The spirit of Holy Week


THE SPIRIT

^HOLY +++

WEEK



Nihil Ohstat: John L. Reedy, c.s.c.. Censor Deputatus; Imprimi
Potest: Theodore J. Mehling, c.s.c., Provincial; IMPRIMATUR:

Most Reverend Leo A. Pursley, D.D., Apostolic Administrator of
Fort Wayne.
February 2, 1956

Contents:

THE
SPIRIT
OF
HOLY
WEEK

by

MARY
PERKINS
RYAN

I

Reasons for the Restoration . . 3
Why the liturgical rites? . . 4
What is active participation? . 7
How can the liturgy be

restored? 9

II

Our Lenten Preparation ... 13
Dying in order to live

(Penance, Alms) .... 13
Entering into God’s Plan

(Prayer, the Mass) ... 14
III

The Great Days of Holy Week . 18
The Second Sunday of the

Passion (Palm Sunday) . . 18
Monday, Tuesday and
Wednesday 19

Holy Thursday 20
Good Friday 22
Holy Saturday 24
The Easter Vigil 25

IV

Aids for Study and Discussion . 28

Holy Week Time Table . 16-17
The Eucharistic Fast ... 32

Copyright © 1956 by Ave Maria Press

AVE MARIA PRESS, NOTRE DAME, INDIANA



THE SPIRIT OF HOLY WEEK
I

REASONS FOR THE RESTORATION
When you consider there is a vast amount of effort involved

in making any changes in the rites of the Church you cannot
help wondering why the Holy Father, the Sacred Congregation
of Rites, the Bishops all over the world, and our own pastors
and their assistants have gone to all the trouble connected with
the recent restoration of the rites of Holy Week, the restoration
that is to be put into eflFect for the first time this year. The
answer is given in the official Instruction sent out from Rome

—

the reason for these changes is to enable the faithful to assist

at the rites of Holy Week more easily, more devotedly and more
fruitfully.

But the obvious question then is: What is there about these
rites that makes the Church so anxious to have us attend them?
The Decree announcing the restoration answers ‘‘The liturgical
rites of Holy Week have not only a special dignity, but a par-
ticular sacramental power and efficacy for the nourishment of
Christian life, and adequate substitutes for them cannot be
found in those devotional exercises commonly called extra-
liturgical which have been observed in the afternoons of these
Three Days.” This sentence tells us that the Decree for the
restoration of the Holy Week rites is the latest step in the
great program inaugurated at the beginning of this century by
St. Pius X to make available once more to the ordinary laity
that “active participation in the Sacred Mysteries and the public
and solemn prayer of the Church” which is “the primary and
indispensable source of the true Christian spirit” (Pius XiMotu
Proprio on Sacred Music).
The first step in this program was St. Pius X’s own decree

authorizing early and frequent Communion. It is hard for us
now to imagine how startling this decree must have been to
established ways of thought and habits of piety. For centuries
Communion had been a very rare occurrence in the lives of the
ordinary laity—being received not more than three or four times

3



a year at most. Even religious hardly dared to dream of re-
ceiving every day. And children did not make their First Com-
munion until the age of twelve, or older. None of this, of course,
was the official teaching of the Church; it was simply long-
established custom. St. Pius X was returning to an earlier and
far more authentic custom when he authorized frequent and
early Communion in which we rejoice today.
To make the Holy Eucharist, the center and nourishment of

Christian life, easily available to all the faithful, our present

Holy Father a few years ago issued the Apostolic Constitution
Christus Dominus mitigating the Eucharistic fast and authoriz-
ing evening Masses. Again, during the last decades, permis-

sions had been given to use some vernacular in the administra-
tion of certain Sacraments in order to promote “the understand-
ing and devotion of the people.” This was given to various
countries including our own.
Now comes the present Decree to make more available and

profitable to the faithful the great rites of the central Week
of the Church's year.

Why the Liturgical Rites?
You might well wonder what difference it makes what serv-

ices we attend, liturgical or extra-liturgical, as long as we try
to pray during Holy Week and stay close to our Lord. What is
this “particular power and efficacy for the nourishment of
Christian life” possessed by the liturgical rites and not by any
others? The answer is to be found in the fact that these rites
do not only commemorate past events in the life of Christ; they
also accomplish present effects in our oum lives when we take
part in them attentively and devotedly.

As we all know, sin brought suffering and death to mankind.
Without Christ men would have had to endure these evils
without finding any meaning in suffering or without looking for-
ward to any vital human living beyond the grave. But the Son
of God became man enduring suffering and death like other
men, but making of His suffering and death a great offering
of obedient love to His Father on behalf of sinful mankind.

4



Suffering united to His can now be of value for the salvation
of men and, for all who die united to Christ, death itself has
become the gateway to eternal life.

Suffering and death are means used by the powers of evil
to increase sin among men, to make them less than human and
to divide them from one another. But by undergoing suffering
and death in obedience to His Father and in love for His Father
and for us, Christ makes of them the means to unite us in the
family of God; so He re-fashions us to the image of His perfect
glorified manhood and bestows upon us the radiant fullness of
His divine life.

This is God’s great Design revealed to us in the Church for
which all the centuries of the Old Testament were the fore-
shadowing and preparation, and of which all the centuries of
Christian history are the carrying-out. God is restoring all things
in Christ. He is making in Christ and through Christ a new
creation far more wonderful than the first creation. This new
creation will be completed and made visible when Christ re-
turns in glory to judge the living and the dead. He will extend
His victory over death to the bodies as well as the souls of

the redeemed, and will inaugurate the wonderful life of the
perfect City of God for which all the ages of human history
have been the preparation.

The important thing for us here and now, therefore, is to
have the current of Christ’s life and action flowing through ours.
To put it another way, the true purpose of our lives is to enter
into the great redeeming Action of Christ, so that everything
we do, everything we suffer and, finally, our own death, will
partake of the power and effectiveness of His. For, though we
were made without our own cooperation, we are not to be
saved without it. And besides, in His great courtesy, Christ
not only redeems us. He also makes us able to take part in His
work of redemption,—not only to help ourselves, but to help
all mankind.

