Photo: Maryna Terletska / Moment / Getty Images
LOS ANGELES (CNS) - The threat of rain forced changes or cancellations Sunday for some planned outdoor events in Los Angeles County to mark Easter, including The Midnight Mission shifting its celebration indoors.
The celebration customarily draws about 2,000 people but officials were prepared for a possible drop in attendance Sunday because of the rain, Georgia Berkovich, The Midnight Mission's director of public affairs, told City News Service.
Homeless and near-homeless individuals and families were served a traditional Easter meal and received hygiene items. Guests could also meet the Easter Bunny, portrayed by comedian and Midnight Mission alum Logan Hobson.
Mark Mackay and his band entertained for the eighth year, performing what it bills as "guitar-driven American music."
A performance by Ase Ashe Drummers From The Heart was also scheduled.
"Of the many services The Midnight provides to our unique community, one of the most important is the sense of family we offer to those who often feel lost and forgotten during the holidays and other days of celebration," Berkovich said.
Indoor Easter sunrise services were held at the Forest Lawn cemeteries in Covina Hills, Glendale, Hollywood Hills and Long Beach from 6-7:30 a.m. Forest Lawn-Glendale conducted its 100th anniversary service, with bilingual services in English and Spanish.
The service was followed by a family Easter celebration, including a performance by the Bob Baker Marionettes, an Easter egg hunt, opportunities to take pictures with the Easter Bunny, arts and crafts, a petting zoo and unveilings of Forest Lawn's monumental Crucifixion and Resurrection paintings.
A pop-up exhibition, "100 Years of Easter at Forest Lawn," opened Sunday at the Forest Lawn Museum at Forest Lawn-Glendale, featuring paintings, photographs and items from its archives to tell the story of a celebration that grew from a few hundred people in 1924 to more than 30,000 attendees.
The exhibit will be on display through July 28.
Easter Sunday Mass, the Mass of the Resurrection of Our Lord, was celebrated at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in English at 10 a.m. by Msgr. Antonio Cacciapuoti, the cathedral's pastor, and in Spanish at 12:30 p.m. by Archbishop José Gomez.
After renewing their baptismal promises, all faithful received a blessing with Easter holy water as a reminder that, in and through Christ, they have died and been born again through the waters of baptism, church officials said.
The feast of the Resurrection of Christ is the oldest and most important Christian celebration. Christians believe that by rising from the dead, Jesus demonstrated his power over sin and death, manifesting his divinity as the Son of God. According to the Christian Scriptures, Jesus is the long- awaited Messiah who offered his life for the sins of the world as was prophesied in the Hebrew Scriptures.