Florida Catholic | Easter Vigil Brings New Catholics Into Church

Easter Vigil brings new Catholics into church

Parishes welcome hundreds of new Catholics to the fold, embracing them in faith and love.

KATHY GROBE | FLORIDA CATHOLIC CORRESPONDENT

Published: 04.04.08

TALLAHASSEE | The Mass of the Lord’s Supper, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, the Easter Vigil: The liturgies and devotions of the holiest days of the church year gripped millions of Catholics around the world. In parishes throughout the diocese, in the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Pensacola and the Co-Cathedral of St. Thomas More in Tallahassee, thousands came to renew their faith and celebrate Christ’s death and resurrection. Parishes welcomed hundreds of new Catholic Christians to the fold, embracing them in faith and love.

Holy Thursday found Bishop John H. Ricard, SSJ, washing the feet of 12 of the assembly at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, recalling the acts of Jesus at the Last Supper when he instructed his apostles to serve one another (Jn 13:3-17).

On Good Friday, Tallahasseeans walked the Way of the Cross for the final time during the Lenten season. Members of Pax Christi witnessed to Jesus’ death and resurrection at the state Capitol, and Florida State University’s Catholic Student Union re-enacted the stations on FSU’s Union Green. In the warm Florida sun, Catholic Student Union members, accompanied by Bishop Ricard, led the crowd in praise and worship. With 14 simple wooden stakes as their markers, they walked as Jesus might have walked, commemorating each step with prayer and song. Many were college students, FSU faculty and staff, but worshippers gathered from the nearby co-cathedral, the Sacred Heart Home School Educators Association and other faiths as well. While some passersby simply glanced in curiosity at the proceedings, occasionally someone would join the group in prayer.

Holy Saturday dawned bright and early for the 27 candidates and catechumens participating in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults at the Co-Cathedral of St. Thomas More. The morning began with a retreat that provided opportunities for education, prayer and the sacrament of reconciliation.

Parishioner Ed Schroeder shared his knowledge and love of the church with a slideshow presentation on the religious symbolism found in the co-cathedral. Bishop Ricard, assisted by diocesan seminarians, shared his presentation on the Easter Vigil and its significance. The seminarians each reflected on a reading from the Easter Vigil Mass to help the candidates understand what they were about to experience. Time for personal prayer rounded out the morning’s agenda.

As darkness settled in over Tallahassee, eager conversation filled the air in and around the co-cathedral. Bathed in the glow of the new Easter fire, elect and candidates neared the end of their journey as they processed into the darkened co-cathedral bearing lighted candles and stopping to light candles for the congregation inside.

Brimming with the light of their new faith, the neophytes of the co-cathedral moved into the mystagogia, a period for deepening their understandings of the mysteries of the faith, taking time to reflect on what the Easter Vigil represented for them and what they look forward to as new Catholic Christians. As they shared their thoughts and impressions, it became apparent that all had been touched in some deep and profound way by the power and energy of their conversion.

Virginia Cooper, newly baptized, reflected on receiving Eucharist for the first time. “I was surprised at how the host tasted,” she recalled. “I didn’t think it would last that long. But it did and it made me think about how long Christ would be there for me, how long my relationship with him would last.”

Christy Herzog also had been baptized and she noted she now had two families. “I’ve always been close to my family and it meant so much to me that my sister-in-law was my sponsor. But now I have two families and I know that my church family will be just as important to me as my birth family.” Cathy Herzog, Christy Herzog’s sponsor, echoed the theme of family and rebirth. “Christy has two birthdays now and we will always remember the Easter Vigil as her faith birthday. In fact, for our family dinner on Easter, I baked her a Catholic birthday cake to mark the occasion.”

Social worker Tami Karl echoed the Herzogs’ sentiments, noting how much the warm, welcoming spirit of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults and the church in general meant to her. “When I first walked into that room,” Karl said, “I didn’t know what to expect. I had been baptized Catholic as a baby, but had never learned anything beyond that about my faith. I felt nervous and apprehensive and afraid that I would be judged for my lack of knowledge. It only took a few minutes to realize what I had become part of: a very special family, a new family of faith.”

Ever generous with the waters of baptism and sacred chrism, Bishop Ricard conferred the sacraments of initiation on those who had studied together since August. He baptized the elect, and administered the sacraments of confirmation and Eucharist to them and to the candidates. As the neophytes’ journey to full membership in the church reached its summit, the Brotherhood of Hope led the congregation in what has become a tradition: a pew-pounding welcome for their newest brothers and sisters in faith.

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Easter Vigil brings new Catholics into church

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