I posted in another thread about the logistical problems involved in this year’s Easter Vigil. To anchor our feet firmly on the ground, here’s a verbatim report of a rather different Vigil that an American friend sent me:<\/p>\n
No Service of Light, no blessing of fire or candle, nor Exsultet. The service started in the church with the Liturgy of the Word. The paschal candle was already lit and in place when I arrived.<\/p>\n
After the Genesis creation reading, the \u201cresponsorial psalm\u201d from the choir: He\u2019s Got the Whole World in His Hands<\/em>
\n2nd reading is Exodus. \u201cResponsorial psalm\u201d: When Israel Was in Egypt\u2019s Land (Let My People Go)<\/em> (soloist accompanied by choir)
\n3rd reading is Ezekiel, new heart and new spirit. \u201cResponsorial psalm\u201d: I\u2019ve Got That Joy, Joy, Joy Down in My Heart<\/em>\u2026.<\/p>\nAfter the epistle the choir sang the song We Fall Down But We Get Up<\/em>, a gospel song by contemporary Black Gospel artist Donnie McClurkin. No sung Alleluia.<\/p>\n
Then came a \u201csprinkling rite\u201d. Using the \u201cstainless steel baptismal stock pot with spigot at the bottom\u201d, folks were encouraged to come up and get some holy water from the tap and make the sign of the cross. Those unable to walk forward had a small glass finger bowl of water brought to them. With a towel. A deacon and a nun stood by the spigot to distribute the water. Sister held a little bowl to catch the drips. During this altar call to \u201ccome and get you some holy water\u201d we sang This little light of mine<\/em>.<\/p>\n
There had been no blessing of water. Father said \u201cLet us pray\u201d and maybe the prayer was about the water but his accent was sufficiently thick so that I could not discern. He did everything from his chair and didn\u2019t move from it. Gospel followed the water rite.<\/p>\n
No baptisms or confirmations, no sung Gloria or Holy, etc., but still a two-hour liturgy.<\/p>\n
I should mention that this is a very senior congregation. About 75 in attendance because no one wants to drive in the dark (start time was 8 pm when it was still daylight). Average age over 75: probably only two people in the church under 60. Choir numbered about eight \u2014 is also primarily older and included a few singers from the Eritrean Mass community that worships there. They all used their cell phones as lights because the church lights (hanging fluorescent ballasts) were really dim.<\/p>\n
Very low ceiling (about 10 foot) and pot of incense being swung about unintentionally by a very \u201csenior\u201d altar server who held the thurible in one hand and his cane in the other. Carpeted, with padded chairs, only about 30 feet from the back of the church to the altar, about six pews deep, in a fan shape. So much incense that I had a coughing fit. The nun came across to me with a handful of cough drops….<\/p>\n
Sad, because it used to be a very vibrant, multi-generational parish with a thriving school. Like many parishes, it is a clustered parish \u2014 made of three similarly ageing assemblies in nearby churches, now shuttered. So no candle tapers, possibly because they would have incinerated themselves, but lots of shaking (Parkinson\u2019s, arthritis, etc.).<\/p>\n
It was definitely a spectacle! But something made me think that maybe it\u2019s the effort of the people, not the words or rites, that matter. Those older folks made an effort to be there. They sang, they greeted each other, and they weebled and wobbled but they did sit and stand.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
To anchor our feet firmly on the ground, here’s a report of another Vigil that an American friend sent me<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3119,17,20],"tags":[160,436],"class_list":["post-36340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-plaza-new-ws","category-liturgical-spirituality","category-music-general","tag-easter-vigil","tag-missal-implementation"],"yoast_head":"\n
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