But Christ suffered and died and arose again hundreds of
years ago; how can we be "‘in” Christ, thus charged with His
life, immersed in the current of His actions? We can do so
because Christ gave His Apostles the power to renew and to

5



extend His redeeming Acts in various ways, and to hand on
this power to other men. Thus He is with His Church, living
and active, until the end of time.
Now, in the liturgical rites of the Church Christ's redeeming

Acts are thus renewed and prolonged, and re-enacted here and
now. We are first to share in the redemption by Baptism. As
one of the great Fathers of the Church, St. Cyril of Jerusalem,
explains, ‘'What a wonder and a paradox! We did not actually
die, we were not really buried, we did not, in actual fact, after
having been crucified, rise again from the dead. But (at Bap-
tism) the imitation (of these acts) is effected in an image and
salvation in reality. Christ was really crucified, really placed
in the tomb. He really rose again. All these things were done for
love of us, so that, sharing by imitation in His sufferings, we
might truly obtain salvation. O overffowing love for men! Christ
allowed His pure hands and feet to be pierced with nails and
He suffered His Passion: by communion in His sufferings. He
has given me the grace of salvation without my having suffered
or struggled."

Thus Baptism first adapts us, so to say, in the very roots
of our being, to the pattern of Christ’s suffering and death
and resurrection. It gives us the powers to carry out this
pattern in our whole lives and all our actions. For while we
first receive the grace of salvation without physical suffering

or struggle, as St. Cyril says—and most of us without the moral
and psychological suffering and struggle which many adult
converts to the faith endure—^we certainly have to strive all
our lives long to cooperate with the graces we receive, and
to be entirely re-fashioned according to the through-death-to-
higher-life pattern of the Redemption. Baptism is not a kind

of postage-stamp on our souls entitling us passively to be
sent up to heaven when we die. It is a dynamic pattern of
life and action imprinted in the very roots of our being. We
are to work out the implications of our Baptism by our own
efforts, by learning about Cod’s plan as He teaches it to us
through the Church, by opening our minds and wills to the
vital flow of Christ’s grace given to us in the Sacraments, and
by trying, through loving obedience to God and loving service

6



of one another for Christ’s sake, to take part in carrying

out that plan.

For every great need of our lives, there is some correspond-
ing sacramental prolongation of His redeeming action to give

us the strength and the power that we need to do His work
in ourselves and in the world. For our growing up in Christ,
there is Confirmation. For re-making and for increasing the
connection between us and Christ’s life, there is the Sacrament
of Penance. For marking with the life-giving pattern of Christ’s
work the ordinary Christian vocation of marriage, there is the
Sacrament of Matrimony. For bringing our great illnesses

more fully into the saving current of Christ’s sufferings, there
is the Anointing of the Sick, Extreme Unction. Then, at the
very heart of the Church’s life, there is the re-enactment of

the work of our Redemption, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
Here we take part in Christ’s very sacrifice which is made
available to us here and now in the Church. This is done by
the power handed on to our priests at their Ordination, the
power to be Christ’s “other selves,” to speak His words, to
re-enact His own offering. Here we receive His body to be
the nourishment of His life in us, and to be the pledge of
our future sharing, body as well as soul, in the vitality and joy
and companionship of His risen life.

Thus the Mass brings each day and week of our lives more
completely into the current of the Redemption. And the
solemn rites of Holy Week, prepared for by Lent and fol-
lowed by Easter-time, do so annually; they commemorate
Christ’s Passion, Death and Resurrection so that by taking
part in them we may be renewed and strengthened in Christ’s
life year after year.

What Is Active Participation”?
Cod means us to take part in the great work of Christ, the

salvation of mankind, according to the nature He has given us.
We are, then, to take part intelligently and freely. For this
we need continually to grow in understanding of this work
and in appreciation of God’s love. This understanding and
appreciation is not something we can learn by rote once and

7



for all when we are children. God calls us to be His friends,
to be members of His family, and to enter into His plans
more and more fully all our lives long. And He tells us about
Himself and His designs for human happiness most particu-
larly in Holy Scripture, His Word, as it is given to us by
the Church in the Liturgy. We are, then, meant to hear
God's Word when we attend the rites of the Church.
The rites themselves, the movements, words, gestures, and

the use of material things are meant, first, to tell us what
the rites are accomplishing and, second, to enable us to express

our part in them. For example, the marking of the sign of
the cross on the forehead of someone being baptized is meant
to express to everyone present the fact that Baptism invisibly
imprints the vital pattern of the Cross in the very substance

of the candidate's being. So, too, are we meant to enter into
the significance of the various other rites.

In his Encyclical on the Sacred Liturgy, the Holy Father
defines it as ‘"the public worship which the community of the
faithful renders to its Founder and, through Him, to the
heavenly Father." Obviously, then, the community is to take
part in this worship, and the community includes the laity
as well as the clergy. Since the Sacraments charge us with

Christ's own life and activity, it would be odd indeed if we
were to be merely the “mute and silent spectators" so sadly
described by Pope Pius XII. The great Work of Christ is be-
ing re-enacted so that we may share in it, and receive its fruit.

Since we are human beings, God made us compounds of
soul and body. If we simply watch in silence what the priest
and his assistants are doing up at the altar, it is very diflBcult
for most of us to take our active part mentally and spiritually
in the sacred Action. And again, if we cannot express our
spiritual activity outwardly, when we are gathered together
in church, it is difficult indeed to realize that we form a
community, and that we are engaged in a community activity
with our priests, —the great Action of God's People, the Mass.

So many of the rites of the Church provide for our singing
and speaking together to stimulate and to express our response
to God's Word, our unity of mind and heart with the Celebrant,

8



our part in the Sacrifice. And the rites provide for our doing
things together, —standing, kneeling, walking in procession,
and, above all, for our eating together at the Table of the

Holy Eucharist.
Active participation thus includes: 1) intelligent and willing

hearing of God's Word, 2 ) entering into the meaning and action

of the Sacred Rites, 3) singing and saying the parts provided

for the people and carrying out the actions. And this is the
active participation for which the revised Holy Week Rites make
special provision, and which the recent Popes and the authori-
ties of the Church are so eager to have us take.

