The lights went out at 11:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 7. The power outage threw much of the south side of Reading into darkness – St. Peter Church and the Parish House included. Of course, because furnaces depend on electricity to ignite the gas, the buildings in the area were without heat.
The church was already quite cold when it was opened for the 8 a.m. Mass on Sunday morning. Luckily, there was bright sunshine pouring through the stained-glass windows on the south side of the church.
In addition to the alb, stole, and chasuble, I donned a stocking cap to celebrate Mass, removing it for the Gospel and the consecration.
After Mass, I travelled to Shenandoah, where I celebrated the midday Mass with the Hispanic community at Divine Mercy. I checked in with St. Peter just before our noon Mass to see if electricity had come back on in Reading. It had not. I understand that the fairly large crowd helped warm the church a little bit.
I returned to the city to prepare for the Sunday evening liturgy. The sun had set and still there was no electricity.
We lit the candles on the altars to provide a little light as we began the 6:30 p.m. Mass. With the subdued light, the shadows it created and the faintly lit gothic arches, it seemed as if we were in a monastery chapel a thousand years ago.
At the proper time, the guitar choir, sitting in the pews in front of the St. Joseph altar, started to sing the “Gloria.” Just a few lines into that wonderful song of praise, the electricity was restored. A few lights went on. And then all of them.
I immediately thought of another annual occasion: the Easter Vigil when candles are lit, the lights are thrown on and bells are rung, providing a wonderful contrast to the darkness of Good Friday and the silence of Holy Saturday.
Oh, how a cold, dark Sunday can be so quickly warmed and brightened by the thoughts of God's love for us in the Paschal Mystery!
By Monsignor Thomas Orsulak, Pastor of St. Peter the Apostle, Reading, and Regional Priest Coordinator of Hispanic Ministry for Berks, Carbon, and Schuylkill deaneries.
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