Posted on March 7, 2021 View all news
Laudetur Jesus Christus! Gelobt sei Jesus Christus!
Sia lodato Gesù Cristo! Praised be Jesus Christ!
Easter Sunday is less than a month away. It is hard to believe how fast Lent, and time in general, is going. A few notes regarding Holy Week will make up my bulletin columns over the remaining weeks of Lent. This year, we will be following the Traditional Holy Week in effect before Pope Pius XII’s reforms in 1955. The Holy Week Reforms of 1955, and the new Missal of 1969, contained similar rubrics for Holy Week. So the Traditional Holy Week will be different for anyone familiar with either the Holy Week of the 1962 Missale Romanum or the 1969 Missale Romanum. So I will use my column to help explain some of the major differences to prepare for the holiest week of the year.
Perhaps one of the most significant adjustments is in regards to the timing for the Masses and Liturgies. As a note, on Palm Sunday, the 9:30 a.m. Mass at Old St. Mary’s is being moved to 9:00 a.m. for the sake of time. Note that the Palm Sunday Sung Latin Mass is always long, so please plan accordingly. Palm is also not available at the 7:30 a.m. Mass until they are blessed at the 9:00 a.m. Mass.
All of the Triduum Masses will be at Old St. Mary’s. There will be two days of Tenebræ at Sacred Heart and one day at Old St. Mary’s. Tenebræ, for planning purposes, is two hours, give or take.
On Holy Thursday, we will maintain the usual evening time slot for Mass at 6:30 p.m. Holy Thursday will be the most familiar of all the Triduum Liturgies. We will then keep watch at the Altar of Repose, which will be at the St. Anne altar again this year, until midnight. Following the Mass, for those who would like to participate, Tenebræ for Good Friday will be chanted at Sacred Heart around 9:00 p.m. Tenebræ of Holy Thursday will be chanted at Sacred Heart on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.
On Good Friday, the Mass of the Presanctified, which will be the most different of all the liturgies of the week, will begin at 9:00 a.m. This will be about a three-hour liturgy. Confession will be heard from 12:30 until 2:30 p.m. Stations of the Cross will start at 2:30 p.m. to conclude around 3:00 p.m., the hour in which Our Lord expired. Tenebræ will be chanted at Old St. Mary’s, for Holy Saturday, at 6:30 p.m.
On Holy Saturday, the Easter Vigil will begin at 10:00 a.m. At this Mass, we will also have several to baptize, receive into the Church, and Confirm. There are four to be baptized, five to receive First Communion, and twelve to be Confirmed. This Mass will be roughly four hours long. Following Mass, around 2:00 p.m. will be the usual blessing of Easter Baskets and Food.
Next week I will explain Palm Sunday and Holy Thursday, followed by Good Friday the week after, and then Holy Saturday on Palm Sunday. I wanted to begin explaining these and the times they will be now so that we can enter more fully prepared into the week that brought about our redemption.
Please remember that we have the upcoming Ordination on March 19. Please be sure to keep the brothers in your prayers as they enter the final weeks of their preparation. Also, join us for the Parish Mission that begins today following Vespers and continues through Tuesday. More details are in General News later in the bulletin. I wish all of you a blessed week ahead!