How Can the Liturgy be Restored?
One further question occurs at once. Since it is so important

for the faithful to take this ^active part in the Sacred Mysteries,”

since this is indeed the ‘‘primary and indispensable source of
the true Christian spirit,” as St. Pius X and his successors have
stated, —how is it that we have not been taking this part in
recent centuries? How is it that it is now being restored to
us step by step?

The answer lies in the fact that the liturgy has two aspects,
—the divine unchangeable aspect which is Christ’s Work, and
the human and changeable aspect which is the work of 'men
of various times and places, various cultures and ways of
thought. Our Lord, Himself, first gave His redeeming Acts
to be renewed through His Church in the framework of already-
existing Jewish ritual acts of His own time. And the Church
through the ages has expanded and elaborated these ritual acts
according to the needs and ways of thought of all the various
civilizations and cultures in which she has carried out His Work.

Ideally, the human changeable aspect of each Rite—the
embodiment of it—should express to the people participating
in it just what it is. And it should also be the means by which
the people taking part can easily express their response to

Christ’s Action. During the early ages of the Church, the
Liturgy was thus self-explanatory. But as the centuries went
by, each age made its own additions to the prayers, ceremonies,
customs and interpretations of the various Rites. And as a

9



result of many complex historical influences, the majority of
the faithful understood less and less the meaning of the rites,
and took less and less of an active part beyond the bare essen-
tials of physical presence and general mental attention to
God's presence and action.

Beginning with the pontificate of St. Pius X, the Holy Spirit
has worked through the Church slowly and prudently to reverse
this trend, and to enable the faithful once more to take that
fully active part in the Sacred Rites which is the source of
fully Christian life and activity. Let us be grateful, then, that
we live in such times; and let us do everything in our power
to respond to the invitation of the teaching Church, and to
take our part again as the laity, that is, not as strangers or

outsiders in the Church, but as the People of God.

How the Restoration Encourages Participation.
The restoration is concerned, first of all, with the very

practical question of when to hold the ceremonies. As the
yearly renewal of the great mysteries of our redemption, the

ceremonies were held originally on the same day of the week
and at the same times as those on which Our Lord accom-
plished these Mysteries. So the Mass commemorating the
institution of the Holy Eucharist was held at the time of the
Last Supper on Holy Thursday evening. The solemn rites com-
memorating the Passion and Death of Christ were held on
Good Friday afternoon. Holy Saturday, the day when Our
Lord's body lay in the tomb while His soul was in the world
of the dead, was a day of silence and preparation. During
the night before Easter Sunday, the night during which Christ
arose from the dead, was held the great Easter Vigil culmi-
nating at dawn in the Easter Mass.

These times for holding the solemn ceremonies of Holy

Week suited the way of life of the Christians of the first
centuries. But in the Middle Ages conditions changed. For

one thing, conditions were at that time so unsettled that it

was dangerous for ordinary people to be out after dark. Eve-

ning and night ceremonies were thus gradually pushed back

to become morning ceremonies. The Holy Thursday Mass was
held in the morning; so were the Good Friday rites; and the

10



Easter Vigil was anticipated by nearly twenty hours, being
held early on Holy Saturday morning, and thus doing away
entirely with the proper celebration of Holy Saturday as a
day of silence and mourning, and turning it into a kind of
semi-Easter. This also rendered many of the ceremonies of
the Easter Vigil very incongruous.

But now conditions have changed again. What was con-
venient for people in the Middle Ages is no longer convenient
for us. The great days of Holy Week are no longer hohdays
so that people are not generally free to attend services in the

morning. Work schedules and the general way of life makes
it easier for most of us to add extra events to our week-day
routine, not in the morning (even the very early morning) but
in the late afternoon or evening. During the last decades,
therefore, the congregations at the solemn Holy Week services,
particularly at the most crucial of all, the Easter Vigil, have
consisted mainly of Sisters, Catholic school children, those

few who could arrange their business so as to attend. Ordinary
working men and women could not go at all, or found it
extremely inconvenient to do so. The further difficulty of
understanding or taking any real part in the ceremonies

—

particularly in the most important one of all, the Easter Vigil,
—did not offer any incentive to people to make a great effort
to attend. They went instead to the extra-liturgical services
which were provided in the late afternoons and evenings.

But these extra-liturgical services, as the Decree says, can-
not make up for the loss of the special sacramental grace
given by active participation in the liturgical Rites of Holy
Week. Therefore, just as the Church is now making the Mass
more and more available to her children in the evening, so
she is now returning to the original afternoon and evening
hours for the Holy Week services. And she is doing so for the
same reason, —that we may be able to attend them.

So the Mass of Holy Thursday commemorating the Last
Supper will be celebrated at supper-time, that is, between
5:00 and 8:00 P.M. Masses in addition to the main Mass
may be celebrated in parish churches where this is necessary
so that all the faithful may attend. Holy Communion is not
distributed in the morning, not even in Cathedral churches

11



where the Bishop celebrates a special morning Mass to conse-
crate the Holy Oils. Communion is distributed only during
the evening Mass (or Masses) or immediately after.

The solemn ceremonies of Good Friday commemorating the
Passion and Death of Our Lord begin between 3:00 and 6:00
P.M.; and everyone may receive at the Communion service
which replaces the so-called ‘‘Mass of the Pre-sanctified.”

Holy Saturday is an evening or night service, whichever the
Bishop of each diocese decides is best, beginning after sunset
and culminating in the solemn renewal of baptismal vows
followed by the first Easter Mass, at which, again, all are
urged to receive Holy Communion. When this Vigil Mass is
held after midnight, it satisfies the obligation of Easter Sunday
attendance.

Planning to fast for afternoon or evening Communion is
the aspect of these changes in time which may seem confusing
at first to those of us who have not yet had the opportunity
to attend many evening Masses. But the fasting regulations are
simple; they do not actually involve any great change in most
people’s eating-habits or meal-times. Only those who are
accustomed to the day-time consumption of what the Sacred
Congregation calls liquores (whiskey, gin and the like), will
be seriously inconvenienced since everyone must fast from
all forms of alcohol from the previous midnight, except such
mild beverages as beer or wine taken with a meal. But to fast
from solid food for three hours and from all liquids other
than water for one hour before the time of receiving Com-
munion needs only a little planning and attention, —surely
a small price to pay for Holy Communion especially in Holy
Week!^

The other changes in the rites are intended to bring out
more clearly the meaning of each rite, and to give the congre-
gation more of an active part. What they are is best seen in
connection with the whole service of each day. But first let
us see how the Church wishes us to prepare during Lent for
taking part in these great services of Holy Week.

