On Tuesaday of Holy Week they have the Chrism Mass where all the Holy Oils are blessed for the year and all the priests of the diocese come together to receive them-
In the Catholic Church, the Easter Tridium is one large service set over three days. It begins on Maundy Thursday- the night Jesus instituted the Eucahrist and was arrested. In the Mass, we read about the Last Supper-
The Bishop washes the feet of 12 church members-
Marc is a Pontifical Server who assists the Bishop-
After Mass the Blessed Sacrament is taken in procession through the church to an altar of repose- and the main altar is stripped of all candles, linens and decor. It is so somber. It feels as we are processing with Jesus from the Last Supper to the Garden of Olives.
They turn the lights down-
The altar of repose- many people sit there with Jesus until midnight, remembering Him asking his disciples, "Could you not stay up with Me for one hour?"
On Friday we go into the Cathedral and see no flowers, no organ, no holy water, the Tabernacle is empty. At noon they have the Stations of the Cross. At three o'clock exactly the priests and altar servers process in silence to the altar where the priests lay prostrate on the ground. It is a profound sadness as we sit at the feet of Him crucified for us.
Then we read the Passion narrative and we are the crowd saying, "crucify Him". Then they bring in the crucifix saying, "Behold the wood of the Cross on which is hung the Savior of the World." Then we all process forward and kiss Jesus on the crucifix. After that we have a communion service and solemnly leave.
Here is Anastasia and Julia after the Good Friday service-
We read many of our Easter books and watched The Miracle Maker-
On Saturday we got the Easter decorations out of the attic and got to work-
They always sit and read them when they are presented this way- it's hard to walk past a table of picture books!
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