The Third Day of Easter
It is Earth Day. And the third of the Great Fifty Days of Easter. The first day, of course, was the wonderful celebration of the Resurrection -- after a moving walk through Holy Week with its Stations of the Cross, its Maundy Thursday foot washing and stripping of the altar leaving a church bared of its sparkling brass and seasonal color, leaving the yawning, empty tabernacle. At the same time, a flower and light-filled altar in our chapel where the relocated bread and wine rest--the garden of vigil with Jesus. And the promise of His continuing presence.
Then, Good Friday, its story of the Passion and veneration of the cross. The cross enters the stripped church and is laid at the foot of the chancel where it is approached by the people, anointed with oil and holy water, and sprinkled with red rose petals, reminiscent, perhaps of the women at the cross ministering to Jesus' body.
Holy Saturday--a time of silence and waiting. But in reality, it is the final preparation for the glorious Easter Festival. The Altar Guild is busy arranging the flowers, the white paraments, attaching the pew torches and placing the plain Gospel book back in its shining gold cover. The brass candlesticks were all cleaned and polished last week, fresh candles added. The choir rehearses--again! The priest is putting final touches on the sermon, and the parish secretary is hopefully the one enjoying the day of rest after printing and stapling so many bulletins.
At Grace, we do not have an Easter Vigil (sigh) or a Sunrise Service (yea), so we borrow a bit of ritual for the beginning of Easter morn--the lighting of the new fire from which the Paschal candle and all of the candles in the nave and sanctuary receive the flame. The new fire is lighted outdoors, and this year, it roared! Even in full sunlight, it was impressive! The congregation entered the darkened church, the Paschal candle was processed to its place (this year by our brand new middle school acolyte who is already so tall as to almost have outgrown our biggest cassock!). Then at the Easter Proclamation, "Alleluia! Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia, alleluia!" the lights come on as the candles are ignited, the bells ring, we sing and March and cense the altar. (All of this takes a bit more imagination in daylight than when full night has fallen.) The Easter vestments and paraments shine, the uncovered crosses sparkle, the spring flowers shimmer in their beauty, and our hearts soar with joy.
That was the first day. The second was true rest. No alarms set, no appointments or meetings. Staying in my bathrobe, savoring the mug(s) of coffee and petting the cat. Later, I made a good start to de cluttering. Today, on the third day, I shall mark Earth Day with a trip to the recycling center.
Meanwhile, it is enough to look out my sunroom windows at the surging deep blue lake dappled with sunlight, the whitecaps sparkling. And the cloudless sky, emerging greenery, all with the backdrop of birdsong. This is a good time of year here, even the bare tree limbs. Once the leaves are fully grown, the lake view diminishes greatly. It is a perfect day, though the temperature dropped drastically through the night.
My list awaits. No sermon to prepare for Sunday. All other ministry tasks accounted for. So...my list is long, likely short on reality, though.
Ah, but Christ is risen! Alleluia!
Then, Good Friday, its story of the Passion and veneration of the cross. The cross enters the stripped church and is laid at the foot of the chancel where it is approached by the people, anointed with oil and holy water, and sprinkled with red rose petals, reminiscent, perhaps of the women at the cross ministering to Jesus' body.
Holy Saturday--a time of silence and waiting. But in reality, it is the final preparation for the glorious Easter Festival. The Altar Guild is busy arranging the flowers, the white paraments, attaching the pew torches and placing the plain Gospel book back in its shining gold cover. The brass candlesticks were all cleaned and polished last week, fresh candles added. The choir rehearses--again! The priest is putting final touches on the sermon, and the parish secretary is hopefully the one enjoying the day of rest after printing and stapling so many bulletins.
At Grace, we do not have an Easter Vigil (sigh) or a Sunrise Service (yea), so we borrow a bit of ritual for the beginning of Easter morn--the lighting of the new fire from which the Paschal candle and all of the candles in the nave and sanctuary receive the flame. The new fire is lighted outdoors, and this year, it roared! Even in full sunlight, it was impressive! The congregation entered the darkened church, the Paschal candle was processed to its place (this year by our brand new middle school acolyte who is already so tall as to almost have outgrown our biggest cassock!). Then at the Easter Proclamation, "Alleluia! Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia, alleluia!" the lights come on as the candles are ignited, the bells ring, we sing and March and cense the altar. (All of this takes a bit more imagination in daylight than when full night has fallen.) The Easter vestments and paraments shine, the uncovered crosses sparkle, the spring flowers shimmer in their beauty, and our hearts soar with joy.
That was the first day. The second was true rest. No alarms set, no appointments or meetings. Staying in my bathrobe, savoring the mug(s) of coffee and petting the cat. Later, I made a good start to de cluttering. Today, on the third day, I shall mark Earth Day with a trip to the recycling center.
Meanwhile, it is enough to look out my sunroom windows at the surging deep blue lake dappled with sunlight, the whitecaps sparkling. And the cloudless sky, emerging greenery, all with the backdrop of birdsong. This is a good time of year here, even the bare tree limbs. Once the leaves are fully grown, the lake view diminishes greatly. It is a perfect day, though the temperature dropped drastically through the night.
My list awaits. No sermon to prepare for Sunday. All other ministry tasks accounted for. So...my list is long, likely short on reality, though.
Ah, but Christ is risen! Alleluia!
Comments
Post a Comment