*For a chart of fasting regulations see page 32.

12



II

OUR LENTEN PREPARATION
Dying in Order to Live

Lent is the time when we train ourselves, under the guid-
ance of the Church, to take part in the yearly renewal of the

mysteries of our redemption in Holy Week. We do so just
as athletes train themselves for a contest. In Holy Week we
are to be renewed and strengthened in our Baptismal grace
of dying to sin and selfishness and of being charged with
the life of grace, the life of Christ. During Lent, therefore,
we are to practise dying to sin and selfishness; we are to
practise living in loving service of one another in Christ.

That is why the Church commands us to fast and abstain.
This has the clear purpose of training us in self-control, of

giving us practice in giving up some non-essential food at
God’s command. In doing so we strengthen the habit of
giving up things in obedience to God, and this humble obedi-
ence makes us stronger in resisting temptation. The fasting
and abstinence regulations for Lent are concerned with food
in particular because eating is the obvious and essential support
of our physical life, and a kind of continuation of our creation.
In giving up food for the sake of God, therefore, we show
our sorrow for having disobeyed God our creator. We rehearse
in a small and easy way our willingness to give up anything for
God, even our very lives. So we do penance, we try to make up
for our past disobedience to God, we try to ‘"die” to the kind of
life which involved us in disobedience to Him.
The Church asks us also, as part of our Lenten penance,

to give to the needy what we save by our fasting and absti-
nence. For thus we try to make up for—do penance for

—

our past selfishness, and we practice the loving service of our
neighbor for the sake of Christ which is true Christian living.

Those of us who cannot fast during Lent should, therefore,
find something to do without,—preferably in the way of food
or drink. And those of us who, even by doing without, have
no money to give to others, should try to find some neighbor’s
need to serve—a spiritual or mental need if not a physical one.

13



Entering Into God’s Plans
The other aspect of our Lenten preparation consists in this:

listening to God's Word as He tells us about His great plan
for the salvation and happiness of mankind in Christ, and
responding to His invitation to take part in carrying it out.
Christ’s Passion and Death and Resurrection are the very heart
and force and structure of this Design. The more fully we
understand and appreciate God’s over-all plan, the more we
long to respond to His loving mercy by doing whatever He
asks of us, and the better prepared we are to take part in
the rites of Holy Week and to be renewed by them.
We do this, of course, in a general way by all prayer: by

spiritual reading. Lenten devotions, the Stations, the Rosary.
But we enter into and respond to God’s Plan most especially
at Mass. And the Masses of Lent might be called our yearly
“refresher course” in which we re-leam what God has done for
us, what He asks of us, what He promises us.

God’s Word in Holy Scripture is given to us by the Church
in the Liturgy; and here we are taught not by abstract defi-
nitions but by vivid descriptions—histories, stories, pictures,
images. As St. Thomas says, we men can make up and com-
pose words to describe reaHties, but God can make real things
and events describe the spiritual reaHties of our salvation in
Christ. So, in the vast design of His merciful love. He carried
out His great works for the Jewish people in the Old Testament
in such a way that they describe for us the reaHties of our
Hfe in Christ now and hereafter. So, for example. His great
deHverance of the Hebrews from their slavery in Egypt to
become His own people, Hving under His commands and pro-
tection, is a description of our deHverance by Baptism from
slavery to the powers of evil to begin our new Hfe as members
of God’s people. His feeding of the Jews in the desert with

manna from heaven shows us that He feeds us here and now
with the true Bread from heaven, the Holy Eucharist, as we
travel through the desert of this life to the Promised Land
of heaven.

In the same way. Our Lord worked His miracles not solely
to prove the truth of His words and to do good to the people

14



He then helped. He did them also to teach us about the in-
visible miracles which He is performing every day for us in
the Sacraments. His healing of the man born blind reminds
us that in Baptism He opens the eyes of our spirits to be able
to see Him, the true Light. His healing of the lepers shows
that in Baptism He cleanses us of the disease of what Scripture
calls our '‘oldness,” the old life of sin which is our inheritance
from Adam. His raising of the dead tells us that by Baptism
and Penance He raises us from the spiritual death of sin to
the life of God’s children. So He will raise us also from the
physical death, which sin causes, to share the vitality and
joy of His Own risen life.

During Lent, then, let us listen to this instruction which
God gives us in Holy Scripture and, in particular, to Holy
Scripture as the Ghurch gives it to us during Mass. For here
we are given Ghrist’s Word directly from the mouth of His
"other self,” His priest, speaking in His name. Even when
we cannot go to Mass, it is good to take ten minutes or so
to read the Proper of the Mass for the day.

In general, the Lesson of the Mass tells us something about
our life in Ghrist; this is done either in the figures of the
Old Testament, or in .the words of one of the New Testament
Epistles. The Gospel gives us Ghrist Himself speaking to us
or acting for us. The chants of the Mass (Introit, Gradual
and Tract, Offertory and Gommunion) show us what our
thoughts and feelings should be as we respond to God’s invi-
tation. Then, especially in the Masses of Passion Week and
Holy Week, we learn what Ghrist’s own thoughts and feelings
were before and during His Passion just as they are expressed
in the words of the Psalms foretelling His suffering. The
Gollect, Secret and Post-Gommunion Prayers of each Mass
express our desire to respond to God’s word, to take our part

in His Plan, and our prayer to be given, through Ghrist, the
grace to do so.

Let us, then, do penance during Lent by fasting and alms-
giving, and let us pray especially by taking part in the Mass.
In this way we will prepare ourselves for the yearly renewal
of our Ghristian life through the mysteries of Holy Week.

15



HOLY WEEK
Second Sunday of the Passion (Palm Sunday)

the day of Christ the King

Masses as usual. Procession carrying blessed palms in honor of Christ
the King takes place before the principal Mass.

