HOLY SATURDAY / EASTER SUNDAY

Day 32.

Would you believe!

This week is a Christian festival of sorts. Different days each. Beginning with Palm Sunday and ending tomorrow with Easter.

Today is Holy Saturday. Of all the days involved, the most mundane.

Christ died on the cross yesterday. He was buried in a tomb. Today He lies in the tomb. Tomorrow He rises.

I compare Holy Saturday to walking into a funeral parlor with no bodies in waiting. The place empty.

I had a client who was a funeral director. Occasionally, I would stop into his funeral parlor when I was in his end of town. Always a strange feeling when he had no body lying in wait.

Desolate.

Such is how a Catholic Church feels on Holy Saturday. Desolate.

The altar is stripped of everything. All crosses and other religious artifacts in the building covered with black cloth. Like no one lived there.

Tomorrow a different story. The Church’s world changes in 24 hours. The Church itself packed with worshipers. Everyone in a celebratory mood. High Mass a big deal. Processions, singing, the mass itself, etc. Flowers galore covering the altar.

During high school, I was an altar boy, choir singer, etc. Did it all. The Church was my life.

I can recall marching at the head of a long procession carrying a tall gold cross. I was attired in a fire engine red robe, white blouse of sorts. Starched collar with a big white bow. Singing with everyone in the procession Pange Lingua. I can recall the words even now.

He was risen. He was not dead.

Everyone dressed in those days. Men in suits, ladies in their finest dresses. Hats, too.

It was like the movie Easter Parade with Fred Astaire and Judy Garland. Though not as elegant in a small town like Utica.

This has turned into recollection morning. Not planned that way when I began.

Always an Easter egg hunt.

As my children grew, we had the hunt in the house on Easter. My then wife and I would hide the colored eggs all over the house. The kids would then go crazy looking for them.

Our 4 children became too old. No grandchildren yet. So we designated my parents to perform the search. It was as much fun as when the kids did it.

The folks tired with it after a couple of years. It was our turn. The wife and I. Everyone hooted as we searched. There was always a prize to the winner. So everyone who searched moved fast in order to win.

The meal was excellent. Dessert especially.

My mother and then wife made 2 special ones. Cassata and sausage pie.

Sausage pie easy to describe. A thick crust top and bottom with soft tasty sausage inside.

The cassata was the best. Ricotta the base. Filled with all kinds of tiny cut up fruits and chocolate. Three to four inches deep in a large round pan. Baked in the oven in a thick crust all around, under and on top.

It was the best! One problem. Heavy. One healthy portion stayed with you for a week.

The Easters of yesterday! Not the same today. Things change. From dressing, Church, the meal itself. Gone! Even the Easter egg hunt.

Lisa kept the egg hunt tradition up with Robert and Ally. Even Jake got involved. They did it in the back yard. No more, however. Robert and Ally feel they are too big for the egg hunt.

Lisa makes the cassata. Not the big one, though. Not with all the goodies cooked inside. She makes a simple vanilla one the size of an ordinary pie. Still good!

However I hope that once more before my time arrives, I will have the opportunity to indulge myself with the big fruity chocolate one.

I have some Trump bit stories to share. Why spoil the blog and Easter Sunday. There is always another day.

Happy Easter!

9 comments on “HOLY SATURDAY / EASTER SUNDAY

  1. The reason “The altar was stripped of everything. All crosses and other religious artifacts in the building covered with black cloth. Like no one lived there” was because the priests were in the rectory buggering the nuns and underage alterboys.

  2. I remember Easter as a kid too, loved it ’cause it meant winter was over. Didn’t much care for the church part tho!

  3. I think the Lord would not want us all to congregate, anywhere tomorrow, but to worship as we see fit in isolation. This isn’t about church, it is about worship, devotion and faith.

    Meeting someplace to worship is what Jim Jones wanted, for his own sick purpose. Let us be smart and not let any other religious leader, lead us to destruction, intentionally or otherwise.

  4. We really need to test for this Coronavirus (any and all kinds) so that we have an extensive data as to not just what, when and where, which will help us better understand how to allocate resources, but also so that we can understand the virus itself and determine how best to treat and cure. We are now getting more and more reports of people testing positive after having had the virus (any version), treated and as*umed cured. We need more and better data on this.

    The President and his PR machine are telling Employers and anyone else who will listen “Not to Worry about Recording cases” which will probably amplify when the news series and conspiracy echo chambers get going. Please do not believe any of this misinformation and do not let anyone around you to believe it either. We need data, not just to fight this disease, but to treat it, eradicate it and to prevent if from happening again.

    • Is there even a way to do that? Is there some worldwide database (not influenced by politics) where virus infections and re-infections can be recorded? I understand the need as you described it, but I’m not aware of any existing way to aggregate worldwide infection data and draw trends or meaningful conclusions from it.

      • Not sure, are you saying if not then lets give up and die?

        It’s like saying, we can’t go to the moon, there’s no ladder long enough.

        Man, how negative can you be?

    • Not sure, are you saying if not then lets give up and die? Try rethinking it or just get the hell out of the way

      Man, how negative can you be?

  5. Oh, for God’s sake. The doctor has a legitimate concern, and I asked a legitimate question related to his concern.

    Do you have a reply for the doctor?
    The only negativity here is yours.

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