I have been dreaming of little people in red cassocks and white surplices carrying candles and incense, and the long line of them never ends. It lasts forever, like one of those GIFs on Facebook.\u00a0This, I imagine, is what the DMV will look like in heaven.<\/p>\n
When I awaken, my pillow smells of incense.<\/p>\n
In the shower, I find stray pieces of wax in\u00a0unlikely places.<\/p>\n
My wife says \u201cGood morning.\u201d I chant in reply: \u201cAnd with your spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n
My right arm aches from using the aspergillum.<\/p>\n
I\u00a0am\u00a0shocked that I actually know how to spell aspergillum.<\/p>\n
I resist the urge to genuflect\u00a0as my wife brings me a cup of coffee.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0coffee tastes of incense.<\/p>\n
I log on to my laptop to check the day\u2019s news and am shocked to see no mention of a deacon in Queens who survived eight liturgies in four days. \u00a0Where is this news??<\/p>\n
\u201cExperts\u00a0could not confirm the medical circumstances surrounding his survival, since most ordinary people would have expired\u00a0after the three-hour Easter Vigil. Sources who did not wish to be named suggested the deacon may have survived on a combination of adrenalin, caffeine, Reese\u2019s peanut butter eggs and grace.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Instead, I\u2019m reading about Ted Cruz, Batman and Superman.<\/p>\n
My Entenmann\u2019s coffee cake tastes like incense.<\/p>\n
I return to bed. What day is it?<\/p>\n
Below, highlights of the Easter Vigil, including part of the Exsultet and the gorgeous singing of our choir, from photographer Rosalind Chan<\/em><\/p>\n