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday
Masses as usual. Confession should be made on one of these three
days in preparation for receiving Communion on Holy Thursday,
Good Friday, and at the Easter Vigil Mass.

Holy Thursday
the day of the Holy Eucharist

Morning: In the Cathedral the Bishop celebrates a special Mass
to consecrate the Holy Oils. No other Masses, and no distribution
of Holy Communion.

Noon: Lenten lunch or dinner as usual.

Afternoon: For the reception of Holy Communion you begin fasting
from solid food three hours before the actual time of Communion.
Fasting from non-alcoholic liquids other than water begins one
hour before Communion time. Example: for those attending Mass
beginning at 5:00 P. M., begin the Eucharistic fast at 2:30 P. M.
For those attending a Mass beginning at 8:00 P. M., begin the fast
at 5:30 P. M.

These are the hours between which Mass may begin (5:00 to 8:00 P. M.).
The same is true of the services on Good Friday which may begin at any time
between 3:00 and 5:00 P.M. See your parish bulletin for the exact schedule in
your parish. It is expected that the times of Masses in neighboring parishes will
be staggered so that all may attend the Mass at a convenient hour.

Evening: Solemn Mass of the Last Supper with general Communion.
With the Bishop’s permission additional low Masses may be offered
by the assistant priests if necessary so that all the faithful may
attend and receive Communion. Communion is distributed only
during Mass, or immediately afterwards. Transfer of the Blessed

Sacrament to the Repository.

After Mass: Visits to the Blessed Sacrament in the Repository.

Good Friday
the day of the Lord’s Passion and Death

Complete abstinence and fast today.

16



[ME TABLE

Morning: time for visits to the Blessed Sacrament, Stations of the
Cross, the Rosary.

Noon: Lenten lunch or dinner as usual.

Afternoon: Begin fasting from solid food three hours before time
of receiving Holy Communion. The ceremonies begin about an hour
before Communion time.

3:00 TO 6:00 P.M.: Solemn Good Friday Services. Readings about
the Passion. Prayers that the effects of the Passion may flow out to
the whole world. Veneration of the Holy Cross. Communion Service:
all are urged to receive.

Evening: Lenten supper or dinner as usual. Time for devotions
like the Stations of the Cross, the Sorrowful Mother, the Rosary.
Last-minute Confessions.

Holy Saturday

the day of the Lord’s sojourn among the dead.

The Lenten fast and complete abstinence lasts until midnight.

Morning: Preparatory ceremonies of Baptism for those to be bap-
tized at the Easter Vigil services. Household preparations for Easter.

Noon: Lenten lunch or dinner as usual.

Afternoon: Last opportunity for Confession. Lenten supper or din-
ner as usual to be finished, however, three hours before Communion
time. The ceremonies begin about an hour before Communion time.

The Great Easter Vigil

The Bishop will decide at what time the Easter Vigil services begin.
The night services will normally begin about 10:30 P.M. so that
the Mass will start about midnight. Mass beginning about midnight
satisfies the Sunday obligation of Mass attendance. If the services
are held earlier in the evening, they are not to begin before sunset.

Blessing of the New Fire. Blessing of the Paschal Candle and Pro-
cession. Easter Praise of Christ, the Redeemer. Prophecies of the
Redemption. Blessing of the Baptismal Water, Baptisms, and solemn
renewal of Baptismal Vows.

The Vigil Mass.

Alleluia!

17



Ill

THE GREAT DAYS OF HOLY WEEK

1. The Second Sunday of the Passion (Palm Sunday)

The Solemn Procession in honor of Christ the King

The special ceremony of the first day of Holy Week is a
special procession in honor of Christ our King. On this day
Our Lord made His triumphant entry into Jerusalem. The
crowds recognized and hailed Him as the King whom God
has promised them, the Son of David, who would rule over
them in a kingdom of everlasting peace and prosperity and
happiness. So they shouted with joy and waved branches
from the trees by the wayside. They laid down their garments
in the road to form a royal path for Him. And they sang the
Psalm which had been written for the King-to-come, “Blessed
is He Who comes in the name of the Lord!”

In this Sunday’s procession we renew their action. Christ
is present in our midst this day in the person of His priest.
We accompany Him in procession carrying blessed palms;
we hail Him as our King Whose victory over His enemies is
won, not by human warfare but by His Passion, Death and
Resurrection; we hail Him as our King Whose kingdom is
extended here on earth not by human warfare, but by love
and suflFering and work for others undertaken in His power
and in His name. By taking part in the procession we show
our faith in Christ. He is on His way to suffer and die for us;
we believe that through suffering and death we are to follow
Him to victory. And we show our loyalty to Him. His king-
dom is still invisible; its glory will not appear until He returns
at the end of time. But now we renew our determination to
take whatever part He has assigned us in the establishment of
His rule; we resolve to work with all our lives and strength
for that kingdom of “truth and life, of justice, love and peace”
which He comes to bring to mankind.

18



The Mass

This is the Mass of the Passion, and in it we find the great
themes of Holy Week set out. We are given the main line,
so to speak, of God s Plan in the Epistle. Christ became for
our sakes obedient to death, even to death on the Cross. And
it is for this reason that God has exalted Him setting His
human nature in glory at His right hand. During Holy Week
we are to learn the lessons of His Passion and to begin again
to carry them out in our lives. In this way we hope that
He may give us a share in the glory of His Resurrection.
The second theme describes the Redemption as a great

struggle to free mankind from the dominion of the powers
of evil. These powers are described, particularly in verses
from the Psalms, as wild beasts and as human enemies who
are cruel and relentless, eager to attack, betray, and bring to ruin
both Christ and ourselves. The devil conquered Adam by
means of the Tree in the garden of paradise; now Christ con-
quers him by means of the Tree of the Cross (Preface).
And the third theme is that of Our Lord’s sufferings.

Throughout them He looks forward with perfect trust in His
Father’s care, to the wonderful effects which they will produce,
—His Resurrection and glory, the birth of a new nation of
the redeemed who will praise God forever for His mercy
and kindness.
The Gospel is that of the Passion in the account of St.

Matthew. In the restored rites it has been shortened to include
only the Passion itself.

2. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday

The Masses repeat and develop these same themes, as they
prepare us for Holy Thursday and the three great days of
Christ suffering, dying, and rising again. NOW IS THE TIME
TO GO TO CONFESSION as the climax of Lenten penance
so that the power of Christ’s sufferings may complete what
our efforts have striven for, and make us ready to take part
in the great rites of Holy Week, the renewal of the grace
of our Baptism.

19



3. Holy Thursday

Above every other day in the year, this is the Day of the
Holy Eucharist. Today, at the Last Supper, Our Lord offered
His suffering and death to the Father as His sacrifice of love
and thanksgiving; He gave it to His Church to be her sacrifice
and so ours, ‘"showing forth the death of the Lord until He
comes”; He gave the fruit of the sacrifice. His body, to be the
Food which should nourish His life in us and unite us to
Him and to one another in the one life of His Mystical Body.
The Holy Eucharist is the heart of the Church's life. It

seems only fitting, then, that Holy Thursday should be the
one day of the whole year on which the Holy Oils used in
Baptism, Confirmation, Ordination, and the Anointing of the
Sick (Extreme Unction) are blessed or consecrated by the
Bishop at a special morning Mass in the Cathedral. From this
one Mass and consecration, the priests of each parish carry
the Oils for Baptisms, Confirmations, and Anointings all over
the diocese. This is a beautiful sign of the unity of the flock

of Christ in our diocese under Christs representative, the
successor of the Apostles, our Bishop.

In the evening beginning at any hour from 5:00 to 8:00 P.M.,
as convenient, the solemn evening Mass of the Last Supper,
the Mass commemorating the institution of the Holy Eucha-
rist is offered. Here we all gather round our pastor, Christ's
immediate representative to us, to celebrate the great Gift
of His love.

During the Last Supper, Our Lord told His Apostles very
clearly what He wishes in return for His sacrifice and His gift.
He wishes us to love one another as He has loved us—even
to laying down our lives for one another for His sake.
The Epistle of the Mass tells us in St. Paul's words that a
lack of consideration for one another's needs makes us unfit
to partake of the Lord's Supper. The Gospel portrays Our
Lord washing His disciples' feet, and teaching them to do
for one another what He, the Master, has done for them.
In the civihzation in which Our Lord Hved, people wore
sandals or went barefoot, and did their travelling mainly on

20



foot on dusty unpaved roads. To enable guests to wash
their feet was a universal act of hospitality, but one that was
actually carried out by servants, not by the Master of the
house, still less by an honored ‘Tabbf’ or teacher. Our Lord
gave His Apostles a really startling example, therefore, at the

Last Supper; and He showed us also that it is thoughtful
personal service of one another’s needs for His sake which
He asks of us as the proof of our love of Him. In today’s
world, where there is such great need of truly Christian
service of one another for love, the restored rites of Holy
Week allow for the re-enactment of Christ’s example in the
meaningful ceremony of the Mandatum, or Washing, that takes
place after the Gospel of the Mass if the pastor finds it
feasible.

When we receive Holy Communion, Christ re-fashions our
human affections with the strength of His own love. In our
Holy Thursday Communion, then, let us open our hearts to
His love, and ask Him how we may best five in that love
and be the means of extending it to others.

After the Solemn Mass, the Hosts consecrated for the Good
Friday Communion service are transferred in procession to a
side alter or Repository. When the Bishop has given permission,
low Masses may follow the main Mass or precede it between
the hours of 5:00 and 8:00 P.M. so that all the faithful may
be able to attend and receive Holy Communion. Communion
may also be distributed immediately after Mass but at no
other time on this day (except, of course, to the sick and dying)

.

The priests are asked to consecrate at this Mass all the Hosts
to be received today and at tomorrow’s Communion service
so that on this Day of the Holy Eucharist we may partake
of the fruit of the Sacrifice we have joined together in offering
through the hands of our priest.

After the Mass, all the altars, except that of the Repository,

are stripped of their coverings while the priests recite Psalm 21,
the great Psalm of the Passion. Our Lord has offered Himself
to suffer and die for our salvation; now His offering is to be
carried out. He is to be stripped of His garments as are the
altars; He is to suffer degradation so that we may strip off

21



the garments of our sinfulness, and be reclothed with His robes
of grace and glory.
From the end of Mass on Holy Thursday evening until

midnight, at least, all who can should make the customary
visits to the Repository to thank Our Lord for all that He did
and suffered for us in His Passion. A good practice is that
of bringing a copy of the New Testament to church and reading
during our visits St. John’s account of the Last Supper and of
Our Lord’s words and prayer.

4. Good Friday

On this day of Our Lord’s suffering and death on the Cross
the Church has never celebrated Mass, the sacramental re-
enactment of His death. Instead, she invites us to take part
with her in the Solemn Liturgical Afternoon Service of the
Passion and Death of the Lord. This may begin at any time
between 3 and 6 o’clock.
The first of these ceremonies is the Readings. We hear Cod’s

Word telling us about the Passion and Death of Christ, first
in two prophetic passages from the Old Testament, and then
in the Gospel of St. John. And we respond to God’s message
by chants and prayers. The* purpose of this ceremony is easy
to see, —God Himself, by His Word, is forming our minds and
imaginations and hearts to the image of His Son dying on the
Cross. The Church trains us by her chants and prayers to
give the right response to God’s Word of love and mercy

—

the response of sorrow for sin, of gratitude, of love and desire
to do God's Will.
The second ceremony is the Solemn Prayers that the effects

of Christ’s Passion may flow out to the whole world. The
third ceremony is the Adoration of the Cross. After the solemn
unveiling, the cross is held erect by two acolytes standing by
the altar rail. The people file past genuflecting and then
kissing the feet of the Crucified. While we are doing so, the
‘‘Reproaches” are sung. Here Christ, Himself, tells us what
He has done for us. His People, and asks why we are crucify-
ing Him in return. He describes what He does for us in the
Sacraments in terms of the great deeds which He did for the

22



Jews in the Old Testament. As He delivered them from
slavery in Egypt, dividing the Red Sea, accompanying them
in the pillar of cloud, so by Baptism He has freed us from
the slavery of sin, brought us through the waters of Baptism

to new life, and accompanies us with His presence. As He fed
them with manna in the desert, so He feeds us with His own
Body in Holy Communion. And He reproaches us with our
sins in terms of His own sufferings. But we cannot comfort
ourselves with the obvious fact that we did not betray Him,
open His side with a lance, scourge Him, strike Him, crucify
Him. For whenever we have done wrong or neglected to do
right, we have scourged Him and crucified. . . . ‘'Whatever
you do to my least brethren, you do to Me.” Meanness, idle
gossip, lack of self-restraint, lack of kindness, —all these daily
faults, as well as our serious misdeeds, sin against Christ’s

love, the love He shows for us in Baptism and Holy Commun-
ion, the love which made Him die for us.

