A Cardinal in Early Spring

For Roman Catholics, the Easter Vigil, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the eve of Easter Sunday, is the most important and beautiful mass of the year.  For parishioners of Saint Joseph’s Church in West Orange, the 2011 Vigil was especially inspiring because Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick was the main celebrant of the mass.

Cardinal McCarrick, a former archbishop for both the Newark and Washington, D.C. archdioceses, began the service outside the church at nightfall with the kindling of the Easter fire and the lighting of the Paschal Candle, the large candle that is lit during the Easter season and at baptisms and funerals throughout the year. As the cardinal, priests, and deacons processed into the darkened church, altar servers lit the candles held by each member of the congregation from the Paschal Candle, all the while accompanied by the music of organ, trumpet and choir.

In the glow of candlelight, Monsignor Donald Guenther, pastor of Saint Joseph's, sang the Exsultet, a series of verses proclaiming the arrival and meaning of Easter, a capella. After a number of scripture readings and homily, Cardinal McCarrick blessed the water in the baptismal font and then sprinkled holy water on the congregation.

Deacon Richard O'Hara said, "Cardinal McCarrick made this an especially moving Easter Vigil. He gave a great homily that used his trip to the Middle East to personalize his message of belief, and he was quite personable with the catechumens. His obvious joy in the Vigil was infectious."

A highlight of the mass came when the cardinal administered the sacrament of Confirmation, a rite of initiation into the church, to three adult catechumens. They later received their First Communion from him as well.

Beverly Famiano of West Orange, one of the catechumens, said she was overwhelmed with emotion and felt blessed to receive the sacraments from the cardinal. "I was looking forward to the Vigil but never imagined Cardinal McCarrick would be there," she said. "I was a little nervous at first, but took great comfort from his eyes as he guided me through the ritual. You could see great compassion and kindness in his eyes and feel his spirituality."

After the mass, Cardinal McCarrick conversed with a number of parishioners, as long-time friend Monsignor Guenther stood at his side. To my son Paul, who had been an altar server at the Vigil, the cardinal said he believed he was talking to a future priest. When my husband laughed, Monsignor Guenther advised him that his father, too, had laughed when told the same thing years ago.

 Clare Silvestri Krakoviak is the 8^th Grade Catechist at St. Joseph's Church.