WATERFORD — Out of the darkness of the Holy Saturday twilight, parishes across Metro Detroit lit, one by one, a single flame that began to illuminate the air. As the Easter candles were lit, it signaled the start to the Church’s most joyous celebration of the year as the 50-day Easter season began in earnest.

At Our Lady of the Lakes Parish in Waterford, Fr. Lawrence Delonnay invited the congregation outside the parish’s narthex for the lighting of the Easter candle. As Fr. Delonnay led the procession back into the dark church, parishioners took turns sharing the flame from the Easter candle with one another until the entire church was aglow, representing the “light of Christ” spreading from person to person.

The Mass’ readings — which started with the church’s lights still off — began with the first passage of the Bible, the creation story from Genesis 1, and ended with the Gospel reading of Jesus’ Resurrection and appearance to Simon Peter — at which point the church was fully illuminated again.

The Gospel was also preceded with the first “Alleluia!” since before Lent began, signifying the Church’s joy after a long period of waiting.

At the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit, Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron said understanding the Resurrection is crucial to understanding creation.

“The human race was made in God’s image and likeness, and in the Passover of Jesus Christ that image is restored and God’s plan for his creation is recovered,” the archbishop said.

“By the sin of Adam and Eve, the world was in some way snatched away from God, and God the Father wanted his world back. And He sent his son Jesus Christ into the world to retrieve it. And it is today given back to the Father. What was good had been marred, but now it has been perfected.”

Fr. Delonnay traced the significance of the Resurrection by reference to the event’s effects on the world, despite the fact that, as he pointed out — “no one saw it.”

“If everyone in Jerusalem had seen this tremendous event happen, that would be the focus. Did you see what happened? And that would be all they would talk about,” Fr. Delonnay said. “But what we have are the effects of that event. We have an empty tomb. For the next 50 days, we will hear stories about the effects of that night.”

Fr. Delonnay said those effects included the experience of those touched by Christ, who then passed down their testimony to others through the ages.

The most recent recipients of that message were the 1,065 candidates and catechumens across the archdiocese who were brought fully into the Catholic Church during the Easter Vigil services through the sacraments of baptism and confirmation. At Our Lady of the Lakes, 20 people received confirmation, and of those, 10 were baptized for the first time.

Fr. Delonnay said their experiences were proof of the efficacy of the Resurrection: “Sin? Forgiven. Death? Gone. Hope? Now,” he said.

On Easter Sunday, the tone was of joyous and festive celebration, as the Mass of Resurrection was celebrated at churches in the archdiocese.