhere and always, in the world, the Easter gifts of harmony and peace may grow and flourish.
Free PDF Liturgical Booklet with prayers and music from the Vatican: https://www.vatican.va/content/dam/liturgy/pdf/2026/20260404-libretto-veglia-pasquale.pdf
Source: https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2026/04/04/0260/00556.html
https://www.vaticannews.va/it/papa/news/2026-04/papa-veglia-pasquale-notte-santa-omelia.html
Source: https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2026/04/04/0260/00556.html
https://www.vaticannews.va/it/papa/news/2026-04/papa-veglia-pasquale-notte-santa-omelia.html
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