@11:45Am, Monday Mt Time USA. Dom Says, witness our solemn Easter Sunday celebrations...

Gbex seemed to be so drowned by his week-long vacation in the province, so, on his behalf, I am posting here one of the highlights of the concluded Holy week Celebration of my community: The Easter Sunday Celebrations of the community of monks of Christ in the Desert Monastery.

The community of monks of Christ in The Desert is faithful to the Catholic Church in celebrating Its Liturgical Occasions and Events from New year, Lent, Easter, Advent and Christmas. These celebrations are usually done in a sacred solemn atmosphere and no flashings of cameras are allowed in order not to disrupt the flow and the sacred ambience of the Liturgical Celebration being conducted either in our Church or in Its yard.

If someone has to take photos of the ongoing Service in or out of the Abbey Church, whether a bystander, a guest, or a monk himself, the photographer has to maintain his seclusion from the crowd and community (as in, he needs to hide himself and let not anyone from the whole congregation notice his taking of pictures) and avoid getting conspicuous in the whole crowd. In this way, the smooth, undistracted ongoing Celebration is carried out.

Of the celebrations we conducted last week for the week-long observance of the Holy Week from Holy Thursday Washing of the feet to the Sunday Easter Proclamation, it was only during the Sunday Service that one of the monks was able to courageously take its pictures for documentation.

It was during our 2:00Am Sunday Easter Celebration that Dom John Vianney was able to capture the Blessing of Fire in our cemetery, the Preparation and lighting of the Paschal Candle, The Procession from the Monastery cemetery to the Abbey Church, The Easter Vigil, and the Easter Celebration of the Holy Eucharist.

Quite a record from dom John Vianney as he indeed succeeded taking these photos, after struggling himself not to let anyone noticed that he was taking pictures of these celebrations. I only learned of his triumphant gesture during our banquet celebration at the refectory when he told me that he had captured, in his digicam, pictures of the freezing monks during the Blessing of Fire in the monastery cemetery and inside the Abbey Church at 2:00Am, and he was just too willing to share them with me in my flash drive.

I gladly took the offer and ran to my cell for my flash drive and handed it to him. In the afternoon after the banquet, the photos were with me!
I had to edit their sizes from my Photoshop as they came in big sizes of 3,264 x 2,448 pixels and had to adjust their brightness in my Microsoft Photo Editor so as to be able to view them nicely in the web. So my friends, here are the captures of our 2:00AM Sunday Easter Celebrations in the cemetery and in the Abbey Church.

Enjoy them and be edified!