Since tomorrow is Easter and there is no Paas egg dye in sight, we had eggs for dinner and made the little tiny holes in the shells so we could paint them...
Not sure if you can tell, but Thomas's egg is a Bionicle egg, apparently..Last night the family went to the Good Friday service at our Church -- it was all in Chinese, and hard for Sophia to stay still for, although it was so familiar to us and we were glad to be there. Tonight Michael sent me as a representative of the family to the Easter Vigil. Again -- the service is so familiar to me, that I always knew what was going on, and some times had glimpses of understanding the Chinese a bit too, since I knew what reading was going on and could listen for key words I know. WE started outside, where the priest built and blessed the fire to light the Easter candle (my photo did not come out) form which we all lit our candles. The church was packed and I ended up standing in the back with an Australian woman we know. I took what I though would be a lovely photo of the faithful with their candles...until this woman answered her phone in the middle of my picture (and of Mass, by the way...still a ways to go on cell phone etiquette here).
The church really looked beautiful tonight and I realized how lucky we are to have a church like this in Xiamen, and a vibrant Catholic community.
During the Easter Vigil is a traditional time to baptize adults, and there were 5 baptisms and confirmations tonight, including the one below. It was very moving for me to be present for this service, and I especially wanted there to be baptisms. By the way - I can read the characters on this banner -- ye li lu ye (Alleluia). The church was beautifully decorated tonight. The video below is the "Gloria" in Chinese -- right after they turned up the lights form the Liturgy of the Word... More tomorrow on the big day itself..
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