Holy & The RCIA March 18, 2021 Page 1 of 10

The Mass (DVD1) and Explanation

Holy Week - March 28 - April 3, 2021 Holy Week is the week before Sunday, beginning seven days before with . It ends with Holy . Easter is not part of Holy Week, but rather the beginning of the Easter season of the . Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday. On this day, we celebrate the triumphant entry of Our Lord, Christ, into , riding a donkey. On that day, the people laid palms before Him, a gesture reserved for triumphant leaders. We celebrate this at Mass by distributing palms to the faithful who may keep them for a time for use as devotional objects. The palms are blessed at Mass. The faithful sometimes craft portions of palm fronds into crosses. Eventually, these palms are returned to the Church where they are burned. Traditionally, their ashes are saved and distributed at next year's services. Later, when Jesus entered the , he angrily drove out the money changers who had turned the Temple court into a place of business instead of devotion. Once the court was cleared, Jesus began teaching the masses. Meanwhile, His enemies drew plans to kill Him. The next major event in Holy Week is Holy . On this day, Jesus celebrated the feast with the disciples. We know this feast as the . This is the night He was betrayed by Judas and arrested. The Last Supper is celebrated at every Mass, and especially on Holy Thursday. After supper, Jesus went to the Mount of Olives and prayed. From this event comes inspiration for our practice of Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration, where we are invited to spend one hour in prayer with Jesus, truly present in the ; Body, Blood, and Divinity.

1 The Meaning of the Mass - Source and Summit DVD, School of Faith, Libib ID 2010000006412. It is intended the DVD be watched frst, then this description of Holy Week and Masses. Strikethroughs indicate changes for 2021 celebrations due to COVID restrictions. Highlights indicate items of major importance. RED text indicates Holy Days of Obligation. Underlines indicate section breaks or emphasis.

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Jesus was arrested on the night of Holy Thursday. The next day is , and on this day, we commemorate the trial, punishment, and crucifxion of Our Lord. On that morning, Jesus was brought before Annas, a powerful Jewish cleric who condemned Jesus for blasphemy. From there, Jesus was presented to Pilate for trial. Although Pilate found no guilt in Jesus, he agreed to have him crucifed to appease the crowd of people and prevent a riot. Christ was stripped, fogged, and crowned with thorns. He was then forced to carry His Cross to the place of His execution. There, He was nailed to the Cross between two thieves who were likewise crucifed. Late that afternoon, seeking to ensure Christ's death, a Roman guard stabbed him in his side with a spear. When Jesus died, an earthquake is said to have occurred as well as a great darkness which covered the land. Suddenly, many people knew Jesus was the Son of God. Jesus was taken and laid quickly in a borrowed tomb, in accord with Jewish law, which required the dead be buried by sundown before the . In our churches, the Tabernacle is left empty, to show that Christ is departed. On , there is no Mass. may hold services, but there is no distribution of . On Holy Saturday, we remember that Jesus was descended into hell where He preached the to those who died before and opened the way to heaven for all those who were worthy. This concludes Holy Week. The following day is Easter Sunday, the day on which it was discovered the Tomb was empty, and our Lord was resurrected, triumphing over death once and for all time.

Palm Sunday - March 28, 2021

Holy Day of Obligation Palm Sunday is the fnal Sunday of , the beginning of Holy Week, and commemorates the triumphant arrival of Christ in Jerusalem, days before he was crucifed.

Palm Sunday is known as such because the faithful will often receive palm fronds which they use to participate in the reenactment of Christ's arrival in Jerusalem. In the , Jesus entered Jerusalem riding a young donkey, and to the lavish praise of the townspeople who threw clothes, or possibly palms or small branches, in front of him as a sign of homage. This was a customary practice for people of great respect.

Palm branches are widely recognized symbol of peace and victory, hence their preferred use on Palm Sunday.

The use of a donkey instead of a horse is highly symbolic, it represents the humble arrival of someone in peace, as opposed to arriving on a steed in war.

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A week later, Christ would rise from the dead on the frst Easter.

