Article by Vinnie Beatrice Yapp
Pictures by SOCCOM (Romeo, Johnstone & Jonathan)
Sandakan: Easter Vigil was celebrated in the evening of 8th April 2023 at St. Mary’s Cathedral presided over by His Lordship Bishop Julius Dusin Gitom, in the presence of over 1,000 parishioners gathered in front of the church with unlit candles on their hands ready to celebrate the holiest day, the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Simultaneously, there were three other masses celebrated respectively at St. Joseph’s Church in Chinese by Fr. Raymond Lee Seng Huat and at St. Mark’s Church in Bahasa Malaysia by Fr. Simon Kontou.
The whole church was shrouded in darkness and the prelate initiated the “Service of Light” with the blessing of the new fire prepared at the open space in front of the Cathedral and the Paschal candle had been lit up. The parishioners lit their candles from the Paschal candle and continued their procession into the church. The ‘Light of Christ’ shines in the dark as everyone enters the church. The Paschal Proclamation (Exsultet) was chanted, followed by the readings and Psalms.
Mr. Phillip was chanting the Exsultet
Bishop Julius’ homily, acknowledged that Lent has ended and it is time to celebrate Easter with great joy, a day of celebration because it represents the fulfillment of our faith as our faith is deeply rooted in the resurrection of Jesus. The Easter Triduum is the biggest celebration of the liturgical year in which we celebrate the suffering, death, and, resurrection of our Lord. These are the reasons and culminating point of Lenten preparation and penance.
The prelate reminded the catechumens that baptism is not only a formal act or merely a simple rite of admission into the church, but the beginning of the journey of faith with God.
After the homily, the prelate preceded the baptismal font with the Rite of Baptism. The catechumens who were preparing to be accepted into the Church received the Sacrament of Baptism, which the whole congregation witnessed. A total of 26 candidates (BM and English Class) were baptised at St. Mary’s Cathedral and 8 candidates (Chinese Class) were baptised at St. Joseph’s church.
The Mass ended with a final blessing and a dismissal that included a final “Alleluia”.
“Christ is Risen Alleluia”.