Easter Vigil

servers and paschal candle
Swiped from danielkedinger.

On Holy Saturday, SK, mum and I left for church at 5:45pm to catch the Easter Vigil Mass for the mandarin-speaking congregation. Experience tells us that the turnout would be huge and the roads would most probably be jammed. But our kiasu-ness was for naught this year. It was smooth all the way and it was easy to get parking. The mass started at 6:45pm. All the lights were switched off and everyone moved to the main entrace where a coal stove was burning. It was used to light the Paschal Candle, a tall white candle about 50cm long. On the surface is a cross where the priest will symbolically use incense to mark the wounds of Christ during the Passion. Then, the priest will carry in the lighted Paschal Candle and announce the "Light of the World" for 3 times. Halfway through, the congregation will have their own candles lighted from the Paschal Candle. From then on, the liturgy will start and the Gloria would be sung for the first time since the 40 days of Lent. It was High Mass, a no-holds-barred kind of ritual where nearly everything was sung and the incense censers and holy water was brought out.

6 readings were read that night and luckily I did not feel sleepy. Hehe. Perhaps cause I was too preoccupied with the kids sitting in the pews around me. One girl to my left was busy making sure that her candle was dripping wax on the floor. Her guardian seemed to be zoned out and indifferent to her behaviour. At one point, she was busy peeling the dried wax from the side of the candle and sprinkling the bits everywhere. Still no response from her guardian. Amazing. Such a lack of civic-mindedness. The kid at the back was also a monster. His poor grandmother couldn't control him. Whenever he was reading his PC Gamer mag, he was good, but when he was not.... busy playing with the lighted candle although everyone else had blown out their's. Even brought along a balloon and sloppily blew into it only to noisily let the air out later. I was tempted to whack the fella with something. Sigh.

The other reason that made the mass long was the Sacrament of Baptism that happened at the same time. The cathecumens "die" to their old selves and be "reborn" to a new life in Christ. A very apt parallel for Easter. The holy water to used at the baptismal font is first blessed by dipping in the Paschal Candle. There's the singing of the Litany of the Saints. Then, the cathecumens' hands are annointed with chrism. Later, they are blessed by the priest and holy water is poured 3 times over their forehead...

"I baptise you in the name of The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit"

It was quite comical seeing some of the cathechumens needing to pushed down towards the font due to their height or have bangs that should have been swept aside before stepping up to the altar. Brings back memories of the time I was baptised in 2006. Later on, they light candles from the Paschal Candle's flame and are given a white scarf to symbolize their new life. Since Good Friday, the Tabernacle was left opened and empty, with the red lamp turned off. With the Liturgy of the Eucharist, the newly-baptised receive their first communion and the red lamp is turned on again.

By 9:00pm, the celebration was concluded. We hung around a while before heading to Lotus at Aman Suria for some supper. Had naan with tandoori chicken, maggi goreng and tosai. The food is definitely better than at Kayu, but the service was a bit pening. Was supposed to eat at Kayu, but it was filled to the brim with soccer fans. But thanks to that, we discovered a better place for supper.

Did anyone have any Easter Eggs? (I'm not talking about the ones in your pants).