Easter mass with/including Easter blessing

for lack of something better.
RUSSIA'S ORTHODOX LEADER GIVES EASTER BLESSING TO CHECHNYA TROOPS. ... Chechens from the
risk of being killed by criminals," he said during Easter mass at Moscow's ...
www.ripnet.org/strategies/alert/chechnya/rolgebtct.htm

Derived from the Latin word meaning "to sprinkle", this is a part of the Latin Roman Catholic mass said in some more solemn services in the English RC church. I am told the custom is still maintained in places, but is tending to die out. It normally introduces the service celebrated, and is designed to remind one of one's baptism, the priest sprinkling consectrated water from a vessel known as an aspergillium over the congregation.
So the correct translation here is "... with Asperges", but probably only a practising roman catholic would understand it without having to run to the dictionary!
Information from the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Northampton, England.

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Note added at 2003-04-17 11:24:29 (GMT)
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Some more on this one: it is NOT confined to Austria, as I was at a \"Marialichtmesse\" in Magdeburg recently, where this started the celebrations; in England at any rate the aspergillum is a perforated bowl with (usually) a silver handle, not a brush or sponge as is used here. Innit strange how customs vary from country to country!??

The phrase literally translates to sponge sanctification referring to the Christian sanctification ritual which requires the presence of a sponge that serves as one of many material symbols related to the act of spiritual cleansing.

seems to be an Autrian custom. The site below has pictures (no explanations, though :-( ), and the pictures show some outdoors blessing ceremony of things that the people brought (sponges? washcloths?), which are later burned. It's definitely more than the "ordinary" Easter blessing.
The Schwammweihe takes place on Easter Saturday. If it would be on Black Friday, the reference would most likely be to the sponges soaked in vinegar offered to Jesus at the cross.

One possibility: e-mail the hotel that offers the Schwammweihe and ask them:
[email protected]
http://members.aon.at/hotelamrainsberg/

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Note added at 2003-04-17 04:29:49 (GMT)
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With all due respect, I am not convinced by the aspergillum. According to the source above, it is used at the beginning of the service, i.e. it is a regular part of the mass. The Schwammweihe, however, is a once-a-year event. If you check out the site above, you\'ll find pictures from the important church events:
Schwammweihe 2002 Sternsänger 2003 Firmung 15.Juni 2002
Pfarrkirchenrat Palmweihe 2002 Palmweihe_2003
Fronleichnamsumzug 2002

Usually, compounds with -weihe describe as first part the thing/being that is being blessed: Kirchenweihe, Priesterweihe, Tierweihe, Palmweihe