Easter, the high point of the liturgical year, is celebrated in various forms on and off campus.
Several students go home for Easter and celebrate the holiday with their families and have family traditions that these students return to every year.
Mary Ellen Raymo, a senior at BC, has several family traditions. Her family has Easter dinner together, using their fancy china that they save for Easter and Christmas. Another activity she does with her family is dye eggs.
“I dye them different colors based on the different fish I have and would then cut out paper fins and make fish eggs out of them,” Raymo said.
She also decorates for the holiday with her sister. “When I was younger, my mom had carrot-looking trees and Easter ornaments. My sister and I would fight on who got to decorate it.” Raymo said.
Not all students go home, however; many students stay on campus.
For those who stay on campus, these students have the opportunity to partake in the traditions already instilled on campus.
At St. Benedict’s Abbey, the monks have their annual Triduum retreat during Holy Week. They also traditionally throw an after-party in the Abbey basement following the Easter Vigil Mass.
Some traditions can occur within the Triduum and Easter liturgies.
At St. Benedict’s Parish, one liturgy is celebrated for everyone each day as the sisters of Mount St. Scholastica and the monks of St. Benedict’s Abbey also celebrate the liturgies where they are.
St. Benedict’s Parish also performs the sacraments of initiation for those who are in the OCIA program. This Easter, St. Benedict’s has nine people entering the church.
One tradition that is specific to St. Benedict’s Parish is that the organ is used up until the Gloria is sung on Holy Thursday and is not used again until the Gloria is sung during the Easter Vigil Mass. This is to commemorate the stillness and simplicity of Good Friday.
Fr. Meinrad, one of the priests at St. Benedict’s Parish, said, “Other churches use organs to accompany things, but we try to have the organ quiet until the Easter Vigil so there’s a connection between Holy Thursday and the Easter Vigil.”
Whether celebrating Easter on or off campus, the Triduum and Easter is a beautiful time to celebrate existing traditions or even start new ones of your own!
