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V. Good Friday 58. On this day, when "Christ our passover was sacrificed," [63] the Church mediates on the passion of her Lord and Spouse, adores the cross, commemorates her origin from the side of Christ asleep on the cross, and intercedes for the salvation of the whole world.59. On this day, in accordance with ancient tradition, the Church does not celebrate the Eucharist: Holy Communion is distributed to the faithful during the celebration of the Lord's passion alone, though it may be brought at any time of the day to the sick who cannot take part in the celebration....

I am convinced that if it were not for commercial and cultural factors, Easter would be more important to us than Christmas. SNIP ...with Palm Sunday, the week before Easter, much of the Christian world enters into a period of reflection and, ultimately, celebration known as “Holy Week.”...While the LDS community does not formally observe Holy Week... SNIP I fell in love with the Bible when I was in high school. Moving to Tennessee and being immersed in the Baptist Bible Belt probably helped. Perhaps that is where I picked up a bit of my “evangelical” flair. I did not...

Editor's note: For most of the past ten years my family and I have attended Nativity of the Mother of God Ukrainian Catholic Church in Springfield, Oregon, pastored by Fr. Richard Janowicz. This past Sunday, Palm Sunday, Fr. Richard gave the homily below; I asked him if I could republish it on Ignatius Insight. He graciously agreed. One note of explanation for those who might not be familiar with Holy Week liturgies in the Byzantine rites: on Good Friday, a burial shroud with an image of the crucified Christ is venerated by the faithful, and carried in procession. (See,...

March 31, 2010                                 Wednesday of Holy Week   Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading IIs 50:4-9aThe Lord GOD has given me a well-trained tongue,That I might know how to speak to the wearya word that will rouse them.Morning after morninghe opens my ear that I may hear;And I have not rebelled,have not turned back.I gave my back to those who beat me,my cheeks to those who plucked my beard;My face I did not shieldfrom buffets and spitting.The Lord GOD is my help,therefore I am not disgraced;I have set my face like flint,knowing that I...

Chrism Mass: Sharing in the Anointing of the Christ By Rev. Christopher Bazyouros One of my favorite moments in the Rite of Baptism for Children is the post-baptismal anointing with chrism oil. Its fragrant aroma stirs profound memories of moments in my life, especially those connected with my priesthood.One moment, certainly, was the day of my priestly ordination when that same oil was poured over my hands by Cardinal Roger Mahony. The foundation of that moment was laid many months before at the celebration of the Chrism Mass on 14 April, 2003. My classmates and I, being deacons at...

Tuesday of Holy Week - 2004 Fr. Shannon M. Collins, CPMThe Fathers of Mercy Resident Priest - Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament Tuesday of Holy Week "I tell you solemnly, one of you will betray Me" (John)i. Although an instrument of torture and execution, the Cross was chosen by our dear Lord as the best instrument to bring about the Redemption of the Human Race. It was the perfect instrument, for it is proper that if we fell as a race near a tree — the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, it is only proper...

Anyone with access to EWTN right now can you tell KV and I who this duo singing the musical drama on the Crucifix. Absolutely beautiful voices this these two gals have. Would like to know so we can look into other music they do. On a side not KV is glued to the theatre of screens that wrap around his room when he is really into a production/sports ect. One plays the flute/one keyboard/both speak with an accent and voices like angels. Back to KV being glued to the set both gals are very wholesomely attractive with long strawberry blonde...

March 30, 2010                                   Tuesday of Holy Week   Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading IIs 49:1-6Hear me, O islands,listen, O distant peoples.The Lord called me from birth,from my mother’s womb he gave me my name.He made of me a sharp-edged swordand concealed me in the shadow of his arm.He made me a polished arrow,in his quiver he hid me.You are my servant, he said to me,Israel, through whom I show my glory.Though I thought I had toiled in vain,and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength,Yet my reward is with the Lord,my recompense is...

Scripture readings, prayers, and reflections this Holy Tuesday (Martes Santo), will focus on Christ’s commandment for mankind “to love one another,” as well as on charity and spiritual vigilance. Also known as Great Tuesday, today’s liturgical narratives: The Parable of the Ten Virgins (Matthew 25:1-3) and the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-20) remind the faithful of the need to repent, forgive others, and be ready and prepared for His second coming, as well as of the need to grow in charity, love, and concern for others. Gospel readings will focus on John 13:21-33,36-38 wherein Jesus foretold the treachery of...

Holy Week and the Priesthood March 27th, 2010 by Fr. Kyle Schnippel This week is a study of contradictions.  We begin the week we call ‘Holy’ by welcoming Christ triumphantly into Jerusalem.  Just a few short moments later, we proclaim the story of his Passion from one of the Synoptic Gospels.  Holy Thursday begins the final moments of Jesus’ earthly life, while also marking the beginning of our entrance, through Him, into Eternal Life.  Good Friday’s solemn veneration of the Cross and Holy Saturday’s Proclamation of the Exultet continue the contrast right up to the end, as we proclaim the...