During Palm Sunday Mass, palms are distributed to parishioners who carry them in a ritual into church. The palms are blessed and many people will fashion them into small crosses or other items of personal devotion. These may be returned to the church, or kept for the year.

Because the palms are blessed, they may not be discarded as trash. Instead, they are appropriately gathered at the church and incinerated to create the ashes that will be used in the follow year's Ash Wednesday observance.

The colors of the Mass on Palm Sunday are red and white, symbolizing the redemption in blood that Christ paid for the world.

Holy Thursday / The Last Supper Holy Thursday is the of the Last Supper of Jesus Christ, when he established the sacrament of Holy Communion prior to his arrest and crucifxion. It also commemorates His institution of the priesthood. The holy day falls on the Thursday before Easter and is part of Holy Week. Jesus celebrated the dinner as a Passover feast. Christ would fulfll His role as the Christian victim of the Passover for all to be saved by His fnal sacrifce. The Last Supper was the fnal meal Jesus shared with his Disciples in Jerusalem. During the meal, Jesus predicts his betrayal. The central observance of Holy Thursday is the ritual reenactment of the Last Supper at Mass. This event is celebrated at every Mass, as party of the of the Eucharist, but it is specially commemorated on Holy Thursday.

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He also establishes the special priesthood for his disciples, which is distinct from the "priesthood of all believers." Christ washed the feet of his Disciples, who would become the frst priests. This establishment of the priesthood reenacted at Mass with the priest washing the feet of several parishioners. During the Passover meal, Jesus breaks bread and gives it to his Disciples, uttering the words, "This is my body, which is given for you." Subsequently, he passes a cup flled with wine. He then says, "This is my blood..." It is believed those who eat of Christ's fesh and blood shall have eternal life. During the Mass, Catholics rightly believe, as an article of faith, that the unleavened bread and wine are transformed into the body and blood of Jesus Christ through a process known as transubstantiation. There have been notable Eucharistic miracles attributed to this event, such as bleeding hosts (communion wafers). The Last Supper is celebrated daily in the as part of every Mass for it is through Christ's sacrifce that we have been saved. On the night of Holy Thursday, Eucharistic Adoration of the takes place where the faithful remain in the presence of the Eucharist just as the Disciples kept a with Christ. Following the Last Supper, the disciples went with Jesus to the Mount of Olives, where he would be betrayed by Judas.

Entrance Antiphon for Holy Thursday HOLY THURSDAY is the most complex and profound of all religious observances, saving only the . It celebrates both the institution by Christ himself of the Eucharist and of the institution of the sacerdotal priesthood (as distinct from the 'priesthood of all believers') for in this, His last supper with the disciples, a celebration of Passover, He is the self-offered Passover Victim, and every ordained priest to this day presents this same sacrifce, by Christ's authority and command, in exactly the same way. The Last Supper was also Christ's farewell to His assembled disciples, some of whom would betray, desert or deny Him before the sun rose again. On Holy Thursday there is a special Mass in Cathedral Churches, attended by as many priests of the diocese as can attend, because it is a solemn observance of Christ's institution of the priesthood. At this ' Mass' the blesses the Oil of Chrism used for and Confrmation. The bishop may wash the feet of twelve of the priests, to symbolize Christ's washing the feet of his Apostles, the frst priests. The Holy Thursday liturgy, celebrated in the evening because Passover began at sundown, also shows both the worth God ascribes to the humility of service, and the need for cleansing with water (a symbol of baptism) in the Mandatum, or washing in Jesus' washing the feet of His disciples, and in the priest's stripping and washing of the . Cleansing, in fact, gave this day of Holy Week the name Thursday.

