St. Adrian, pray for us!

It was a blast.

Amongst many things that I will miss from Madison, is Easter Vigil at my home parish. It was solemn. It holds the Beauty, ever ancient, ever new. The readings and the music blended well together. It was all sewn nicely. Seven readings throughout the night. Starting from the beginning. It all speaks of salvation history. The cry of Isaac, "...but where is the sheep for the holocaust?" was fulfilled by our Lamb of God (as Jeff Cavins put it nicely on his conversion story).

So, I took a nap and woke up around 7.50. Woops... The mass was supposedly started at 8:30. I still haven't decided what I need to wear, the suit and the tie thing, what color of dress do I want, I haven't taken a shower yet, etc. And I still took the time to eat dinner! =) Our coordinator asked us to come early at 8 so that we would have time to pray and be prepared. I said to myself, "there is no way that I will be able to come at 8." Naughty atun. =P

Went straight to mass by 8:15. Got there at 8:25. Ran all the way to church. When I got there, was relieved that the mass has not started yet! =) Not a good model for coming early at mass.

The whole reading of salvation history was awesome. Well... after the sixth or seventh reading, it is really hard to focus. Not gonna lie. The music was amazing! I was so attempted to play the guitar for this vigil mass, yet I know that it is not wise to do so. It is better to stay at the pew with my candidate.

The gospel. It IS ALLELUIA acclamation! I felt so happy that we finally be able to say that Alleluia again. I see some smile here and there... It has been 40 days indeed and our dying finally came to an end. As Pope JP II said, "We are easter people and alleluia is our song!"

Litany of the saint. St. Adrian, pray for us! It was obvious to me that I picked him because he is that unknown saint. Nobody knows about him. That is my goal in life. That nobody knows who I am and yet still become a saint. Oh, and he also marries Natalia. Which is another story. :P

Baptism. As I see one of my friend got baptized. It touched my heart. I know it was a while ago and yet I realized that it was by the grace of God that I was able to enter the catholic church when I was 4/5th grade. As my candidate brought forward.

As for the communion. The candidate got a chance to go first. Ahh... how I remembered on the old days, when I went to church and all my older siblings got their communion.. Every time, I always asked them, "what does it taste?" =)

Taste and see the goodness of the Lord. It is an amazing night. A night that gave meaning for every night that came forward. The "exultet" nicely says it:

This is our passover feast,
when Christ, the true Lamb, is slain,
whose blood consecrates the homes of all believers.

This is the night
when first you saved our fathers:
you freed the people of Israel from their slavery
and led them dry-shod through the sea.

This is the night
when the pillar of fire destroyed the darkness of sin!

This is the night
when Christians everywhere,
washed clean of sin and freed from all defilement,
are restored to grace and grow together in holiness.

This is the night
when Jesus Christ broke the chains of death
and rose triumphant from the grave.

What good would life have been to us,
had Christ not come as our Redeemer?
Father, how wonderful your care for us!
How boundless your merciful love!
To ransom a slave you gave away your Son.

O happy fault,
O necessary sin of Adam,
which gained for us so great a Redeemer!


Most blessed of all nights,
chosen by God to see Christ rising from the dead!


Of this night scripture says:
"The night will be as clear as day:
it will become my light, my joy."

The power of this holy night dispels all evil,
washes guilt away, restores lost innocence,
brings mourners joy;
it casts out hatred, brings us peace,
and humbles earthly pride.

Night truly blessed when heaven is wedded to earth
and man is reconciled with God!

Therefore, heavenly Father,
in the joy of this night,
receive our evening sacrifice of praise,
your Church's solemn offering.


Accept this Easter candle,
a flame divided but undimmed,
a pillar of fire that glows to the honor of God.


(For it is fed by the melting wax,
which the mother bee brought forth
to make this precious candle.)

Let it mingle with the lights of heaven
and continue bravely burning
to dispel the darkness of this night!




May the Morning Star which never sets
find this flame still burning:
Christ, that Morning Star,
who came back from the dead,
and shed his peaceful light on all mankind,
your Son, who lives and reigns for ever and ever.
Amen.

And again, after the whole mass. We came together as a church not only as a building, but also as a community to mingle around. I am glad that for these 4 years. We all have grown. It is our duty to go forward to praise and serve the Lord wherever we go next. Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Happy easter everyone!

And let us end with this beautiful prayer that Pope says at the end of the way of the cross:

"Christ, give us the peace we seek, the happiness we desire, the love the fills our heart thirsty for the infinite. This is our prayer for this night, Jesus, Son of God, who died for us on the cross and was resurrected on the third day." taken from here.

UPDATE: wooopsss... apparently the word, "we are easter people and alleluia is our song" is mistakenly attributed to Pope JP II, it was originally said by St. Augustine, a man who died 1600 years ago!