Surrexit Dominus vere, Alleluia, Alleluia

The Lord is Risen indeed, alleluia, alleluia!

This year, the Easter Vigil started when it was actually dark, at nine, as opposed to eight last year. Last year, when we started the fire, it was still light out.

The first part of the Easter Vigil, the Service of Light, started out in the open area in front of the Church. The people were invited to gather to take part in this ancient Rite, but of course, fearing to lose their seats, many just stayed inside.

Fr. Mark inscribes the Paschal Candle with the current year and the alpha and omega indicating the Lordship of Jesus over time, now and forever. He also inserts the 5 grains of incense symbolizing the 5 wounds of Christ.





Mark lighting the paschal candle. And yes, I am very well aware of who's supposed to light the candle.



Lumen Christi! The Light of Christ! I like this photos, showing the Light of Christ which has come into the world, dispelling the darkness of sin and death.



The people lighting their candles from the Paschal Candle as the Light of Christ spreads and illumines the whole Church.



The Exultet was then sung, the Easter Proclamation. The readings, from Genesis, Exodus and Ezekiel deal with God's Creation of the World, the Fall of Man, the Flight from Egypt where God parted the Red Sea and God's promise to gather His people in the Promised Land constituted the first part of the liturgy. Basically a course in Salvation History.





As Father intones the Gloria, the lights were turned on and the bells pealed.



Fr. Ross then read the Gospel of the Resurrection. Resurrexit sicut dixit!



The Litany of the Saints.



As we have catechumens to be baptized, the solemn blessing of the water was done. In the photo above, Fr. puts blessed salt into the water. The Paschal Candle is then dipped into it 3 times, recalling Christ's baptism in the Jordan.





The Rite of Baptism, bringing these people into God's family.





Above, clothing with the white baptismal garment which they're supposed to bring unstained to the judgement seat of Christ. Yeah... good luck on that! =)



The Light of Christ was then passed on by the sponsors of the newly baptized.





The Rite of Confirmation followed with the Laying of Hands.





Anointing with the Sacred Chrism.











The people were then sprinkled with the newly blessed water to remind us all of our baptism. This happened after we renewed our Profession of Faith.









Receiving Jesus for the first time. Communion by intinction.



Some donkey, I won't name names (ok, I will, it's Matthew Andrews), dripped the wax from his candle all over the pew. Come on, man.



I also attended the Easter Day mass. If you're astute enough, perhaps you'll notice something different on the sanctuary?





And check out the new cassocks! Cool.





Father forgot the sprinkling during the Mass, so the people approached after the final blessing to be sprinkled with Holy Water.

In you're interested in making black cassocks for your parish, kindly contact me and I'll make the arrangements. Each set costs about 150 Malaysian dollars (2/3 of which goes to the tailoring cost), which is about 40 US dollars, inclusive of surplice, 33 buttoned cassock with double cuffs and a cincture. =)

I hope you've enjoyed out Easter celebrations. Comments are welcomed!