In getting ready for the Easter Vigil and Masses of Easter Sunday, I made an odd discovery. When I looked over the Masses for Easter Sunday, two things were unfamiliar: First, the renewal of baptismal vows and sprinkling in the place of the Creed. Second, the sequence to be sung before the Gospel, the Victimae paschali laudes. I didn't remember either of these things.
And that's when I realized: I have never been to Mass on Easter Sunday! I've always gone to the Vigil for Easter, which after all is the principal Mass. It hasn't been until now--as a priest--that I have reason to go to Mass again during the day.
So all of a sudden in the middle of Holy Saturday I have new music to learn!
3 comments:
I've almost never attended Easter Sunday Mass except when I'm visiting someone at that time of year, because it is my habit to attend the vigil.
Thanks Don! Now I don't have to feel funny about it!
While I would love to go the the Vigil every year, I did not make it this year.
The demands of family life make Mass on Easter difficult. It is more or less impossible to trot out 8 kids to the Vigil. Infants and todlers just can't handle a liturgy that long at that hour of the day.
This means that even on years when I get to the Vigil, I'm back to Mass with the family in the morning, which is no cake-walk either--with a congregation 3-4 times the normal size and the hassels of parking, of not being sure you can get a seat, the extra heat generated by so many bodies so close together, et cetera...
I have an extremely difficult time feeling joyful at Easter Sunday Mass. It is like trying to worship in a busy train station.
A couple of years ago I stopped going to Mass on Christmas Eve for similar reasons. I discovered to my joy that Mass on Christmas morning was not crowded at all, but attended by many of the people I worship with on Sundays.
The Vigil would be a smilar option for Easter--it is likewise not over-crowded--but it is just not suitable for kids.
We have already decided that next year we will try the Extraordinary form for Easter. My friends tell me that it is no more crowded for Easter than a normal Sunday.
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