Event Alert: Dominican Friars celebrate Vigil of All Saints - And You're Invited!

(click image at left for full-size version)

This Wednesday the Dominican Friars in Washington are hosting their 9th Annual Vigil of All Saints celebration. I heard about this wonderful event last year, long before knowing that I would be attending school with them at the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception this year.

Previous years of the Vigil of All Saints have received widespread Catholic media attention (including coverage in the National Catholic Register and Zenit), as well as praise from Catholic blogs (Amy Welborn, GashwingGomes, for instance).

Even more impressive, last year's Vigil of All Saints was featured in PBS's Religion and Ethics television program.

You can still read the text and watch the video of that report at the PBS website.

The eminently media-savvy Dominican Brothers have plenty of excellent material available online from last year's Vigil and beyond:

• This video contains scenes from their most recent vigil.
• This video containes preaching by Br. Anthony Mary Giambrone, O.P. at the '06 Vigil
• Here is the full '05 Vigil homily, preached by Br. Hugh Vincent Dyer, O.P.
• The Dominican Friars have made available their template for the Vigil so that others might emulate it. Benedictine Monks in St. Louis are doing so for local youth [more info here].

Needless to say, expectations are running high for this year's event. They're expecting over 400 folks to attend.

More from their press release [updated]:

Held in the Gothic chapel of the Dominican House of Studies, this evocative service commemorates the eve before the Christian feast of All Saints (attested to by Church Fathers as early as the Fourth century). It is a celebration of all Christian saints, known and unknown, and is the original source for what has become Hallow'een.

The evening will begin with readings from the lives of the saints and a homily by Br. Ignatius Schweitzer, O.P. Following this, the Dominican friars will lead the singing of the ancient liturgy of Compline, the night prayer of the Church. The service will conclude at approximately 8:30 p.m. with a candle-lit procession to the friars' reliquary while a litany is sung in honor of the saints. Following the vigil, the friars will host a reception in their monastic "refectory" or dining room.

The current Vigil was brought to Washington by a group of young Dominicans in 1998. It immediately began to draw large numbers of college-aged and young adult Catholics, and has become the most popular event of the year at the Dominican House.

I am looking forward to being there, and would urge those in the DC area to attend if they are able!