The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it: Celebrating Easter in the dark
Holy Week is always a stressful time for clergy and church staff, even in the most ideal circumstances. Over these past three years we’ve had little in the way of “normalcy” around Holy Week and Easter.
2020 saw us celebrate Easter in isolation. 2021 saw us back at church, but with many restrictions hampering our worship traditions. 2022 started looking more normal – but low and behold, I myself ended up testing positive for COVID… on Maundy Thursday!
2023 looked like it would be the first “normal” Easter in years…
Well, that was not to be, at least for our West Island churches. The worst ice storm since 1998 knocked out power in most of the West Island for days on end – throwing Holy Week plans into disarray… a disarray that perhaps reminds us that the first Holy Week was not a week that went how most people involved in the story were expecting!
What to do? The church has no heat or lights. I have no idea what communications my parishioners are able to receive, who even has access to internet or phone service. Should we try to forge ahead, or should we cancel services?
Different parishes made different decisions in this regard. At Christ Church Beaurepaire, I really did not want to cancel any Holy Week services, especially since we had advertised our services widely in the greater community, and also because we had created a combined choir consisting of members from St. John the Baptist’s choir and Christ Church Beaurepaire’s choir, which had worked out a full program for the Paschal Triduum.
As the whole ordeal had descended upon us so suddenly, we made the difficult decision to cancel the Maundy Thursday service. But I was determined not to cancel anything else, even as I wondered whether anyone would even show up – when practically all my parishioners were without power.
Good Friday seemed like an easier call: service at 2pm, so lighting is not an issue. Our combined congregation of St. John the Baptist and Christ Church Beaurepaire gathered in a cold church, stripped bare, of course, for Good Friday. Never have I been so grateful for my wool cassock!
Holy Saturday morning rolled around, and still no power at the church. What should we do about the Easter Vigil? This would be the first Easter Vigil Christ Church Beaurepaire had held in many years, and I had planned for it to be a multi-parish event, bringing together participants form St. John the Baptist (Pointe-Claire), St. George’s (Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue) and Christ Church Beaurepaire (Beaconsfield). Should we cancel? Or should we try to proceed without electricity? If so, how do we manage the lighting?
Finally, we decided to proceed with our Easter Vigil… even with some fear and trembling on my part, as I wondered whether this was this right thing to do.
We pulled out every candle we could find and added a few battery-operated LED reading lights picked up hastily from Canadian Tire. But, would it be enough? Would we be stumbling around in the dark?
Ultimately my fears were baseless. As we listened to the traditional Easter Vigil readings, each holding our own little candles, night gradually surrounded us. Yet the soft glow of candlelight overcame the darkness – a powerful, though unplanned, symbol of Christ’s Light shining forth amidst the darkness of the world.
What initially seemed like an Easter Vigil marred by unforeseen circumstances turned out to be a deeply moving experience for all, as we celebrated the first Mass of Easter by candlelight like our forebears did in ancient times. And even in such difficult conditions, 35 worshipers gathered for this tri-parish Easter Vigil – including clergy representation from our ecumenical partners, as Lutheran Pastor Eric Dyck and United Church Pastor Lisa Byer-de Wever (Merging Waters United Church) took active roles in this special service.
A huge thank you to all who pulled together to make these services happen despite such difficult conditions. But if ever there were a blatant symbol of the truth of Easter, this was it! No darkness can overcome the Light, Life and Love of Christ!