Yet by the power of this death He will give us, if we ask
Him with humility and sorrow, the grace to rise from our
sins, the grace to live with His life of love and to be the
messengers of His kindness to all around us. Let us venerate
the Cross on Good Friday, then, with this spirit of awe and
sorrow and hope. "We worship thy Cross, O Lord, and we
praise and glorify thy holy resurrection; for, see, by the wood
of the Cross, into the whole world came joy!”
And the fourth ceremony on Good Friday is the Communion

service. General Communion of the faithful on this day was
the custom in earlier ages of the Church, and is now restored
once more. The Blessed Sacrament is carried in procession from
the Repository. Then, led by the priest, we, all together,
pray the Our Father in Latin. We have been hearing it in
Latin all during our lives, even if we have never had the
occasion before to say it in Latin, to join in it aloud will be
no great strain on anyone’s ability.
We are asked to join in praying the Lord’s Prayer aloud

because this is the oldest and most perfect prayer of prepa-
ration for Communion. Not only do we ask the Father for
our daily Bread, but we express the spirit of forgiveness of

23



one another’s faults and failings and sins against us. This is
the spirit in which we should receive the Sacrament which
is to unite us to one another in Christ. Most especially on
this day of His death, when Our Lord gave us the example
of asking His Father to forgive those who were crucifying
Him, should we ask for His spirit of forgiveness and forbear-
ance before we receive Him in Holy Communion.

After the Our Father the Celebrant says the prayer which
follows in the Mass, “Deliver us, O Lord, from all evils . .
Then he says the third of the three Communion prayers in
the Mass, “May the receiving of Thy Body . . and the
“Lord, I am not worthy.” He himself, communicates and then
Communion is distributed to the faithful. During the distri-
bution, the great Psalm of the Passion, Psalm 21, may be sung.

This restored Cood Friday Communion gives us a special
opportunity to unite ourselves sacramentally to Our Lord in
the mystery of His Death. As the Holy Father tells us in his
Encyclical on the Sacred Liturgy, it is our privilege as bap-
tized members of Christ not only to join in offering, but to
he offered in His Sacrifice. Let us ask Our Lord on Good
Friday to remake us, to give us the grace to die more and
more fully to our sinfulness and selfishness by the power of
His life-giving death. Thus we will be more and more fit
to be included in His perfect Offering. In terms of daily
living, this means that we are to find our true life less and
less in doing what leads merely to our own pleasure, success,
and self-esteem; and more and more in what leads to the
carrying out of God’s plan—to the loving service of one an-
other for Christ. This particular grace of “dying” is the

special fruit of Communion today.

5. Holy Saturday

This is the day of Our Lord’s sojourn among the dead,
the day of His deepest descent into the miseries of mankind.
Physical death is not natural to man as God first made him
and meant him to be. It is the first and greatest effect and
punishment of the spiritual death which is sin. Death is the
negation, the deprivation of life; when men died after the

24



Fall, their bodies lay lifeless in the grave and their souls

went to the state of dim half-life described obscurely by both
Jewish and pagan tradition. To such a state had the powers
of evil brought the human nature that God had made to
share in His own life.
When Christ our Lord suffered for us, He endured this

state also, as His last and lowest descent into the depths of
our misery from which He Himself would rise, and raise us
with Him. He, the Son of God, Life itself, allowed His
human body to lie lifeless in the tomb, while His human soul
went down, as the Creed says, “to the world below,’' the world
of the dead.

On Holy Saturday, then, we mourn the death of Christ.
That is why, once again, the Lenten fast and abstinence have
been extended until midnight. As we go about our daily work,
and the special preparations for Easter in our families, let us
think of what Christ did for us today. His purpose is to
raise us up to life with Him in the City of God, —a life
beyond all description more vital and joyful, more truly life^
than we can even begin to imagine. Yesterday, by dying
Christ destroyed our death; by rising again. He will restore
our life.

6. The Easter Vigil

This is the night of Christ’s great journey. His great Passing-

over from the depths of death to the heights of divine life.
Christ rises from among the dead to the glory

,
of His risen life

at the right hand of the Father, and He brings us with Him.
During Lent we have tried to cooperate with God’s work in
us so as to be ready to renew and deepen our Baptismal grace
of dying to sin and selfishness by the power of Christ’s death.
Now He will raise us up with Himself and, in proportion to
the generosity of our efforts. He will fill us with greater full-
ness of His life and Easter joy.

This great journey with Christ from death to life is presented
in the Easter Vigil first as coming out of darkness into the Light.
Our Lord spoke of Himself as the Light of the world. The
prophets foretold Him as the Sun of Justice, the brightness

25



of God’s own Light. St. John tells us that in heaven we shall
need no light but Him. The Laser Vigil begins, then, by the
blessing of new fire, not kindled from another fire but fresh
struck from a flint. For Our Lord, risen from the dead, is
the beginning of God’s new creation, which will be far more
wonderful than the old. The “oldness” of sin and death is to
be done away with; all is now to be newness of life and joy.
Then the Paschal candle is marked with Ghrist’s Gross,

blessed and lighted from the new fire. This Gandle is the
special Easter symbol of Ghrist and sign of His presence among
us in the glory of His risen life. So it is now carried through
the dark church in procession, while the deacon sings three
times Lumen Christi! (the light of Ghrist) and we all kneel
and answer Deo gralias (thanks be to God). During this pro-
cession, we see how the Light of Ghrist is to spread throughout
the whole world. First, the candle held by the Gelebrant is
lighted from the Paschal candle, then those of all the clergy,
then ours,—all from the flame of Ghrist, gradually lighting up
the dark church building. So we are to be enkindled with
His own light and to help spread it to all mankind.

