Holy Week, in its true meaning:
Holy Week is most definitely a very sacred time of the year, for it is now that we will commemorate and remember the last week of Jesus' life on this earth. These are the days leading up to the great Easter Feast. The Lenten season of sacrifice and self-denial is about to come to an end, but this coming week is extremely important for all Christians. The greatest focus of the week is the Passion (suffering) and Resurrection of Jesus Christ and the events that led up to it.
Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday, which marks Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem. The notable and very ancient feature of the present Palm Sunday service is the reading of the Gospel of the Passion by three readers.
Especially important for Catholics is the Easter Triduum. This is the three days just before Easter. On Holy Thursday, we reenact the Lord's Last Supper, which He shared with His apostles on the night He was betrayed and arrested. This is one of the most beautiful liturgies of the entire liturgical year. On this night, priests all over the world will renew their sacred vows. This is because, at the Last Supper, Jesus not only instituted the Mass (Eucharist) but also the ministerial priesthood.
On Good Friday, the day of the crucifixion and death of our Lord, we have the veneration of the Cross. Typically, a service is held at three o'clock in the afternoon (the hour He is believed to have died) and another later in the evening. There is no consecration of the Eucharist on this day, and the Communion we receive will be from the night before, which has been reserved in the tabernacle.
Holy Saturday is a vigil. We keep watch for the expectant rising of Our Savior. This was the day He went down into the netherworld in order to bring back up with Him into heaven those who had died before His coming. Up to this time, the gates to heaven were closed and no one could go there because of the original sin of Adam. Jesus changed all that. By paying the price for our sins on the Cross, He gained for us our eternal salvation, and heaven was opened once more. Also, on this night, persons who have spent months of preparation will be received through Baptism and Confirmation into the Catholic Church for the first time. It is a joyous occasion.
Those who engage themselves wholeheartedly in living the entire paschal cycle (Lent, Triduum and Easter's Fifty Days) discover that it can change them forever. This is especially so of the Triduum which, standing at the heart of the Easter season, is an intense immersion in the fundamental mystery of what it is to be Christian. During these days, we suffer with Christ so that we might rise with Him at His glorious Resurrection. Holy Week is a time to clear our schedules of unnecessary activities. Our minds and hearts should be fixed on Jesus and what He did for us. Let us bear the Cross so that may be worthy of wearing the crown He wore.
Our schedule for Holy Week, here @ St. Matthias:
Sunday, April 5-Palm Sunday (Passion Sunday):
Live Stream Rosary and Mass (visit www.st-matthias.net or go to our St. Matthias Events Facebook page)
10:00 am & 10:30am-English
12:30 pm & 1:00 pm-Spanish
**you can cut palms from your yard and Fr will bless them during the livestreaming of Mass
Monday, April 6:
Live Stream Mass and Adoration (visit www.st-matthias.net or go to our St. Matthias Events Facebook page)
10:30 am, Adoration afterwards until noon
Tuesday, April 7-Celebration of the Archdiocesan Chrism Mass:
Live Stream Chrism Mass with Daniel Cardinal DiNardo from the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart
10:00 am- www.archgh.org/live
Wednesday, April 8:
Live Stream Mass and Adoration (visit www.st-matthias.net or go to our St. Matthias Events Facebook page)
10:30 am, Adoration afterwards until noon
Thursday, April 9-Holy Thursday (Maundy Thursday):
Live Stream Mass and Adoration (visit www.st-matthias.net or go to our St. Matthias Events Facebook page)
7:00 pm, Adoration afterwards, until midnight
**drive-thru Adoration (YOU MUST STAY INSIDE YOUR VEHICLE; DO NOT GET OUT OF YOUR VEHCILE)
Friday, April 10-Good Friday:
Live Stream Stations of the Cross (visit www.st-matthias.net or go to our St. Matthias Events Facebook page)
3:00 pm-English
5:00 pm-Spanish
**drive-thru veneration of the Cross, located behind the big statue (follow the attached map, and STAY INSIDE YOUR VEHICLE, DO NOT GET OUT)
Saturday, April 11-Holy Saturday:
Live Stream Easter Vigil (visit www.st-matthias.net or go to our St. Matthias Events Facebook page)
8:00 pm-Bilingual
Sunday, April 11-Easter Sunday:
Live Stream Rosary and Mass (visit www.st-matthias.net or go to our St. Matthias Events Facebook page)
10:00 am & 10:30am-English
12:30 pm & 1:00 pm-Spanish
