Easter Sunday on the Coast

In an old Looney Toons episode written by Charles (Chuck) Jones and starting Bugs Bunny (the one that introduces the silly red monster with the big sneakers, actually), the opening scene sees Bugs Bunny popping out of his rabbit hole. There, here is dressed in a night gown and a matching night cap while holding a lit candle. He’s half singing to himself and looks around just before breaking the fourth wall and asking the audience, “Say, has yous ever hads the feeling that yous was being watched?” I can definitively say yes, very much yes.

I spent this past Easter Sunday in a town called Morondava, a fishing town on the west coast of Madagascar that doubles as a beach getaway for either wealthy Malagasy or mediocrely broke vazaha like myself and my colleagues. In the past I have struggled to travel on the weekends in Madagascar because it was always hard to find a church or a mass time. But I was better equipped this time with more Malagasy in my back pocket and managed to find a Catholic Church for Easter Sunday mass. The Bugs Bunny quotation is relevant here because out of the 600 people in the church, I was the only foreigner.

This isn’t a new phenomenon for me. I’m typically the only vazaha at mass on Sundays. The difference, however, is that the typical Malagasy in Morondava doesn’t see foreigners very often, let alone one at church. And considering there were only three other people close to my height, I stuck out quite a bit and garnered a whole sea of eyes for a little while. There were several anakizy (kids) who just stared at me the whole time wondering what I would do and how I would act. I think they were a little disappointed, to be honest.

Regardless, Easter mass was nearly 3-hours long. As I mentioned in my blog about Palm Sunday, there are some differences between Catholic masses depending on what culture or country you’re in. Many churches in the States will have an increased arsenal of altar servers. At this church, the priest was preceded by an army of nearly 16 little dudes and another 6 full-grown men probably not much younger than me (I honestly have the hardest time determining someone’s age here). There are other differences, too. For example, the music here in Madagascar reflects the island-style of chant and singing. All the music has an easy rhythm that everyone easily sways along with.

Moreover, there is quite a bit of dancing. Before the readings start, the Bible is escorted by two altar boys down the main aisle. Behind the man holding up the book for everyone to see was a long line of girls performing a traditional Malagasy dance. They were all in sync and very well coordinated with the music. It took probably 5 minutes or more for the Bible to get down the aisle. There was a similar dance during the gloria. And another before the gospel reading. They even all hold hands and dance while they sing the Our Father prayer just before communion. It puts a different spin on things. And in my honest opinion as an observer, it is a profounder expression of Easter joy than I’ve seen in many places. Every aspect of the person, mind, body, and soul are communicating what is on the heart; joy, faith, and love. I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Other than that, mass was pretty normal, other than the fact that it reached 88 degrees by 7AM. Morondava is extremely hot, mafana be, in Malagasy. Besides going to mass early in the morning, we didn’t do much for Easter other than hang out at the resort and enjoy the pool. It’s the first time I’ve been on a vacation Easter. But it was rather interesting to say the least. Indeed, I was gone for nearly 9 days and will have plenty of blogs coming out about all the places we visited and people we met. Madagascar is a huge island. Within a single day we went from jungle to green mountains to rolling hills to dry savanna plains to dry forests and finally to the sweltering coastline. It was all pretty crazy, but the 5, 8, 11, and 15-hour drives were a lot, especially on roads with massive potholes and are not always wide enough for two-way traffic. And let’s not forget the several zebu (cows), chickens, and that one goat we almost hit.

Anyways, I pray that you had a wonderful Easter. Remember that He IS risen! Live the gospel life in all that you do with hope and joy because the victory is won. As always, you are in my prayers each morning. All I ask is that you do the same for me.

My God be praised, alleluia!