Renewing the light of hope and faith

PROVIDENCE — The lights darkened and the stained-glass windows glowed softly Saturday night as the Easter Vigil began at the Cathedral of SS. Peter & Paul.

After a prayer, light slowly began to return to the cathedral as parishioners passed a flame from one candle to another.  

The resurgence of light after darkness symbolized the meaning of Easter — life after death and hope after despair.

Before beginning his homily, Auxiliary Bishop Robert C. Evans spoke of a different kind of rebirth — the one the Cathedral of Notre Dame must go through after it was heavily damaged in a fire earlier this week.

“The terrible fire at Notre Dame in Paris reminds all of us how fragile are the beautiful buildings that we call the houses of God,” he said. “Every cathedral is a mother church.”

The Cathedral of SS. Peter & Paul is 130 years old and has been an important facet of life for Catholics in the Providence area for more than a century, he said.

“For 130 years, the faithful have come here for the most important moments of their life and in the life of the church of the Diocese of Providence,” he said, before mentioning a campaign by the diocese to raise funds to help preserve and maintain the cathedral and prevent a catastrophe like the one that befell Notre Dame.

“The tragedy of Notre Dame reminds us that the church, especially the cathedral, is our mother, and who among us would ever want to see anything bad happen to our mother?” he said. 

This part of the service stuck with Carmen McClary, who, after the vigil, said she had the opportunity to see Notre Dame last year.

“I was there last November,” said McClary, of Providence. “I was able to see the place and had a picture with it. I was sad when I heard about [the fire]. I was really emotional about that.”

For McClary and many others, Easter is about revival, redemption and, of course, celebrating with family and friends.

Though her Easter celebrations have changed since moving to the U.S. from the Philippines, where she often celebrated with a large feast of roast pig and other traditional delicacies, she still brings some of her native cooking to the holiday. Earlier that day she made sticky rice with a friend, she said.

After the service, Dora Villari, of Cranston, also reflected on the traditional Easter foods enjoyed in her home country, Colombia. On the holiday, her family would often eat lamb and a variety of Colombian sweets, including cuajada con miel, a type of cheese eaten with sweet syrup; obleas con arequipe, wafer cookies with caramel spread; and pan de yuca, a puffy bread pastry.

“Sometimes I get cravings,” she said.

But beyond celebrating with food, family and prayer, Easter signifies a new beginning, she said.

“It’s the revival of hope,” she said. “It’s a rejoice that we can have Jesus present in our lives as we commemorate his resurrection.”

— mlist@providencejournal.com

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