Hac Nocte in Aeternum Diem Renascentes Populi Procreantur: Christian Initiation and the Easter Vigil in the Missale Gothicum [Paperback]

The <i>Missale gothicum</i> (c.690-710) is arguably the most importantmanuscript witness in which the <i>Exultet</i> survives in its originalGallican context. Its Easter Vigil formulary contains, next to the<i>Exultet</i>, a Eucharistic <i>immolacio</i> closely related to theExultet in structure and content, as well as several other prayers forthe rites of light, initiation, and the Eucharist. It is shown that,while <i>Exultet</i> and <i>immolacio</i> reflect an identity of EasterNight as privileged night of initiation, the formularies for initiationseem to reflect an earlier practice of baptism during Epiphany. It isargued that <i>Exultet</i> and <i>immolacio</i> go back to a commonpredecessor (a paschal homily) that partially originated because theintroduction of paschal baptism in fourth century Gaul made it necessaryto reinterpret Christian initiation in light of the paschal events andto create a coherent theological understanding of the meaning of EasterNight as privileged night of initiation.