Question:
When has sin/fault become necessary as heard in the Exsultet at Easter Vigil): “O happy fault, O necessary sin of Adam…”?
Answer:
The full verse explains its meaning:
O truly necessary sin of Adam,
destroyed completely by the death of Christ!
O happy fault
that earned so great, so glorious a Redeemer!
The idea behind the wording is that without sin there would have been no Paschal Mystery. The Paschal Mystery is the most important and blessed event in the history of humanity, and yet it never would have occurred without the sin of Adam.
If man had never sinned, we would know God as loving and just but we would never know him as merciful. It is necessary to sin in order to experience mercy. This does not mean it is better to sin (Rom. 6:1), but it does mean that it is a great mystery of love in which we are caught up (Rom. 8:28-39).
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