For the Vigil I went to my small parish church. Priest past retiring age, organist in her eighties, four servers of whom lead is in his seventies and recovering from a stroke and the others are clueless schoolchildren. It went well.
Main Mass of the Day at the same church, with the same principal cast, disaster. Everybody missed their cues, starting with the entrance antiphon and hymn long before the procession had formed in the sacristy. When the celebrant finally arrived at the altar, there was no charcoal in the thurible; and it went on like that!
I suspect that at the Vigil people knew that they did not know what they were doing, so looked to the celebrant for cues. But Mass of the Day is Mass, they think they don't need to check! And the congregation at the Vigil had an order of service, with all their parts in it, for the Day they had a commercial newsletter with the antiphons, prayers and readings, but needed the hymnal as well.

Sorrows: At the cathedral where I sing/play, the main organist is deaf and relies on an earpiece in order to play. Holy Thursday, he didn't have it in, so the organ was a measure behind all the other instruments, when it was even played on time. Easter Vigil, he had it in, and still never came in on time. The microphones also were going in and out, so you could only hear the Bishop/Cantor/Choir about a quarter of the time. Some music choices were asked for by the bishop that probably won't happen again (Mass of Creation).

Joys: Father & Bishop decided it was time to update the sound system, as well as possibly get a new main organist (I was asked to be an assistant organist as of Divine Mercy Sunday). The cantors were spot-on, and the Exsultet on Easter Vigil (sung by me) was lauded by the bishop as the best he had ever heard. Most of the music choices were pretty good. Hired a violin and flute for Holy Thursday, and Brass Quartet for Easter Vigil/Day.

Yes, there was a timpanist doing crossword puzzles during the homily.

Sorrows: Husband had a gig for Saturday vigil so we went with him. Lovely church, nice organ, instead their director used guitar and some really awful brass players, and my husband on violin trying not to get snarled up in the brass follies lol. I have no idea what Mass setting they used but it sounded like mariachi music. Maybe it was just the guitars. Either way, awful. My ongoing battle with vertigo also made this weekend interesting, had an attack on the way to Mass Saturday night which lasted through Easter Sunday and most of today. I got called to play a funeral today, as if Holy Week wasn’t long enough. I finally collapsed this afternoon and slept for three hours. My accompanist’s 85 year old mother is also ill with pneumonia and is having serious trouble swallowing. She was with her in the ER for ten hours on Saturday and I just got a text saying they’re back in the ER again. I might be on my own for this week but it’s okay, I don’t have anything especially difficult planned for April and can run rehearsal on my own if I need to.

Joys: My own service for Sunday went perfectly, and it was also my first time directing our little handbell choir! The choir sounded beautiful, everything fell into place even though there are MANY things going on with me, with my accompanist, with many choir members and their families, that could have sent the day in another direction. I’m learning to live with whatever condition I have, and it didn’t totally ruin the weekend for me. My physical strength is often lacking, but this Easter I feel like my faith is strengthening and I am reminded that I don’t have to suffer alone. I continue to pray and to seek answers, and I have a follow up this Friday with my doctor.

Prayers for you, FidemInFidebus, especially for your physical strength/vertigo ... and also for the mother of your accompanist.

approx 65 people were confirmed on Saturday evening, with over 20 first being baptized

@ CC: This is outstanding! Wow! I'm sure the saints and angels were singing that threefold Alleluia perfectly in heaven knowing this was coming up!

Joy: not responsible for directing music for Triduum first time since 1973.
Sorrow: priest on Easter Sunday literally directing congregants to take out cellphones at Mass in order to text "Easter Greeting" to someone. "Hit....enter......NOW."

Sorrows: Bit of a disaster at candlelit Compline; the lighting was so dim that the basses couldn't see their music, so 'O Vos Omnes' was, er...interesting.
Joys: Good Friday's unaccompanied chant went v well, and many people commented on the prayerfulness. One of the basses (them again!) was so overcome with emotion that he was seen to be in tears at one point.
Vigil went well, though a heavy downpour meant that the Holy Fire had to be inside the church in a brazier just underneath the choir loft. Fortunately someone had disabled the smoke alarms.
Capacity congregations at all services, hurrah.

I hope you at least gave your illness to the arrogant little snot. ;-)

@StimsonInRehab: perhaps it may bring you some strange comfort to know you were not alone in throwing up on Easter! Sorrow: actually throwing up after eating a nice meal I’d made. Joy (?): none of my cheesy potatoes had time to stick to my thighs LOL. I wish my vertigo was infectious, I sure know some folks that are more deserving of this awful affliction.

Joys- Choir did well on the Easter Vigil and enjoyed the singing. Sorrow- a missing measure in the Hallelujah Chorus and it was my fault. Momentary lapse of concentration on my part and the train came off the rails, but got back on and finished creditably!

New Cantors for psalms sang well and were proud of the jobs they did. Jesus Christ is Risen Today was truly joyful! Not a bad showing for choir that is entirely volunteer and only 2 can really read music.

Personal favorite moment- the organist singing bass and playing on "Jesus Christ is Risen Today."

My sorrow was absence from church and presence in hospital due to heart rhythm problems. I went in on Maundy Thursday afternoon and just got out today, Easter Tuesday. It was painful missing out on Holy Week observances for the first time in my life.

I had been engaged to play Maundy Thursday and the Easter Vigil at St Basil's Chapel, UST; and was supposed to have chanted the propers and a lesson at Walsingham's high mass on Easter Day, plus play for the six o'clock evening mass. Ne'erthless, the music and liturgy at Walsingham were reported to me to have been wondrously beautiful.

Missing out on all this was no fun at all. As an Indian holy man once said, 'we are made holy not by what we do but by what happens to us'. However, if I'm any holier it isn't apparent to me! I did, though, have plenty of meditation and prayer time, and mentally recalled and memorised (without benefit of the scores) all the organ repertory that will be on my 29th April recital at Walsingham.

Private joke -
Greg, um, would you say that the music at the second church you attended was 'banal'.

Sorrows:
• Unseasonably cold – not one day above freezing (prairie Canada)
• Too windy & cold for the Vigil bonfire (minus 23 C with wind chill)
• Our noisy forced air furnace ran a lot (poorly insulated 100 yr old church)

Joys:
• Our small rural parish had good attendance for the Triduum liturgies - for us that is
about 60 - it's a tiny church :)
• We waited until 9PM to start the Vigil
• We hosted Good Friday Tenebrae (3rd year in a row). I sing with an
ecumenical choir in our neighboring city, and they traveled out for this. We use Fr
Weber’s Tenebrae setting with 5 additional choral pieces. We sang from the loft :)
• For the Triduum the psalms and canticles were from CBW II (nice settings imo)
• Good congregational singing
• I had the privilege of singing the Exsultet
• Triple alleluia went well, with our pastor intoning. He’s in his eighties and has a
good and powerful voice. I sang the verses
• Great teamwork from all involved in the liturgies :)