It's Holy Thursday! Here's a sneak peek at what you will see tonight at 7:30:
Lent comes to an end with the celebration of Triduum, the great three days that celebrate the central mystery of our faith. In fact, the word Triduum (pronounced Trih-doo-um) is Latin, and means "three days." In this case, the three days means three, 24-hour periods which start at the beginning of the celebration of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday, and come to an end the evening of Easter Sunday.
On Holy Thursday, we hear about Jesus washing the feet of his Disciples. Jesus showed great humility in leadership with this act, and we recognize this event as the birth of the Priesthood. You may have heard this day called Maundy Thursday - this refers to the "mandatum", or mandate - the command that Jesus gave that "as I have done for you, you should do also (referring to this act of servant leadership)." At Immaculate Conception (and at most Catholic parishes in one form or another), we re-enact this scene by inviting parishioners to the front of the church to have their feet washed with warm water by one of the parish ministers.
At the end of Mass this night, the consecrated Eucharist will be removed in a solemn procession, to be kept in a special place until the Communion Service on Good Friday. This is to commemorate that Christ’s body was laid in a tomb upon his death. Many churches stay open through the night for Eucharistic Adoration - this commemorates the disciples staying with Jesus as he awaited his trial and death. At Immaculate Conception, you are invited to stay and pray in the chapel.
from our Holy Week FAQ, available at the church doors all week!
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Labels: Holy Thursday, Holy Week
