Yes, it is 9:30 pm and Church is now starting!
As I have been venturing on my quest I have heard rumors of this "Easter Saturday night service" So I decided to check it out! But they weren't exactly easy to find.
After some research I discovered that the "Easter Vigil" is only celebrated by the Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and certain types of Orthodox churches. And to top that all off, a lot of those churches don't often have a Easter Vigil service offered!
So after waiting on a few e-mails....I eventually ended up here.
I could see the crowd entering, I also noticed a large amount of men in suits. For a moment I was concerned that I might be under-dressed, but that was not the case in the end. I didn't get a full count, but I am sure there must have been around 200 people in attendance. I also noticed that people generally dressed in dark colours, vs the bright pastels common to the "Easter Sunday" service. All ages, family groupings and ethnicities were present. Many people came in family groups, some as couples, some came as singles, and some even came as groups of friends! Ushers distributed candle sticks as well all sat in the dimly lit church, awaiting instruction. Eventually the priest came to the front and announced that we were all to proceed outside to the front lawn where they would be blessing the fire and lighting the candle.
As me and the crowd were slowly moving towards the front door, I noticed a short man in a suit standing in the corner, watching the crowd go by. For a moment there I thought I was having a "celebrity encounter". Because this guy looked almost exactly like Patrick Stewart.
Yes, THAT Patrick Stewart.
Beside this all being an interesting coincidence, I bring this man to your attention for an important reason. Sir. Patrick Stewart is not only a long time running British actor, this man is also an activist! I first came to realize this when I came across this quote;
“People
won’t listen to you or take you seriously unless you’re an old white
man, and since I’m an old white man I’m going to use that to help the
people who need it.” —Patrick Stewart, - See more at:
http://vsotd.com/news/quote-week-rhetorical-usefulness-being-white#sthash.TTfijNhq.dpuf
People
won’t listen to you or take you seriously unless you’re an old white
man, and since I’m an old white man I’m going to use that to help the
people who need it.” —Patrick Stewart, Actor - See more at:
http://vsotd.com/news/quote-week-rhetorical-usefulness-being-white#sthash.TTfijNhq.dpuf
People
won’t listen to you or take you seriously unless you’re an old white
man, and since I’m an old white man I’m going to use that to help the
people who need it.” —Patrick Stewart, Actor - See more at:
http://vsotd.com/news/quote-week-rhetorical-usefulness-being-white#sthash.TTfijNhq.dpuf
"People won't listen to you or take you seriously unless you're an
old white man, and since I'm an old white man I'm going to use that to
help the people who need it!" 
Upon further reading I discovered that Sir Patrick Stewart, grew up with a mentally-scarred father (traumatized by WWII) , who repeatedly abused his mother throughout his childhood. This deeply effected Patrick, and drove him to take a stand to protect his mother at all costs.
In 2009 an article was published in The Guardian about his experiences in an article entitled The legacy of Domestic Violence . Since then he has become a strong partner for Amnesty International.
He is also joined a UK based group called Refuge specializing in the protection of women.
This man is a Starship Captain and a real-life freedom fighter??!!
All I have to say to this is:
And here's to you!
Where were we again? The front lawn of the church! Right!
So in the middle of the lawn on a raised platform a small fire was already burning in one of those bowl shaped fire pits that you can buy at Canadian Tire. The congregation gathered around best they could (despite the serious lack of room). The priest and the clergy then went about blessing the fire, blessing a very large candle, lighting it and putting these little red stickers on it, which I did not get a close up view of until the end.
We then proceeded back inside the dark church and then sat in the church, (lit almost exclusively by that one candle) and waited. This waiting involved Church members coming up and reading different pieces of scripture. This alternated with performances from the worship band. I wasn't watching my clock too closely, but I am sure this lasted over an hour. I was thankful for my extra large mocha with a shot of espresso (which I sat and drunk shamelessly in the pews). I am sure I would have fallen asleep otherwise.
P.S. I don't necessarily advise this Church service to people with narcolepsy.
The readings that we heard were all over the board. There were readings from Genesis, the story of Moses dividing the sea, and also the story of how God tested Abraham. The last one was the one that stood out to me. I have heard this piece of scripture spoken on before. This is what is being referred to:
ESV translation- Genesis 22:1-19
After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” 3So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. 5Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boya will go over there and worship and come again to you.” 6And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. 7And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.
9When
they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the
altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid
him on the altar, on top of the wood.
10Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.
11But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
12He
said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I
know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your
only son, from me.”
13And
Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a
ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram
and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.
