... That night, was, of course, the Easter Vigil at the cathedral. It was a beautiful celebration, with the blessing of the fire, the renewal of baptismal vows, and Brother Will Terrazas, our deacon, sang the Exultet very beautifully. The Easter Vigil is traditionally a time when new Catholics are welcomed into the faith. This year, we were very blessed to have 11 baptisms and three professions of faith.

Other vigils

This year, the Latin liturgical calendar also coincides with the calendar of the Eastern Churches, so I had the opportunity to attend two more vigils that night.

In our own cathedral, we had the Ge'ez Rite Ethiopian-Eritrean Catholics celebrating their Easter Vigil. So, I went to greet them after our vigil.

And then I went to join Metropolitan Methodios as he celebrated the Easter Vigil for the Greek Orthodox. I was very honored to be asked to proclaim the Easter Gospel and have an opportunity to say a few words to the people.

Easter Mass

On Easter Sunday (4/16), I celebrated the 11:30 a.m. Mass at the cathedral. It was standing room only and I would say there were about 2,500 people in all. And, because the next day was Patriots' Day, which of course also means the running of the Boston Marathon, at the end of the Mass we had a blessing of the runners.

Lantern Awards

Patriots' Day (4/17) is also the day that the Massachusetts State Council of the Knights of Columbus hold their annual Lantern Awards ceremony. Along with a very large turnout of Knights, we were happy to be joined by many priests, Bishop Samra and Bishop Elya of the Melkite Eparchy, Bishop Bob Reed and Bishop Bob Hennessey who is the State Chaplain. This year the Lantern Award was presented to Jim Brett, who gave a very eloquent acceptance speech. That day also happened to be Bishop Hennessey's birthday so we were sure to sing happy birthday to him and to Father Steve Madden, as well.

Meeting with Catholic Daughters of America

Wednesday (4/19), I met with the leadership of the Catholic Daughters of the Americas in my offices at the Pastoral Center. They were accompanied by their chaplain, Father Salmon.

The Daughters have made a donation of $10,000 to support the pro-life ministries of the archdiocese. We are so grateful for all the Daughters do to support the work of the Church and particularly for this donation to support our important pro-life ministry.

Living the Dream Dinner

Wednesday evening, I attended the Living the Dream Dinner at the Seaport Hotel in Boston to benefit the Sisters of St. Joseph. This year, the Sisters presented their "Dear Neighbor" Award to Jim and Mary Judge.

... As I mentioned in my remarks, the people of the archdiocese have such a great affection for the Sisters of St. Joseph, who literally educated thousands upon thousands of Catholics over several generations here in the archdiocese and have served in so many different ministries. Still today they continue that mission sponsoring Regis, Fontbonne Academy, St. Joseph's Prep.

The dinner was just another opportunity to express that great affection and support the Sisters. We thank all those who played a part in this very successful evening!