Easter!

Patriarch blesses the water

It's Easter! Holy Saturday saw the Patriarch presiding at the Vigil which takes place in the morning not night, of Holy Saturday. The Holy Sepulchre was relatively crowded. Many priests came to join in, as did local christians and religious. The Easter proclamation "Exultet" was sung in front of the Empty Tomb. It was very poignant and moving. And taking place at 7.30am, it is the first Easter vigil even before New Zealand or Japan begins the ceremony. Here we call it the Mother of all Vigils. Jerusalem comes first ... after all the Resurrection took place here.

Lamb of God

I followed everything online as I cannot join in the celebration. It was too crowded and risky for me. Likewise on Easter Sunday, the Patriarch presided at the first Mass at the Empty Tomb at sunrise. I believe it was even more crowded than Saturday. I was told priests could only celebrate if they were given a ticket. Those without cannot concelebrate. 

At lunch, there was the usual easter eggs but this year we have no ma'amoul ... the cookies with date filling shaped as the crown of thorns, the sponge and the spearhead. That's a very traditional local christian goodie here. One big surprise tough ... someone gave us a "Lamb of God" which is a marzipan cake shaped as a lamb. Our italian and polish sisters working in the kitchen always made 4 every Easter, but now our indian sisters don't know the recipe. It's a pity ... maybe I'll teach them to do it next year.

Easter eggs from Georgette

Today is Easter Monday. Everyone goes to Emmaus for the solemn Mass. It's not easy to get there as there are many police roadblocks. You need to bring your passport and vaccination clearance document in order to get back to Israel. Emmaus is Israeli-controlled, an arab village surrounded by a jewish settlement. It's so sad. I was the acting parish priest there 2 decades ago during the 1st Intifada. I miss it very much ... but I can't take the long journey with so many police checks that slow down the trip. I get sick very easily.