As the months and seasons pass for the troops here in Iraq, soldiers can often be heard commenting that in addition to missing loved ones, they miss the things they would be doing if they were at home. Whether it would be taking the kids trick or treating, carving the turkey, decorating the tree, cleaning the fish, hosting the SuperBowl party or taking the motorcycle for the first ride of spring, such traditional activities not only marked the passing of time but also gave meaning and joy to life.

As Easter and Passover observances were held in our camp, it was very obvious that many troops are being sustained by their religious faith and by various traditions, be they religious, military, ethnic, personal or American cultural ones. Woven together with those, the traditions of the Iraqi culture have made life interesting and help us cope with challenging times. Permit me to describe some of the traditions the troops have been participating in that sustained and strengthen them.

As our camp was getting ready to observe St. Patrick’s Day, no marching bands were available for a parade, but a 6 a.m. Near Beer Five-Kilometer Run was held with participants being given green plastic derby hats and T-shirts adorned with shamrocks. It was evident that the runners showed up at that hour not for the non-alcoholic beer but for the hats and T-shirts.

Then in the late afternoon the troops who weren’t on shift gathered at the stage to listen to a band provided by the USO that played Jimmy Buffet Key West songs. Later, the late night place to be was the Reggae Dance Party. St. Patrick must have been disappointed by the absence of a traditional corned beef and cabbage dinner but amused by how the troops observed his traditional day.

The first day of the Catholic Holy Week coincided with April Fool’s Day. I was pleased to see that very few traditions of the ‘day of pranks’ were observed. It was better that way given that we are in a war zone and most people are carrying weapons. Even though the region south of Baghdad has hundreds of acres of date palm trees, for safety reasons I was not permitted to fetch some for Palm Sunday.

So our palm branches were mailed over from Texas.

I ordered enough so that those who attended the Protestant services could observe this religious tradition as well. To focus people’s spiritual reflections for the week, I showed Mel Gibson’s powerful movie, “The Passion of the Christ” on Monday night in the chapel. By the way the viewers exited, it was obvious that they were deeply moved by the film.

Even though troops are working around the clock and our main mission requires much time and many resources, I was able to offer the faith community that is in temporary residence here, the traditional Catholic Holy Week Services. On Holy Thursday, we celebrated the Mass of the Lord’s Supper complete with the Washing of the Feet, as well as the Eucharistic procession and adoration. On Good Friday, we gathered for the Service of the Lord’s Passion with the Veneration of the Cross and communion.

Then on Holy Saturday, we prayed the great Easter Vigil, complete with the Easter Fire, sung Exsultet, Old Testament readings, decent homily, blessing of the Easter Water and baptism of one soldier who was then confirmed and received his First Holy Communion with two other soldiers. It was a glorious celebration for the packed chapel of soldiers, sailors, airmen, civilians and Romanian military personnel.

Some Iraqi translators who are of the Chaldean Catholic faith also attended and they were so moved by this traditional Roman Catholic ritual that they couldn’t stop taking pictures. For the liturgically curious, the service lasted 105 minutes.
These three traditional Catholic services required a lot of extra effort because not only did we not have the standard materials and decorations for the special services which you would find in a church storage room but we also, when not hosting a Catholic service, had to remove any Christian symbols so the space could return to being religiously neutral.

Lacking an environment committee, an organist and a choir, I had to rely on my limited skills and ability to improvise. So in addition to configuring a candle stand to be a baptismal font, and cut plastic water bottles filled with pebbles to be candle holders and vases, a cookie tin was transformed into a fire pit, white bed sheets became wall hangings and silk Easter lilies, ordered by computer from the States, were a sign that the Easter season had arrived.

On Easter Sunday morning, a sunrise service was held in addition to the regular Sunday services. As for the non-church traditions of the holiday, the dining facility served a special meal. In the chapel, we provided jelly beans, chocolate rabbits and marshmallow Peeps from care packages sent by some good folks.

Other traditions that will have to wait until next year to be observed at home included: coloring Easter eggs because there is currently a ban on fresh eggs coming into the zone, an Easter egg hunt because we need to focus our energy on hunting the enemy instead and breakfast with the Easter Bunny because the bunny couldn’t get a security clearance and substituting a camel just wouldn’t be the same.

While the Christians were observing Holy Week and Easter, our Jewish community was celebrating Passover. I was able to send a contingent down to Kuwait to join with a visiting rabbi for the traditional Jewish rituals. I also arranged for them to have a Seder dinner in our camp on the last night of Passover with kosher food sent by kind people from the States.

I was invited to attend and asked to recite a Scripture passage as well. I believe the kindness of the invitations was due to my assisting them these past nine months and not because I, who hold the key to the sacramental wine locker, was needed to provide and deliver the ritual beverages.

In addition to being sustained by our traditional religious services, we recognize that we are also strengthened by prayers from so many of our family, friends and fellow citizens around the world. One notable source of spiritual strength for the troops that arrived here recently was a spiritual bouquet sent from the people of St. Aidan parish in Williston Park, L.I. A spiritual bouquet is a card indicating that the senders will undertake certain traditional devotional acts on behalf of others. They included: 8,276 people attending Mass, 7,023 receiving Communion, the Rosary being prayed 2,479 times, the Stations of the Cross prayed 1,635 times, Novenas prayed 1,973 times and 3,401 Corporal Works of Mercy performed.