How did you celebrate Easter?

 

How the world decorates for Easter...

We have learned to embrace the traditions gathered around Easter as we have lived around the world.  In some places, Easter was just another Sunday.  Easter breakfast after an Easter sunrise service has always been a favorite for Barb.  In other countries, Easter egg hunts are a big thing (though not necessarily my thing!)  Easter chocolates, Easter bunnies…they tend to get in the way of our celebration of the true meaning of Easter.   Just like Santa Claus and winter holiday gets in the way of celebrating Christmas and Christ’s coming to earth.

Easter ~ that glorious day of freedom announced to the world when Christ proclaimed victory over death and came back to life.

So this year, Easter 2019, we were home in Malmö.  During Holy Week, we had a traditional Maundy Thursday service which was an ecumenical service celebrating the unity of the churches in Malmö.  Good Friday morning we had a service at our local Wesleykyrkan på Limhamn.  Where the color of the day was black.

Then on Easter Eve night, late, kl. 23.30 (that’s 11:30pm for our American friends), we were sitting in darkness at the Svenskakyrkan I Limhamn  (that’s the Swedish Lutheran Church, formerly the Swedish state church, the largest church in Sweden).  Our local congregation has a good working relationship with the local Lutheran Church, so we were part of the team that went early at kl. 22.00 (you do the math this time! ~ what time was that??), to prepare for the celebration.

Steve wearing the appropriate priestly attire for the evening ~

There were lots of details to review:  how we would read our Scripture texts in the dark, when did the lights come on, the baptisms, the daffodils being attached to the cross, and the wool ornaments.

Wool ornaments?  What’s that about? 

Don’t worry ~ I’ll get back to that later!

So, at kl. 23,30, the sanctuary was pitch black.  No lights on (except for the emergency light over the exits in the sanctuary and there was some street lamp light coming thru the church windows).  We were 5 who sat in the last row of the sanctuary and read our Scripture texts as we passed along a microphone and an IPhone which provided the light to read the text.  In between each text, there was a mournful violin solo that was being played by a very accomplished young Swedish musician.

And then we sat.

In silence.

Just in case you wondered what one does at an Easter eve vigil.

It was silent.

It was dark.

Exactly at kl. 0.00 (that’s midnight, in case you wondered), the bells started to toll.  Deep.  Ringing.  The kind of ringing that sets off a bit of a vibration in your own chest. 

And then the lights started to go on.

And the procession began.

They put on the sanctuary lights. 

The candles were lit all over the altar and in many of the church windows.

And the altar was redressed to its’ pre-Lenten glory.

We celebrated communion.

Two school age children were baptized.

We processed daffodils to the cross and attached them to that cross.

And as we processed to the exit of the church, in order to hang our wool ornaments, there was a plastic champagne fluke light glass filled with sparkling apple juice and chocolate Easter eggs to grab on your way out of church, on your way to hang up the wool ornaments.

Silly me....I thought the wool ornaments were to be taken home.  Instead, they were for decorating the birch branches!

Not sure what the wool ornaments were for, other than perhaps to bring some color to the plain branches that were tied to the outside of the church.  If you google Easter traditions in Sweden, this is what they say about the birch branches: The origin of birch twigs was a reminder of Christ’s suffering.

Being reminded of Christ’s suffering.

It’s what we celebrate on Easter.

And what we celebrate every day.

Until He returns!