Holy Week is considered to be the most important week in the calendar of the Catholic Church. For five weeks of Lent, Christians have been preparing spiritually for the celebration of the Paschal Mystery of Christ. On Palm Sunday, we opened the week with the commemoration of our Lord’s entry into Jerusalem. This is an invitation for us, too, to welcome Christ into our hearts, our homes, and in our social life. The Holy Week is a time for us to pause and reflect on the mysteries of God’s love for us and discern how faithful we have been to...

He is despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from him; He was despised, and we did not esteem him. (Isaiah 53v 3 NKJV) This verse is from the prophecy of the coming of the suffering servant, the Messiah Jesus. The Jews at the time of Jesus did not accept him as the Messiah; they were expecting a military Messiah, someone to come and overthrow the Romans by force. Jesus did not fit the bill. As such he was indeed despised and rejected. He was misunderstood....

“Who Is This King of Glory?” (Psalm 24:7-10; Luke 19:28-40; 23:1-56)“Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.” So the psalmist writes, and then he adds this question, calling for our reflection: “Who is this King of glory?” That is our question this morning, on this Day of the Palms, when we also look ahead to the Day of the Passion. Today we look upon this man Jesus, riding into Jerusalem, and we ask, “Who Is This King of Glory?” Well, on Sunday, Palm Sunday, he certainly...

The history of Passiontide and Holy WeekTaken from The Liturgical Year by Abbot Dom Guéranger, O.S.B. After having proposed the forty-days' fast of Jesus in the desert to the meditation of the faithful during the first four weeks of Lent, the holy Church gives the two weeks which still remain before Easter to the commemoration of the Passion. She would not have her children come to that great day of the immolation of the Lamb, without having prepared for it by compassionating with him in the sufferings He endured in their stead.The most ancient sacramentaries and antiphonaries of the several...

SOLEMN MASS OF PALM SUNDAY FROM ROME- LIVE ( 3 hrs) Pope Benedict XVI celebrates the Solemn Mass of Palm Sunday, live from Rome. Sun 3/28/10 3:30 AM ET / 12:30 AM PT LIVE Sun 3/28/10 8:00 PM ET / 5 PM PT Encore CHRISMAL MASS IN ROME - LIVE ( 2 hrs) Thu 4/1/10 3:30 AM ET /12:30 AM PT SOLEMN MASS OF THE LORD'S SUPPER FROM ROME - LIVE (150 min) Pope Benedict XVI celebrates the Solemn Mass of the Lord's Supper, live from the Basilica of St. John Lateran.. Thu 4/1/10 11:30 AM ET / 8:30 AM...

Sunday, March 28, is Passion (Palm) Sunday (Year C, Cycle II). Papal March 28, Palm Sunday and Passion of the Lord 9:30am, St. Peter’s Square, Blessing of the Palms, Procession and Holy Mass (Watch it at EWTN at 3:30am Eastern / 12:30am Pacific and 8pm Eastern / 5pm Pacific.)March 29, Monday, Anniversary of the Death of Pope John Paul II (moved from the Easter Triduum) 6pm, St. Peter’s Basilica, Mass (Watch it at EWTN noon Eastern / 9am Pacific.)April 1, Holy Thursday 9:30am at St. Peter’s Basilica, Chrism Mass   (Watch it at EWTN at 3:30am Eastern / 12:30am...

“Love for Disciples” (John 13:1-17, 31b-35)“Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” Yes, he did. Maundy Thursday is all about Jesus’ love for his disciples. “Love for Disciples” to receive, “Love for Disciples” to learn. Love for disciples to receive--in the footwashing. Let’s set the scene. It’s the evening of the Passover. Time for the Passover meal. This is the meal all Jews ate every year on that date, to commemorate the night the Lord brought Israel out of bondage in Egypt. It was a special occasion, solemn and sacred. Jesus had...

Holy Thursday and the washing of the feetA meditation on Lent from The Liturgical Year by Abbot Dom Guéranger, O.S.B.After having, on this day, washed the feet of His disciples, Jesus said to them: 'Know ye what I have done to you? You call Me Master and Lord: and You say well, for so I am. If then I, being your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; you, also, ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that as I have done to you, so you do also.'[1] Although the meaning of these words...

America is not a Christian Nation, so says Christopher Hitchens and is debated by Ken Blackwell

On the Holy Triduum "Hope Is Nourished in the Great Silence of Holy Saturday" VATICAN CITY, APRIL 8, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI gave today at the general audience in St. Peter's Square. * * * Dear Brothers and Sisters, Holy Week, which for us Christians is the most important week of the year, offers us the opportunity to be immersed in the central events of Redemption, to relive the Paschal Mystery, the great mystery of the faith. Beginning tomorrow afternoon, with the Mass "In Coena Domini," the solemn liturgical rites will help us...