14So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”;b as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”c
15And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven
16and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,
17I
will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the
stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your
offspring shall possess the gate of hisd enemies,
18and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”
19So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba. And Abraham lived at Beersheba.
I have heard other Church leaders comment on this scripture as being the most "gut-wrenching" part of the Bible to read. For the most part I would have to agree with them. One may even suggest this is a very "un-God like" move, considering God is opposed to human sacrifices. Here is some further food for thought.
I find it kind of heartwarming that God literally stepped in and provided the ram for them to sacrifice. I can't be 100% sure what that looked like. But I am sure they were doing a better job then this guy:
People
won’t listen to you or take you seriously unless you’re an old white
man, and since I’m an old white man I’m going to use that to help the
people who need it.” —Patrick Stewart, Actor - See more at:
http://vsotd.com/news/quote-week-rhetorical-usefulness-being-white#sthash.TTfijNhq.dpuf
People
won’t listen to you or take you seriously unless you’re an old white
man, and since I’m an old white man I’m going to use that to help the
people who need it.” —Patrick Stewart, Actor - See more at:
http://vsotd.com/news/quote-week-rhetorical-usefulness-being-white#sthash.TTfijNhq.dpuf
And then 11pm hit and everything changed. The lights went on in the church, bells started ringing, the draped the cross, the choir started singing, they pulled the purple sheet off the of virgin Mary statue and everything was ALIVE! A team of people even brought in large floral pieces made of Easter lilies and shoots of willow.The priest gave an impressive sermon. I feel this man to be a very real, down to earth and forward kind of guy. After seeing how sleepy we were, he made the joke; "you can take a nap, but don't snore and disturb your neighbours."
In his sermon he stressed multiple times the profound importance of what happened when Christ rose from the grave. He made it quite clear that if Christ had not risen out of death "we would be wasting our time." And Christians would be a pitiful sight to behold.
Quote of the day: "No death! You do not win!"
Apparently last week he gave a sermon detailing a full breakdown of the effects that the torture and crucifixion would have had on Jesus from a medically-understood perspective .
All I can say is...... this guy is good!
“People
won’t listen to you or take you seriously unless you’re an old white
man, and since I’m an old white man I’m going to use that to help the
people who need it.” —Patrick Stewart, - See more at:
http://vsotd.com/news/quote-week-rhetorical-usefulness-being-white#sthash.TTfijNhq.dpuf
But this night was not over.... not even close.
We still had baptisms to get through! Baptisms of two full grown men actually.
The "candidates for baptism" were asked to step forward and they had there families stand beside them for support. At some points their families laid hands on them to pray for them as they were blessed and took their vows. The actual baptism itself was done in a manner where which the person stood and leaned over a large glass bowl mounted on a wooden stand, and the priest scooped some of the water into a golden seashell and poured it over the crown of the persons head while making the symbol of the cross while doing it.
I truly think baptism is a beautiful thing! The room was filled with a feeling of joy and victory, as these two men became baptized (they later received white robes and another blessing form the priest).
It is just a shame how snot-nosed people can become about it! There are a lot of Christians out there that are very critical of other peoples baptisms. And personally it drives me nuts.... because in their eyes there is always something wrong.
If you are not baptized it is WRONG! If you were baptized as a baby it is WRONG, If you were baptized in a different church it is WRONG, if you were sprinkled instead of being fully dunked its WRONG!
I actually was having a conversation with a Church leader once and he asked if I was baptized, and I said yes. Then another lady standing near by cut in and demanded to know if I was "dunked" or not? I looked her in the eye and told her quite bluntly; "It doesn't matter!"
But thats my opinion anyhow....
But just when you think it is all over, there is more!..... (yes this was a damn-long night!)
The whole church renewed their baptisms, including me!... sort of.....(I actually had no idea that people could renew their baptisms!)
This process was not done by a matter of re-dunking per-say but a specific list of vows read out loud by the priest that the members of the church member's give "I do's" for as they progress. Here is a copy:
According to the paperwork I am baptized Catholic, back when I was a baby. So I guess I qualify?........
I am not gonna lie, I value my baptism. But there are parts of the Catholic rhetoric that I can not, and will not be willing to conform to.
All things aside, it was a good service! Definitely a different experience!
.....Okay, so after researching this I discovered that it is supposed to be a snake......but it looks a whole lot like the a common like fish we have here in Alberta referred to as the Northern Pike Fish. And let me tell you, these thing are nasty!
Link-Why is the statue of Marry stepping on a snake?
P.S. Yes..... I have a slight fishing hobby.
Happy Easter Everyone!
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