An article from the Cathedral Times
by the Very Reverend Samuel G. Candler,
Dean of the Cathedral of St. Philip
I had ten quiet minutes on Easter morning. The time was between 5:50 am and 6 a.m. The place was in the front drive of the Cathedral, along Peachtree Road. I was watching a bonfire whose flames were rising fifteen feet, and whose heat was warming people thirty to forty feet away. The fire was also illuminating the faces of hundreds of Cathedral parishioners, of all sorts and ages, who were lined up at the fence of the horseshoe drive. You were beautiful!
That moment was quiet and wondrous, and it prepared the way for a glorious morning. I was touched on Sunday by the amazing offering of Cathedral parishioners. I must begin by the offering of time! We had four hundred people who were willing to rise early and be at the Cathedral by 6 a.m, offering their time (their early morning time!) for the celebration of Easter!
The entire Day of Easter was glorified by people who had offered their time and energy long before Sunday morning, too. Flower Guild and Altar Guild had worked all week, and especially on Saturday. Choir and musicians had rehearsed and practiced. Acolytes and vergers and readers and clergy had practiced their roles. Boy scouts had laid the fire. Ushers had distributed candles and leaflets and care. Nursery workers contributed on Easter. Staff and volunteers had shown up. Outreach volunteers celebrated Easter Eucharist to the homeless on Easter afternoon. We had another service at 4 p.m and then another at 7 p.m.
Easter was a grand and glorious day because so many people offered something. Thank you, thank you, thank you, for your offerings. Those offerings touched not only your fellow parishioners, but also the curious and faithful visitors to the Cathedral all day.I am also thankful for fifty Cathedral members who have written a meditation for the Fifty Days of Easter. You can find those booklets, "Meditations for the 50 Days of Easter at the Cathedral," in the cathedral itself during the next few weeks. Those meditations, too, are beautiful offerings; parishioners have shared their lives and their faith for the rest of us.
We take a break on Easter Monday (another moment of relative quiet and reflection at the Cathedral), but the season of Easter continues for another seven Sundays. Join us as we continue to celebrate the Resurrection for the Great Fifty Days!
The Very Rev. Sam Candler