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The action of the Church on this night also witnesses to the Church's esteem for Christ's Body present in the consecrated Host in the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, carried in solemn procession to the fower-bedecked , where it will remain 'entombed' until the communion service on Good Friday. No Mass will be celebrated again in the Church until the Easter Vigil proclaims the . And fnally, there is the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament by the people during the night, just as the disciples stayed with the Lord during His agony on the Mount of Olives before the betrayal by Judas. Good Friday - April 2, 2021 Good Friday is the day on which Catholics commemorate the crucifxion of Jesus Christ. Catholics are joined by almost all other Christians in solemn commemoration on this day. It is also a legal holiday around much of the world. According to the gospels, Jesus was betrayed by Judas on the night of the Last Supper, commemorated on Holy Thursday. The morning following Christ's arrest, he was brought before Annas, a powerful Jewish cleric. Annas condemned Jesus for blasphemy for refusing to repudiate Annas' words that He was the Son of God. From there, Jesus was sent toPontius Pilate, the Roman governor of the province. questioned Jesus but found no reason to condemn Him. Instead, he suggested Jewish leaders deal with Jesus according to their own law. But under Roman law, they could not execute Jesus, so they appealed to Pilate to issue the order to kill Jesus. Pilate appealed to King Herod, who found no guilt in Jesus and sent Him back to Pilate once again. Pilate declared Jesus to be innocent, and washed his hands to show that he wanted nothing to do with Jesus, but the crowds were enraged. To prevent a riot and to protect his station, Pilate reluctantly agreed to execute Jesus and sentenced him to crucifxion. Jesus was convicted of proclaiming himself to be the King of the Jews.

Before his execution, Jesus was fogged, which was a customary practice intended to weaken a victim before crucifxion. Crucifxion was an especially painful method of execution and was

18 March 2020 Holy Family - Eudora Deacon Bill G. Holy Week & The Mass RCIA March 18, 2021 Page 6 of 10 perfected by the Romans as such. It was reserved for the worst criminals, and generally Roman citizens, women, and soldiers were exempt in most cases. During his fogging, the soldiers tormented Jesus, crowning Him with thorns and ridicule. Following his fogging, Jesus was compelled to carry his cross to the place of His execution, at . During his walk to the site of His execution, Jesus fell three times and the Roman guards randomly selected Simon, a Cyrene, to help Jesus. After arrival at Calvary, Jesus was nailed to the cross and crucifed between two thieves. One of the thieves repented of his sins and accepted Christ while on the cross beside Him. A titulus, or sign, was posted above Christ to indicate His supposed crime. The titulus read, "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews." It is commonly abbreviated in as "INRI" (Iesus Nazarenus, Rex Iudaeorum). During Christ's last few hours on the cross, darkness fell over the whole land. Jesus was given a sponge with sour wine mixed with gall, a weak, bitter painkiller often given to crucifed victims. Good Friday: The Crucifxion of Jesus Christ, the Church and the Sacraments Prior to death, Jesus spoke His last words, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" This line is the opening of Psalm 22, and it may have been common practice to recite lines of songs to deliver a greater message. Properly understood, the last words of Christ were triumphant. Guards then lanced Jesus' side to ensure He was dead. At the moment of Christ's death, an earthquake occurred, powerful enough to open tombs. The long, thick curtain at the Temple was said to have torn from top to bottom. Following the incredible events of the day, the body of Christ was removed from the cross and laid in a donated tomb, buried according to custom. The events of Good Friday are commemorated in the , a 14-step devotion often performed by Catholics during Lent and especially on Good Friday. The Stations of the Cross are commonly recited on Wednesdays and Fridays during Lent. Another devotional, the Acts of Reparation, may also be prayed. Good Friday is a day of within the Church. Traditionally, there is no Mass and no celebration of the Eucharist on Good Friday. A liturgy may still be performed and communion, if taken, comes from hosts consecrated on Holy Thursday. Baptism, , and of the sick may be performed, but only in unusual circumstances. Church bells are silent. are left bare. The solemn, muted atmosphere is preserved until the Easter Vigil. • On Good Friday, the entire Church fxes her gaze on the Cross at Calvary. Each member of the Church tries to understand at what cost Christ has won our redemption. In the solemn ceremonies of Good Friday, in the Adoration of the Cross, in the chanting of the 'Reproaches', in the reading of the Passion, and in receiving the pre-consecrated Host, we

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unite ourselves to our Savior, and we contemplate our own death to sin in the Death of our Lord.

