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O.K., where was I? Oh, yes...Holy Week. It seems like a world ago now. I don't know if that's because there's such a psychological break between Good Friday and Easter or because my internship is, officially, over. I'll go to St. Bart's for a couple more Sundays but my mid-week work is finished. (Note: it's Tuesday and I woke up at 9:00am. That was when I typically got home after the Breakfast Ministry.) Now I'm wrapping up paperwork for the graded portion of this experience. Good Friday was actually pretty uneventful. Well...Our Lord was crucified and all, but as far as the specific events of the day it was pretty calm. I joined the congregation of five for the Stations of the Cross and then participated in the Good Friday liturgy for the congregation of twenty-something. (Note: Not twenty-somethings. St. Bart's lists a bit older than that.) There were no amazing moments, no disasters. Then came the Great Vigil. I'm spoiled, I guess...at All Saints', in Milwaukee, the Vigil is about the biggest deal of the year. Everyone attends. That's partly due to the bishop being there - All Saints' is the cathedral - but it's also due to the nature of the Vigil itself. If you go in for drama and impact, the Vigil cannot be beat. The church starts in total darkness. A fire is lit either outside or just inside the church. The fire is blessed and used to light the Paschal Candle, representing the light of Christ. The deacon (or me, at St. Bart's) leads the procession down the centre aisle, stopping three times to lift high the candle and sing, "The light of Christ!" to which the congregation responds, "Thanks be to God!" The candle is placed in its stand, where the deacon (again, me) sings the Exultet, a 7th century hymn of celebration and (you guessed it) exultation. "This is the night when Jesus Christ broke the chains of death!" After that there are readings from scripture that trace the history of salvation and God's interaction with humanity. Then a procession to the baptismal font, at which the congregation renews their baptismal vows. Then, once the procession has returned to the altar area, the lights leap on and the celebrant sings out, "Alleluia, Christ is risen!" to which the congregation replies, "The Lord is risen, indeed! Alleluia! As I said, at ASC the church was packed. Not so at St. Bart's. The Vigil never really caught on here in Canada, where Easter Day still reigns supreme. It's far more Protestant in that way. We had one person in the congregation...five in the choir and five in the sanctuary. Oy. But there were still moments of wonder. As we processed to the font I was behind the thurifer (incense), crucifer (cross) and the MC. (Note: I think I should have been leading the procession, since I had the Paschal Candle, but the thurifer took off and the crucifer followed and all I could do was tag along...) Anyhow, I'm glad I was behind. The organist had turned on a small light, to see what he was playing. That light came streaming down from the organ loft, through the clouds of incense, and backlit the cross. Suddenly everything else vanished and it was just us, processing through clouds, following the cross. Beautiful does not begin to describe. It was numinous, glorious. Later we discovered how thin the line between the sublime and the ridiculous. For the proclamation of the gospel we move into the aisle. I turn back to face the altar and hold the book for Fr. W. I don't like to look directly into his face...that's a bit creepy, to have someone right on top of you as you read. So I usually look over his head. Heh. We're about a third of the way into the gospel when POP!, one of the candles on the altar...how shall I put this? Explodes? Launches? It seems that they're mostly fake candles, long tubes with a spring-loaded device at the top. That device holds a smaller taper and the spring keeps pushing that taper up so that the candles are always the same height. Bad design, really. If the threads haven't taken hold 100% the spring eventually wins and launches the candle, not to mention the metal ring at the top of the candle (what are those things called again?) into a soaring flight path. Now remember, this is a lit candle. The MC, still up near the altar (thanks be to God), rushed to stomp and fuss over the sparks. Just as he finished and was returning to his place, and with perfect comic timing, POP! a second candle blew. It was the funniest thing I've ever seen in church. I had trouble holding the book steady, I was laughing so hard. Poor Fr. W had to keep reading with me grimacing with laughter and the book bouncing all over the place. Ah, the joy of laughter. Alleluia! Christ is risen! |
