Happy Easter!

Holy Saturday is a quiet day, an anomaly liturgically, since technically it has no service of its own besides the Liturgy of the Hours, as the Church waits for the celebration of Christ's resurrection with the Easter Vigil service that night. Anomalies perhaps flock in clusters, because I presented something of one myself upon arriving to Saint Peter's that evening for the vigil. Several of us clergy traveled across town by bus with umbrellas on the ready in case the threatening clouds stopped being threatening and started being earnest. I, however, was carrying on my person a pair of shoes and belt for my underdressed but soon to be replete contact Luke (he has a great post on our Aosta ski trip, by the way), who was wearing torn sneakers and belt-free pants into the most solemn liturgy of the year--something you simply don't want to do.

This was not the full extent of my strange baggage, however. Part of our exchange included Luke porting in two pounds of bacon (hearkening in no way back to the Jewish temple sacrifices, kosher as they were) for me to appropriate for our post-vigil middle-of-the-night American brunch. Finally, I was also carrying in my great coat (great because it could do things like this) a copy of the estimable comedian Brian Regan's latest DVD, also in preparation for late (or early) Easter festivities.

Bacon and Brian Regan. I'm pretty sure that's a priestly first at Saint Peter's . . .