Easter!!

Easter is by far my favorite holiday, indeed my favorite day of the year. The magic of Easter Vigil, my favorite mass is always breathtaking. This year, my breath was taken away in German. I attended Easter Vigil at my local church, St. Mauritius. It was splendid. Mass began outside, with an Easter fire. The priest spoke about the miracle of Jesus rising from the dead and blessed the fire. Then he lit the Easter candle from the fire and we went into the dark church. The Easter candle followed and gradually the church filled with soft candle light as we lit out candles from the Easter candle and among one another. Readings from the Old Testament followed in the semi-darkness, and when around 10pm, Jesus rose, the church was flooded with light and the bells and organ began to go crazy. It was amazing! As the bells were ringing to the resurrection, and the organ was blasting the miraculous news- I couldn't help but think, it's 10pm! I wonder how the neighbors liked it. The mass continued in the usual Easter Vigil fashion and seven new members were welcomed into the church, always a very moving experience for me. I remember going to Easter Vigil when I was little and listening to the Priest's words, saying that baptism cleanses you of all your sins. I was always jealous of the people baptized as adults- what kind of sins did I have at 6 weeks? The jealousy has fortunately passed as I've grown older and I can now enjoy welcoming new people into the church guilt free.

Never to be one to miss an opportunity to attend mass, I also went this morning with a few friends. It was a very nice service- but nothing can compare to the magic of Easter Vigil. My roommate is also celebrating her birthday this Easter. I am incredibly jealous. As some of you may know, I was born on Holy Saturday and have been waiting my entire life for an Easter Birthday. It has never happened. One day working at the church last year, I was curious- would I ever have an Easter Birthday? I found a website with the Easter dates until 2050 and found that I wouldn't. I did some further research and learned that the first time I would have an Easter Birthday would be 2051! Recently I looked to see the last time Easter fell on April 2nd, it was 1972! My goal in life is to see my Easter Birthday- it is going to be one amazing party.

But back to Easter. The day was glorious and sunny and warm. The planned Easter picnic was a rousing success. I spent all day yesterday cooking. I made potato salad, challah, devilled eggs, and carrot cake. The carrot cake was delicious and moist. The picture below is very much like what today at my favorite park, Volkspark Friedrichshain, looked like.