• The Church - stripped of its ornaments, the altar bare, and with the door of the empty tabernacle standing open - is as if in . In the fourth century the described this day as a 'day of mourning, not a day of festive joy’.

• The liturgical observance of this day of Christ's suffering, crucifxion and death evidently has been in existence from the earliest days of the Church. No Mass is celebrated on this day, but the service of Good Friday is called the Mass of the Presanctifed because Communion (in the species of bread) which had already been consecrated on Holy Thursday is given to the people.

• Traditionally, the organ is silent from Holy Thursday until the at the Easter Vigil , as are all bells or other instruments, the only music during this period being unaccompanied . The omission of the prayer of deepens our sense of loss because Mass throughout the year reminds us of the Lord's triumph over death, the source of our joy and blessing. The desolate quality of the rites of this day reminds us of Christ's humiliation and suffering during his Passion. We can see that the parts of the Good Friday service correspond to the divisions of Mass:

◦ Liturgy of the Word - reading of the Passion. ◦ Intercessory prayers for the Church and the entire world, Christian and non- Christian, including a special prayer for COVID victims and caretakers. ◦ Veneration of the Cross ◦ Communion, or the 'Mass of the Pre-Sanctifed.'

The Veneration of the Cross In the seventh century, the Church in Rome adopted the practice of Adoration of the Cross from the Church in Jerusalem, where a fragment of wood believed to be the Lord's cross had been venerated every year on Good Friday since the fourth century. According to tradition, a part of the Holy Cross was discovered by the mother of the emperor Constantine, St. Helen, on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 326. A ffth century account describes this service in Jerusalem. A coffer of gold-plated silver containing the wood of the cross was brought forward. The bishop placed the relic on the a table in the chapel of the Crucifxion and the faithful approached it, touching brow and eyes and lips to the wood as the priest said (as every priest has done ever since): 'Behold, the Wood of the Cross.' Adoration or veneration of an image or representation of Christ's cross does not mean that we are actually adoring the material image, of course, but rather what it represents. In kneeling before the crucifx and kissing it we are paying the highest honor to the our Lord's cross as the instrument of our salvation. Because the Cross is inseparable from His sacrifce, in reverencing His Cross we are, in effect, adoring Christ. Thus we affrm: 'We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee because by Thy Holy Cross Thou has Redeemed the World.'

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The Reproaches (Improperia), are often chanted by a priest during the Good Friday service as the people are venerating the Cross. In this haunting and poignant poem-like chant of very ancient origin, Christ himself 'reproaches' us, making us more deeply aware of how our sinfulness and hardness of heart caused such agony for our sinless and loving Savior. A modern translation of the some of the Reproaches, originally in Latin follows: My people, What have I done to you? How have I offended you? Answer me! I led you out of Egypt; but you led your Savior to the Cross. For forty years I led you safely through the desert, I fed you with manna from heaven, and brought you to the land of plenty; But you led your Savior to the Cross. O, My people! What have I done to you that you should testify against me? Holy God. Holy God. Holy Mighty One. Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us. This year, we may approach the cross in single fle and: a) genufect; b) bow; or c) nothing - just stand for a second and exit. Three times during Holy Week the Passion is read - on Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, and Good Friday. By very ancient tradition, three clergy read the three principal parts from the sanctuary: Jesus (always read by a priest), Narrator, and all the other individual parts. The people also have a role in this - we are those who condemn the Lord to death. Hearing our own voices say 'Away with Him! Crucify him!' heightens our consciousness of our complicity by our personal sinfulness in causing His death. Easter Sunday - April 4, 2021 Easter is the celebration of Christ's resurrection from the dead. It is celebrated on Sunday, and marks the end of Holy Week, the end of Lent, the last day of the Easter (Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday), and is the beginning of the Easter season of the liturgical year. As we know from the Gospels, Jesus Christ rose from the dead on the third day following his crucifxion, which would be Sunday. His resurrection marks the triumph of good over evil, sin and death. It is the singular event which proves that those who trust in God and accept Christ will be raised from the dead. Since Easter represents the fulfllment of God's promises to mankind, it is the most important holiday on the Christian calendar. In the Gospels, the precise details of the Easter narrative vary slightly, but none of these variances are critical to the main story. In fact, it is argued that the variances are simply matters of style and not substance. Despite the variances, the key aspects of the Easter story all match. Above all, they agree that the tomb of Christ was indeed empty, which is the most essential fact. Based on direct evidence from the mid-second century, it is believed that Easter was regularly celebrated from the earliest days of the Church.

