Holy Week

     Holy Week is upon us. In lieu of my usual column, I offer you our Holy Week Schedule. I encourage you to try to get to as much of the Holy Week schedule as you can. Holy Church gives us, as it were, a guided tour through the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

   Additional Confession Times: In order to make it more convenient to get to confession, I will be hearing confessions at the following times, in addition to the usual half an hour before Mass on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. (I will not be hearing confessions half an hour before the services on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday.) If there is still a line at the end of the scheduled time, I will keep hearing confessions.

   Mon. 5:30 - 7:00 p.m. Fri. noon-1:00; Sat. 8:00-9:00 a.m.

   Maundy Thursday: Mass begins at 6:30 p.m. The bells are rung during the Gloria of this Mass; they will not be heard again until the Easter Vigil. After Mass, the Blessed Sacrament will be taken to the Altar of Repose set up in the old daily Mass chapel, symbolizing the removal of Jesus from among his disciples, and all depart in silence. The Faithful are encouraged to spend an hour with Jesus some time before 10:00 p.m., when adoration closes. Only the Northwest door of the church will be unlocked during this time. It is a pious custom to try to visit many altars of repose this night. And [Jesus] cometh to his disciples and findeth them asleep. And he saith to Peter: What? Could you not watch one hour with me? Watch ye: and pray that ye enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. (Matt. 26:40-41) (I will lock up early if a time comes when no one is here.)

   Good Friday: Good Friday service begins at 3:00 p.m. Three o'clock is the customary hour because it is the hour when Jesus died on the Cross. No Mass is celebrated today. The highlights of today's service are the reading of the St. John's account of the Passion, solemn prayers for all conditions of people, the adoration of the Cross, and Holy Communion distributed from the reserved Sacrament. Then, all depart in silence. The Good Friday service is a strange liturgy for a strange day, and there is no other day like it on the calendar. Pilate saith to them: shall I crucify your king? The chief priests answered: We have no king but Caesar. (John 19:15)

   → Good Friday is a day of Fasting and Abstinence.

     Holy Saturday: There is no morning Mass. The Easter Vigil Mass begins at 8:00 p.m. Highlights of the service are the blessing of the Easter Fire and the Paschal Candle, the singing of the Exsultet, the reading of seven prophecies of the Resurrection, the blessing of the baptismal font, the renewal of our baptismal promises, followed by Mass as usual. The Easter Vigil places before us the whole scope of Salvation History and shows how it all leads to Christ. Be not affrighted. you seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen: he is not here. Behold the place where they laid him. (Mark 16:6)

   Easter Sunday: Mass as usual, with the addition of an extra chant called the "sequence" being sung before the Gospel. Mass at 10:00 am. A person may receive Holy Communion at both the Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday Masses.

Fr. Jason P. Stone, April 6, 2025