Here and There

I hope all of you had a holy and joyful Easter, and are continuing to be holy and joyful throughout the Easter season.

Holy Week seems to have caused a spike in the number of hits to this site. If anyone who came by then is still around, thanks for dropping by, I hoped you enjoyed the site, and hope you return again.

The Triduum went well for the family. We all attended Mass on the appointed days- although we did skip the Easter Vigil. It is unfortunately too late and too long for the children, and we would have ended up carrying two sleeping children through the subway and buses on our way home. The services were all well done, and any complaints would be superficial and nitpicking. They did omit the Easter Sequence, Victimae Paschale Laudes, but they have never done that at our church. Judging from a few of the other blogs, it was omitted at other places as well. There must be something that can be done, it is supposed to be in the Mass. I'll begin with prayer, and go from there.

Younger was given a little colouring booklet of the Stations of the Cross. She and I went around the stations in the church before the Good Friday Service, and she read from her little booklet. The booklet was surprisingly better than what we usually get from the schools, in that it did focus on how Christ suffered for us. The only oddity was the eighth station, Jesus speaks to the women of Jerusalem. The booklet said the women were sad to see Jesus suffering, but Jesus stopped and spoke to them to make them feel better. Perhaps I'm being obtuse, but telling a group of people that there will come a time when they will cry out "mountains, fall on us" is not exactly "comforting". Quite a few people got a kick out of seeing the little girl leading her father around the stations (honestly, when she pulls me around she looks like a bossy little tugboat leading a bemused battleship) but none thought it may be an idea to emulate her.

Both our children were very well behaved at Mass, and I am proud of both of them.

On Holy Saturday I took my friend from work whom I have mentioned before and his girlfriend on a tour of a few of the older churches of Toronto, plus the Oratory. It went well, and I'll post about it later when I have a little time. To anyone who prayed for my friend, thank you and please continue. There has been progress.

Lastly, I would like to send out greetings and best wishes to anyone who joined the Church last Saturday, and give them what is becoming the traditional welcome from us old Catholics to any new Catholics: Welcome to the Barque of Peter. Here's your bucket. Now start bailing.