Easter ceremonies

I put it down to the weather ... wintry showers all day and a freezing night making the local roads quite slippery ... but there were only 6 of us at the Easter Eve service this evening. Still, the new fire blazed, the Paschal candle was lit, and we renewed our baptismal promises around the font. And our closing Gospel reading left us with the uncertainty of an empty tomb "while it was still dark, and Peter and the other disciple making their confused way home again. The resurrection appearances belong to the morning.

And since St. Michael's has no electric lights (apart from a desk lamp over the harmonium), the oil lamps and candles made it look amazing.