As we lined up in the rectory, we were each given a single unlit candle before the procession began.Side Crow Pose Yoga We then followed the priest out of the rectory, onto Sixth Avenue, and up the steps through the main entrance of the church, pausing momentarily to light our candles from a fire just outside the large glass double doors. Pedestrians threw curious glances at the sight of what probably looked more like a pagan ritual than a Catholic ceremony, mostly because of the Greek revival architecture of the church and the presence of a dozen or so robed adults standing around a single source of fire.Side Crow Pose Yoga When we entered the seldom-filled darkened church, our fellow parishioners, holding candles of their own, were standing facing us entering at the rear of the church. The flickering flames from all of our candles cast a beautiful glow, like a halo, throughout the room.
As we arrived in our procession at the dais and stood in position, the organ music began and the lights came up with a theatrical force, calling our Lord to rise up for Easter. The mass lasted nearly three hours. We initiates were anointed one by one with the sign of the cross on our foreheads, and then were invited to sit down in the reserved front pews.
