In Notre Dame Cathedral Tonight

The web site of the Notre Dame cathedral has the following description of the Paschal Vigil to be celebrated at 9:00 pm French time (link); a translation follows:

Depuis les temps les plus reculés, cette nuit est une veille en l’honneur du Seigneur, et la veillée célébrée cette nuit, en commémorant la nuit sainte où le Seigneur est ressuscité, est tenue pour la mère de toutes les saintes veillées. Elle est le passage des ténèbres à la lumière, la victoire du Christ sur la mort. C’est pourquoi, dans la nuit, le feu et le cierge de Pâques seront allumés. La flamme du cierge pascal sera transmise aux fidèles. Comme dans des centaines de paroisses en France, des baptêmes d’adultes seront célébrés au cours de la Vigile à la cathédrale et la communauté des croyants sera invitée à renouveller avec eux la promesse du baptême, nouvelle naissance en Christ ressuscité.

Since ancient times, tonight is a vigil in honor of the Lord, and the vigil celebrated this night commemorates the holy night when the Lord was resurrected, the ultimate of holy vigils. It represents a passage from darkness to light, Christ’s victory over death. For this reason, in the night fire and the flame of the Paschal candle are lit and passed to the faithful. As in hundreds of parishes in France, adult baptisms will be celebrated during the Vigil at the Cathedral and the community of believers will be invited to renew, with them, the promise of baptism, new birth in Christ resurrected.

The celebrant is André Ving-Trois, the archbishop of Paris. One of the adults baptized there tonight and received into the Catholic Church is our daughter, Michelle. What more can we say? She has always known her own mind and knew how to pick an event. To be sure, this outcome surprised her as much as the profound conversion experience that led to it quite a while ago. My sister Susie is Michelle’s Godmother. Our prayers are with them.

The November Day for Us

Many a year we celebrate Thanksgiving early—and yes, the first time too. It all started a while back now, on the 23rd of November one year, when Brigitte went into labor, and she labored all night to give new life a start! On the 24th was born—Michelle Denise! Happy Birthday, dear, and may your full day at work today—helping other mothers give birth—and culminating in a kind of festival—end on a shivery, dramatic, and exciting note tonight when, surrounded by your children, you’ll be watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows I. Our wishes and thoughts will be flying about in the darkness of the theater above you, unseen but, we hope, not unfelt. Many happy returns.

If I had to Pick One

If I had to pick one picture out of the many score taken on our brief vacation trip up north, this would be the one. Two of our three daughters, Michelle and Monique, morning, Traverse City, Michigan.