Celebrating Easter Vigil at home 2020

In these interesting times of being at home and not able to get out to church, I thought it might be helpful for others to see how to conduct a Liturgy of Light in your home.  This is similar to what happens in Catechesis of the Good Shepherd.  The Easter Vigil in many churches includes introducing a new candle at the evening service.  You can have your own home liturgy similar to that which happens in the Church.

You need to prepare a candle to use.  Find a pillar candle that you can paint.  Acrylic paints seem to be the best.  Consider how you would like to paint it.  The decorations need to be a cross.  Also you need to include the year "2020" and the symbols for Alpha and Omega.   Here are some pictures to see how we have done it in past years.

You can also look up #domesticeastercandle on Instagram for more photos.  

And please share your photos with this hashtag!  

The Liturgy is here.  You can print a copy for each family member, or read from your phone or computer.  Feel free to adapt to your needs!  I wish you a very happy Easter Triduum.

Children's Liturgy

I attend a church that is family friendly.
Children do not attend children's church or children's connecting time.
They do not leave to cry in a cry room.  (they cry in the pew, thank you very much)
It's about being in church with your children and parenting them the whole time you desperately try to listen.

Today I listened as best as I could.  It was double joyful as the children in the 5th and 6th grades were the lectors and servers and gift bearers and offering taker-uppers.  It was VERY family friendly today.

And when the darling fifth grade child (thank God it wasn't my child) read the Psalm for today it was classic.

Have you read Psalm 40 in the second week of Ordinary time in cycle B???

It sounded like this.

Sacrifice or offering you wished not,
but ears open to obedience you gave me.
Podcasts or sin-offerings you sought not;
then said I, “Behold I come.”

Did you catch it?  I think perhaps it was the Holy Spirit guiding the child's word choice?  Perhaps I will work towards more quiet this week and listen more to the quiet and less to the podcasts.