PROSPECT HEIGHTS — Israel Rosario was baptized as a child, but at age 7, his grandmother passed, and his family stopped going to church.

“After that, I was in a long period of absence,” he said.

That changed Saturday, April 4 during the Easter Vigil at the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph, with Bishop Robert Brennan celebrating the Mass.

The Easter Vigil — the liturgy marking the transition from the darkness of Christ’s death on Good Friday to his resurrection on Easter Sunday — began, according to tradition, in a darkened church.

But just as Christ’s resurrection brought light to a darkened world, light re-entered the co-cathedral after Bishop Brennan lit the paschal candle, and Father Patrick Keating, the co-cathedral’s rector, carried it into the to the church.

That flame was replicated repeatedly as people in the pews touched wicks on their hand-held candles. Soon, the co-cathedral glowed in candlelight, from the vestibule to the sanctuary.

By tradition, the Easter Vigil is also a time when people who are joining the Catholic faith are baptized, while others received other sacraments.

The Order of Christian Initiation of Adults is the process the Church uses to guide adults through the journey of becoming Catholic. OCIA offers two tracks: one for unbaptized people (catechumens or “the elect”) and another for those who were baptized Catholic but did not receive the other sacraments, or who were baptized into other faiths and now wish to become Catholic (candidates).

Eight catechumens at the co-cathedral Easter Vigil received all three sacraments of initiation: baptism, the rite of confirmation, and First Holy Communion.

Rosario was one of five candidates who received First Holy Communion and the rite of confirmation. Three other candidates received confirmation only.

The Secretariat for Evangelization and Catechesis for the Diocese of Brooklyn has reported that 1,288 people — including 683 catechumens and 605 candidates — will become fully initiated into the faith at Easter Vigils this year throughout the diocese.

For example, St. Martin of Tours Parish in Bushwick has 12 catechumens this year, along with 62 candidates, split evenly between 31 teenagers and 31 adults.

Our Lady of Sorrows Parish in Corona has the highest number of catechumens and candidates this year — 98 — of any church in the diocese, the secretariat reported.

By comparison, the combined total of catechumens and candidates in 2025 was 966.

Also, the 683 catechumens joining the Church this year represent a significant boost from 2021, when 298 joined, according to the secretariat.

For Rosario, receiving the sacraments empowered his faith which had slowly regained momentum when he reached adulthood. He recalled the journey a few minutes before the vigil began, seated in darkness in a front pew with his fellow candidates.

“I tried in my mid 20s to go back to church, and I wasn’t really into it,” Rosario said. “Then in 2024 I was watching the ‘Mary’ story on Netflix. I was like, ‘I want to go to church.’ So, I looked for a church in this area.”

“Oddly enough, I ended up here.”

Rosario explained that the oddity was revealed when he called his father to share that he was attending Mass at the co-cathedral. His father asked if it was the same church on Pacific Street. Rosario was amazed and asked him how he knew that.

“He was like, ‘When we came from Puerto Rico in the 70s, my family came there,’ ” Rosario said.

Rosario subsequently found a photo of his father, aunts, and uncle at the front of the church after receiving communion.

“I really love this community that we have here at St Joseph’s,” he said. “It is very diverse. It has a good range of people from old and young and different ethnicities.

“I love to come to church. I feel most at peace when I’m at church.”

“We’re thrilled to be welcoming over 1,200 people in all of our parishes this evening,” Bishop Brennan told The Tablet before the vigil’s start.

He added that the influx of new Catholics was “a sign of the great commitment of our catechists and all those who work in the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults.”

He also praised the leadership of parish pastors and priests.

“There’s a lot happening here where people are showing their faith,” Bishop Brennan said. “It is bold, joyful, and unapologetic.”