Looking to Holy Week

We are only about halfway through Lent, but I wish to look forward to what awaits us at the close of this season: Holy Week and Easter. Holy Week begins on April 13 with Palm Sunday and continues to Holy Saturday, when we celebrate the most important, elaborate, and beautiful Mass of the year: the Easter Vigil. Beginning with the first day of Holy Week, Palm Sunday is when we remember Christ’s entrance into the Holy City of Jerusalem, days before His crucifixion, with people greeting him with palm fronds as may be custom for a victorious king. Later in that same Mass, we recount our Lord’s Passion on the Cross during the Gospel.

On Monday of Holy Week, the Diocese of Phoenix will celebrate the Chrism Mass with Bishop Dolan. This annual Mass is where, as the name suggests, the Sacred Chrism and the other Holy Oils come from. The three Holy Oils, the Oil of the Sick, the Oil of the Catechumen, and the Sacred Chrism, are blessed at that Mass by the Bishop before being distributed to every church of the Diocese to be used for the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick, Baptisms, Confirmations, and certain other uses throughout the year. At OLMC, these Holy Oils are displayed in a wood and glass cabinet on the wall just to the left of the Tabernacle.

On Wednesday of Holy Week, known as Spy Wednesday for the Gospel read that day in which Judas betrays our Lord, OLMC will hold a special liturgy called Tenebrae. This liturgy is a somber prayer and reflection on our Lord’s Passion and death, lit by candlelight; Tenebrae is translated from the Latin for “darkness” or “shadows”. As the liturgy progresses, the candles are sequentially extinguished, recalling how Christ’s Disciples deserted Him during His Passion, one by one. At the very end of the liturgy, the final candle is removed and placed on the altar, symbolizing Jesus’ suffering and death on Calvary. It is then hidden, representing His burial. At this point, loud noises, called the strepitus, are made. This noise signifies the earthquake, confusion, and terror that accompanied Christ’s Crucifixion. The noise stops, and the candle reemerges, its light as fair as ever.

Maundy Thursday comes next, which is named after the Latin word "mandatum," meaning "commandment," which refers to Jesus' instruction to love one another during the Last Supper. It also begins the Paschal Triduum. At the conclusion of the special evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper, and until midnight, we will stay with Jesus in adoration during a special period called “Night Watch,” recalling Jesus asking His disciples to stay awake and pray with Him in the Garden of Gethsemane before His crucifixion.

Of course, Good Friday is the day our Lord was hung on the cross and died. We will recall this event through Stations of the Cross and the special Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion. The final day of the Paschal Triduum, Holy Saturday, is a somber day of waiting and reflection when our Lord is symbolically gone from the world as He was when in the tomb. In the evening, however, we then celebrate the Easter Vigil, celebrating our Christ’s resurrection. The Paschal Candle is blessed, and the Catechumens, who, after months of preparation, join the Church through Baptism, Confirmation, and First Communion. I invite you to put these special liturgies of Holy Week on your calendar to attend, as they are the most rich in symbolism and beauty of the entire year and greatly help to grow closer to our Lord through his Passion, Death, and Resurrection.