[Magdalen] Easter Vigil.

[James Oppenheimer-Crawford]

Flamboyant flourishes?

James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
*“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy

On Thu, Apr 6, 2017 at 11:25 AM, Cantor03--- via Magdalen <
magdalen at herberthouse.org> wrote:

>
>
> There is an article in the current periodical, "Worship," out of St.
> John's
> Abbey in Collegeville, MN.  The subject is the fascinating story
> of the restoration of the "Mother of Liturgies," the Easter Vigil.
>
> This Liturgy is really very ancient, but somehow it had gradually
> traveled from its original evening time to Holy Saturday morning, and
> its performance, perfunctory.
>
> Pius XIII restored the Vigil to its original Holy Saturday time  in
> 1951, but the Liturgy seemed only to  gain general recognition
> in the early 1960's.  I was in the MN Twin Cities by 1963, and  the
> Saint Paul Cathedral implemented the full Easter Vigil Liturgy only
> in 1962.
>
> That was the year when I attended my first Vigil Liturgy at the
> Nashotah Theological Seminary in Wisconsin on a whim.
> I think this was the first time for that seminary to implement the  full
> Vigil Liturgy as well, and an impromptu group from UW-Madison
> Saint Francis House drove over from Madison (about an hour away)
> for the event.
>
> I was positively stupefied.   Of course Nashotah had all the  somewhat
> flamboyant flourishes that are necessary to pull off this greatest of
> liturgical dramas, and I was really impressed.
>
> I don't drive at night any more, so I will wait until Easter Sunday
> morning to observe the feast, but my heart will still be with the
> Vigil.
>
>
>
> David S.
>