The Biggest Laugh of Holy Week

As I was preparing for our Easter Vigil, a representative of the Orthodox Mission borrowing our Chapel for their Vespers of Lent and the Great Pascha liturgy, came up to speak to me.  He asked if anyone from our Church would be here and would be interrupted at midnight when their service would hit high gear.  I stared at him.  I almost broke out in laughter.  Lutherans in Church from 11 pm to 1-2 am?????   But I bit my lip and laughed only on the inside.  "No, our vigil will, sad to say, be over long before then..."

Hmmmmm.  He left me with much to think about and not a little to snicker at.... Imagine if we had the Vigil at 11 pm and went into the early morning hours.... Ahhhh... but it would never happen...  Even a zealot Lutheran like me likes his sleep.  Plus we do not have the luxury of having only one mass on one altar (as the Orthodox do).  Instead I will begin again with the first of three Easter masses at 7 am, the next at 9 am, and the final at 10:45 am.... and if I can, I might squeeze some egg casserole and a muffin or bagel and some fruit in after the 7 am mass...  But, truth to the be told, even I am kinda relieved that Lutherans are long in bed by the time the Orthodox just get going... Perhaps in another time I might harken back to the Orthodox celebration, the three times around the Church at midnight shouting "Χριστός ἀνέστη!" (as I did a couple of years in college), the blessing of Easter food, and other delights from the East... but not this year.