The Great Vigil of Easter ~ Vigilia Pascual

I can't say it often enough -- the Easter Triduum contains my favorite liturgies of the year. They're so beautiful, and so full of amazing symbolism. Not to say that the other Masses of the year aren't, but that these are even more so. I had to miss the Good Friday liturgy because of work (those dang feral cats never wake up on time when I have somewhere important to be!), and I was really bummed out about it. *sigh* I'll just have to wait until next year for the Veneration of the Cross (but I definitely had "Behold, The Wood of the Cross" stuck in my head all day and kept singing bits to myself!)

Tonight's Mass more than made up for it.

The Easter Vigil Mass always begins in darkness with the Service of Light. Father processes in carrying the Easter candle, followed by  the altar servers and the Elect, carrying little candles lit from the Easter Candle.


From the candles in the procession, the candles held by the congregation near the procession are lit. They, in turn, light the candles of their neighbors, and so on down the rows until everyone's candle is burning brightly.


After the opening prayers, came the Liturgy of the Word; we listened to a series of 4 (long!) readings from the Old Testament, with Responsorial Psalms and prayers in between.






Then, as we sang the Gloria, the lights came on, revealing the unveiled statue of Jesus and the altar laden with beautiful flowers. The Lector then read the Epistle.


Fr Wayne read the Gospel selection (Mt 28:1-10) and gave his homily, after which the Baptismal Candidates were presented and prayed over, and we chanted the Litany of the Saints. Father then began the Liturgy of Baptism by blessing the Holy Water.

I just wanted to apologize for the really bad pics of this part; I was behind tall people and there were no trees convenient :P

The Sacrament of Baptism was conferred on those Candidates who had never been baptized before. All of the folks this year were kids, and the older ones (about 9 years old or so) were just beaming! SO adorable!


Then the people who were converting to Catholicism from another Christian denomination were called forward to come into full communion with the Catholic Church (our church only recognizes one Baptism -- doesn't matter what denomination, so long as you were Baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, you're considered part of the Christian family). Father Wayne reminisced about how he was welcomed into the Catholic Church at the same liturgy years ago.
Last, but not least, came the folks who were Baptized into the Catholic Church, but never received First Communion or Confirmation.



And together as a community we renewed our Baptismal promises, and Father sprinkled us with the newly-blessed Holy Water.



After Baptism, all the adults were Confirmed. Here's where I got all misty-eyed, remembering my own Confirmation and Grammy Tarrant, who was my Sponsor.

The rest of the service was pretty much like any other Mass, with the Eucharistic Liturgy and Communion (*sigh* I <3 the Eucharist!). Fr Wayne sang the Dismissal, and we sang the final response back, and then he, the altar servers, and the new Church members processed out to the lobby while we sang "This is the Day."

Happy surprise! The Council of Women had set up a wonderful reception to welcome our new members! :D And I had my first soda in 40 days lol (I'm ashamed to admit, I didn't make it for any of my other Lenten commitments, besides weekly Reconciliation...). It was a great little party ^_^

The boy in the white suit was one of the newly initiated members of our church


Pretty Easter lilies


Alma: *puts Randy's glasses on* I can't see a thing in these! *squints with one eye* Is this what y'all have to do?
Alma's cousin: I don't know her...


I don't remember what this was about, but Randy sure looks guilty about something lol


This is the perfect saying for our diverse Church, and btw, I wish every Mass would be as packed as this!


Naughty little boys playing with fire. To be honest, I hadn't even noticed them until Paulita started over to scold them, but they're in the background of a few of my other pics -- along with a naughty little girl who scooted before she got in trouble! lol Also proof that I am NOT responsible enough to be in charge of anyone not legally old enough to fend for themselves!


The lovely Council of Women ladies serving up the soda. MmmMmmm!

Since I came alone (*sad*) I ate with Dan and Marion's family (*happy*)

Dan, Marion, and I used to be in the choir together, and I <3 them so! ^_^ They're so nice, and it was great to finally meet their family. I didn't realize they're now great-grandparents! There's 4 generations of Catholic Christians all in this one pic!

I bid my friends adios and snapped a few more pics before heading out...



And now for bed, because I have to be up in time for the early Mass tomorrow with my family! :D