Vespers for Easter Sunday

When in the middle of the 8th century, on the initiative of Pepin the Short, the heathen Franks took up relations with the Papacy in Rome, they were so impressed by the Roman liturgy - the most exalted expression of the type of civilization they desired to promote - that they transmitted their enthusiasm to the whole of the Western world. It was thus that for twelve centuries the chant of the Church of Rome was to remain the standard liturgical practice. In this regard the Easter Vespers are particularly fascinating, both in the solemnity of their procedure and in the extraordinary fullness of their chants.