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The Easter date is movable and always falls on a Sunday between March 22 and April 25. Easter in the Roman Catholic Church is always on the frst Sunday after the frst full moon after the spring equinox. Most Catholics attend Easter Vigil at midnight, although the services can be lengthy because many sacraments are performed, such as and Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults, during the Mass. Services during the daytime on Easter are shorter and well attended. Sunrise services are common, but are distinctly Protestant. Sunrise services are gathered before dawn and refect the arrival of the women at Jesus' tomb early in the morning. The services take place outdoors, often in church yards, cemeteries, or in parks, and are timed so the sun will rise during the course of worship. Traditional family activities vary by region. In the , children often hunt for Easter eggs, which are often brightly-dyed hard boiled eggs, though they can be plastic eggs flled with candy or small denominations of money. Candy is a traditional gift for Easter as children often break their Lenten fasts with sweets. Adults tend to share bouquets of fowers, greeting cards, and may gather for a family meal. Such celebrations are often secularized and focused on children and family rather than the religious aspect of the holy day. Following Easter Sunday, the season of Easter begins and lasts for seven , ending with . The Feast Easter is the principal feast of the ecclesiastical year. Leo I (Sermo xlvii in Exodum) calls it the greatest feast ( festum festorum ), and says that is celebrated only in preparation for Easter. It is the centre of the greater part of the ecclesiastical year. Commemorating the slaying of the true of God and the Resurrection of Christ, the corner-stone upon which faith is built, it is also the oldest feast of the Christian Church, as old as , the connecting link between the Old and New Testaments. The connection between the Jewish Passover and the Christian feast of Easter is real and ideal. Real, since Christ died on the frst Jewish Easter Day; ideal, like the relation between type and reality, because Christ's death

18 March 2020 Holy Family - Eudora Deacon Bill G. Holy Week & The Mass RCIA March 18, 2021 Page 10 of 10 and Resurrection had its fgures and types in the Old Law, particularly in the paschal lamb, which was eaten towards evening of the 14th of Nisan. In fact, the Jewish feast was taken over into the Christian Easter celebration; the liturgy ( ) sings of the passing of Israel through the Red Sea, the paschal lamb, the column of fre, etc. Apart, however, from the Jewish feast, the Christians would have celebrated the anniversary of the death and the Resurrection of Christ. But for such a feast it was necessary to know the exact calendar date of Christ's death. To know this day was very simple for the Jews ; it was the day after the 14th of the frst month, the 15th of Nisan of their calendar. But in other countries of the vast Roman Empire there were other systems of chronology. Easter has no fxed date, like Christmas, because the 15th of Nisan of the Semitic calendar was shifting from date to date on the Julian calendar. Since Christ, the true Paschal Lamb, had been slain on the very day when the Jews, in celebration of their Passover, immolated the fgurative lamb, the Jewish Christians in the Orient followed the Jewish method, and commemorated the death of Christ on the 15th of Nisan and His Resurrection on the 17th of Nisan, no matter on what day of the week they fell. For this observance they claimed the authority of St. John and St. Philip. In the rest of the empire another consideration predominated. Every Sunday of the year was a commemoration of the Resurrection of Christ , which had occurred on a Sunday. Because the Sunday after 14 Nisan was the historical day of the Resurrection, at Rome this Sunday became the Christian feast of Easter. Easter was celebrated in Rome and Alexandria on the frst Sunday after the frst full moon after the spring equinox, and the Roman Church claimed for this observance the authority of Sts. Peter and Paul. The spring equinox in Rome fell on 25 March; in Alexandria on 21 March. At Antioch Easter was kept on the Sunday after the Jewish Passover.

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