Holy Week is here in the Archdiocese of New Orleans

A blessed and spiritual Holy Week to all my readers!

I hope you are ready.  The climax of our Lenten Season, the solemn days of the Triduum, and finally, the grand celebration of the Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday!  It's here and we should be fully prepared.

Today of course is Palm Sunday and some of us may have already participated in the liturgy, which includes the reading of the Passion.  The unique part of this Gospel reading is the participation of the congregation, given some of the most heart wrenching words to say aloud: "Crucify Him".  Perhaps too, at the start of Mass, there was a procession with palms.  And we bring those palms home with us as a reminder of all that we witnessed in this Palm Sunday liturgy.  Remember, the palms are blessed and should never be thrown away.  Many of us return the palms to the church for burning, to be used to make ashes for next year's Ash Wednesday.  If we dispose of them ourselves, the palms should be burned or buried.

During the week ahead, many parishes will hold reflections, extra hours for confessions and other special services.  On Tuesday, here in the Archdiocese of New Orleans, the celebration of the Chrism Mass takes place in St. Louis Cathedral.  Here, every Priest will attend from across the Archdiocese, to renew their Priesthood and to receive the Holy Oils to be used throughout the year for Baptism, Confirmation and Anointing the Sick.  It is a beautiful Mass and is open to the public.  This Chrism Mass is conducted in every diocese although the day is set by the local Ordinary to consider the time and travel of all the Priests.

Wednesday is remembered as Spy Wednesday; the day the Church teaches that Judas cut the deal to hand over Jesus.  It serves as a reminder to all of us that we too "abandon" Jesus in our sinfulness. 

Then the Holy Triddum begins.  Holy Thursday dawns without morning masses.  No Mass can be celebrated that day until the evening time when we celebrate the Commemoration of the Last Supper.  This is such a special Mass.  We have the washing of the feet, the presentation of the oils from the Chrism Mass and then, as Mass appears to near it's end, it does not end.  Jesus is removed from the Tabernacle and a procession takes the Blessed Sacrament to a place of repose.  Usually, a period of Adoration follows until midnight.  The Mass of Holy Thursday gives us three beautiful gifts to contemplate: the Eucharist, the Priesthood and the sacredness of service, the call to wash one another's feet. 

Good Friday follows, one of the most solemn days of the liturgical year.  Again, no masses in the morning, in fact none at all that day.  Remember, the Church is bare, Jesus is not in the Tabernacle.  Many Churches may have Stations of the Cross.  All will have a 3 PM service of the Commemoration of the Passion.  At this service, we venerate the Cross of Christ, we hear the Passion again and we receive Communion from the consecrated hosts from Holy Thursday.  All leave in complete silence.

In the evening some Churches have special services, Stations of the Cross, the 7 last words of Jesus and locally, at my old parish, Most Holy Trinity, there is a beautifully presented Living Stations of the Cross by our youth group.  It is a day of fast and abstinence.  A special note in New Orleans: there is a tradition of walking to or visiting 9 churches during the day.  I will have more to say on this later in the week.

Holy Saturday again dawns with no masses.  But the preparation at each local church is for that evenings celebration of the great Vigil; the Easter Vigil.  The Easter Vigil is a beautiful and somewhat longer celebration divided into a service of light, the liturgy of the Word, where several readings are presented, the Baptism of the Elect and acceptance of the Candidates, and then the liturgy of the Eucharist.  The decorations are generous and the Alleluia's are proclaimed full-throated.

Easter is here.  Sunday morning dawns with beautiful liturgies throughout the day.  Glorious!

This is the week ahead.  Be prepared!  Do your best to be present at as many of the liturgies and services that you can.

Stay informed through your parish bulletin and web site.

Have a blessed Holy Week