The Easter Vigil Fire: Earlier on Holy Saturday as Fr. John and I were setting up the sacristy, I shared with him the “formula” that was passed on to me from Fr. John Wynnycky several years ago for an easy and controlled Easter Vigil fire. As you can imagine, Easter Vigil fires can sometimes get out of control, so having THE formula for an easy and controlled fire takes some of the stress out of the Easter Vigil. The formula is pretty simple: you create a mound of salt in a large aluminum foil covered bowl and drench it with rubbing alcohol. It creates a nice blue flame much like you would get using a Sterno can. I’m always eager to pass on the “secrets of the priesthood” to a new priest … in our case Fr. John. He was intrigued by the idea and I even did a demo for him in the sacristy that morning. He was pretty impressed I would say!
Well, let’s fast forward to the Easter Vigil. The fire was lit. It was beautiful and blue. All was set for an awesome Easter Vigil. After blessing the fire and enjoying its beauty in a darkened and absolutely quiet Gathering Space, I tried lighting my tapers to transfer the fire to the Easter Candle. My tapers wouldn’t light; they were melting quickly in our presence. Seconds seemed like eternity. All eyes were on me. I could feel my hand getting hotter and hotter. As I moved the tapers around, I could feel the hairs on my hand starting to singe! As the gathered crowd start to chuckle a bit, I tried using a candle and I even had problems with that. Eventually I was able to get that candle lit but it took a long time. Throughout the whole process (while praying feverously I would be able to make this work in front of our newly ordained priest and before I needed first aid help), I kept thinking that Fr. John was probably saying quietly: “Note to self: skip the Monsignor fire formula. It looks painful.”
Easter Thanks: As you might imagine, a ton of work goes on behind the scenes to make our Holy Week liturgies so beautiful and prayerful. There are many people to thank and I would like to express my gratitude to them for their hard work and devotion.
I’m grateful to Gene Fedeli, who started our Holy Week off by teaching us the art of palm weaving. With his help and the help of Sandy Markielewicz, we had some of the most beautiful woven palm decorations to accent our sanctuary.
I’m grateful to the children and teachers at school who participated in the annual Passion Play. Watching the Passion Play and then hearing from the students themselves about what the Passion Play means to them certainly puts you in the mood for all the events of the Triduum.
I’m grateful to Father Rich, a.k.a. Father Sunrise, who VOLUNTEERS every year to take the Sunrise Mass. Fr. Rich also gets major kudos for the beautiful flowers on the big cross. On behalf of all of us at SJA, I want to extend our heartfelt thanks to you Fr. Rich for your generosity and love in putting that big flower-filled cross together. That flower-filled cross has become a much anticipated annual centerpiece of our Easter environment. It’s wonderful to watch how many families take pictures in front of the cross or who simply admire it up close.
I would like to express my thanks to John Perna, our Director of Music Ministries, the Guitar Group, led by Ken Madeleine, who handled the music for the sunrise and 8:00 a.m. mass on Easter Sunday, the Anthems, led by Eleonore Ellero-Groth, who handled the music for the 12:00 noon mass, the Choirs and to all of our wonderful cantors, accompanists, musicians and singers of the various music groups who did such an OUTSTANDING job with all the music throughout Holy Week. I am grateful for the time and sacrifice they make to provide us with such an outstanding music program.
I am grateful to the ushers, the extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, the lectors, the altar servers, the sacristans, led by Anne Melise, the Parish Center Staff, our maintenance staff, the Art and Environment Committee, the joint Parish Life and Worship Committee, and last but not least Fr. John, Fr. Bob, Fr. Rich, Deacon Mike and Deacon Tom who did so much to get us ready for the great liturgies of Holy Week.
I would also like to single out the RCIA team: Adele Grady, Jeremiah Baur, Mary Carroll, Lu Kempski, Charlie Lauhoff, Rose Nagy and Josie Strasz. These wonderful and generous people serve as catechists and mentors to those preparing to receive the sacraments at Easter. A great RCIA team is the dream of every pastor; I’m grateful we have such an outstanding team who walks with our candidates throughout the year.
The Easter Vigil is certainly the highlight of the entire weekend. By God’s grace we were able to witness the baptism of Jona Fjolla, Stacie Flowers, Joanne Pugh, Nicole Purcell and Aliyah Rach. We saw Joshua Brown, Jennifer Scherer, Jenna Shier, Ingrid Stemmerch and Thor Stemmerch be received into the full communion of the Catholic Church. We were able to witness Anna Elliott, Kathryn Elliott and Lauren Hanna complete their Christian initiation by receiving the sacrament of Confirmation. I also want to congratulate Aiden Viggiano, Anthony Viggiano and Jennifer Viggiano who were part of the RCIA class of 2018 and who will be received into the full communion of the Catholic Church during the Easter Season. Congratulations to the entire RCIA Class of 2018! May all of our newly baptized, newly received and newly confirmed continue to conform their lives to the life of Christ as they go forth thanking God for all the good work he has begun in them.
It was another awesome Holy Week and Triduum at SJA! May we, like the early disciples, continue to proclaim the joyful news of Christ’s resurrection and all that it means to us!