After this procession, in which all are to take part, we
return to our places. Then the deacon sings the Exsuitet, Easter
praise of Ghrist’s Redemption and the Father’s mercy and love.
The Exsultet ends with the prayer that God may guide us
and govern us and keep us as we celebrate with joy the
feast of Easter-tide.
Then we sit and listen to four Readings telling us about our

life as God’s people. The first shows us that this fife is a
new creation; the second that it is a deliverance from slavery
to freedom, a victory over the powers of evil; the third shows
us that it is a foretaste of heaven, a life of holiness under

God’s protection; and the fourth that, here on earth, it is a
life of effort to keep faithful to God’s commandments. After
each of these Readings we respond to God’s message by chants
and prayer.
Now we are ready for the third part of the Easter Vigil,

presenting the Redemption to us as a new birth by water and
the Holy Spirit to the life of children of God. But first we

26



join in singing the Litany of the Saints. We ask all those
who are living in the happiness of heaven the life first given
them in Baptism to help us renew and strengthen the grace of
our Baptism so that we may one day enjoy their companionship.

After the Litany of the Saints, comes the Blessing of the
Baptismal water. We have all the wonderful deeds which God
did by means of water in both the Old Testament and the
New, the wonderful things which He does for us in Baptism.
Our Lord, Himself, at His Baptism in the Jordan first sancti-
fied the water of the whole world so that it might be used
for Baptism. So now the sign of His presence, the Paschal
candle, is lowered three times into this water to sanctify it

and fill it with the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Oils
are poured into it: first, the ‘‘Oil of catechumens” which
strengthens the candidates for Baptism before the struggle
with the powers of evil from which they emerge victorious
with Christ’s strength; and then Holy Chrism by which we are
anointed as sharers in Christ’s anointing by the Holy Spirit
and in His dignity as Priest and King.
Now comes the climax of the Vigil, the administration of

Baptism and the renewal of our Baptismal vows. Here new
converts rise from death to share Christ’s life; and we renew
the grace of our Baptism by the power of Christ’s rising from
the dead. Then, all together, we say the prayer of Christ’s
people, the Our Father, and we are sprinkled with blessed
water as the sacramental sign of the renewal of our bap-

tismal grace.

Now all is newness as we prepare to take part in the Holy
Sacrifice of the Mass. While we sing the second half of the
Litany of the Saints, the celebrant and his ministers go to
change into white vestments. All is ready for the most joyful

Mass of the year, the first Mass of Easter.
At the Gloria (which, whenever possible, all should join in

singing) the bells so long silent are rung again. The peniten-
tial coverings are taken from the holy images, and flowers are
brought to the altar. Then the Collect prayers ask for the
special Easter grace of serving God in neioness of life and
joy. After listening to the Epistle, which describes what our

27



true life is now to be, we attend to the solemn intoning of
the Easter Alleluia, the great shout meaning ‘Traise to God.”
The celebrant sings the Alleluia three times; each time we are
to sing it after him as the expression of our Easter praise and
thanks. In the Mass we offer ourselves with Christ’s offering
. . . in thanksgiving for all God’s goodness. In return we
receive Christ’s Easter gift, the pledge and foretaste of our
share in His risen life and joy.

The Mass closes with the prayer of Lauds, the Church’s dawn
prayer praising the light of Christ as He rises from the grave.
Easter time is now before us in which to celebrate with glad-
ness the new life that we have received.

Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

IV

AIDS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION
The following suggestions are not intended as aids for

the first reading or discussion but rather as aids toward finding

in each section fuller meaning than may be at first apparent.
A copy of the New Testament and of the New Holy Week
Missal will be needed. As a guide for discussion groups
meeting weekly during Lent, the suggestions are divided into

six sections.

Chapter I, Parts 1 and 2.

Why the recent restoration?
To what extent in former years did you find the Palm

procession to be a public act of homage to Christ the King?
Was Holy Thursday observed as a feast of Christian charity?
On Good Friday did the people participate in the adoration

of the Cross during the liturgical service?

Was the Holy Saturday service a popular celebration of
Christ’s victory over the powers of darkness and of our sharing

in His Death and Resurrection through Baptism and the
Eucharist?

28



Why attend the liturgical rites?
Do we think of Christ chiefly or even exclusively as Teacher,

Lawgiver, and Model? Do we think of Him as our Priest, our
Mediator with God? See St. Paul’s epistle to the Hebrews,
4:14-5:1; 5:7-10; 9:6-14; 10:19-25.

Do we think of the Christian life as a matter only of believ-
ing certain truths and obeying certain laws, or do we think
of it as a life lived in Christ and as a participation in His
worship of the Father? See the epistle to the Romans, 6:1-11,

in relation to the quotation from St. Cyril of Jerusalem on
Baptism. See Colossians, 3:1-11 and Philippians 2:1-11.

Chapter I, Parts 3, 4 and 5.

What is active participation’^?
The one thing necessary for active participation by the laity

in the Mass is summed up by Pope Pius XII in the words of
St. Paul: “Have this mind in you which also was in Christ
Jesus.” Consider the relationships between this internal par-
ticipation and external participation by responding to the priest,
singing, etc.

Reread Philippians, 2:5-11 in relation to this question.

How can the Liturgy be restored?
Consider how the following practices have helped people

to participate actively in the Liturgy: congregational chant at

High Mass; Dialogue Mass; use of the Missal; use of the new
American Ritual.

How the present restoration encourages us to take part in the
rites.

Consider the Holy Week timetable and the chart of fasting
regulations in relation to your particular circumstances.

Chapter II. Lenten Preparation.

Dying in order to live.

The Collects in the Masses during Lent express concisely
the purposes of fasting. A listing of these purposes especially
as seen in the Collects of the third and fourth weeks would
be enlightening.

29



Consider the relation of fasting to almsgiving as taught in
the Epistle, Gospel and Postcommunion on the Friday after
Ash Wednesday.

Entering into God’s plans.

Consider the Masses for Wednesday and Friday in the fourth
week of Lent according to the principles given in this section.
What other Old Testament figures of the Redemption have

impressed you in your following of the Missal during Lent?

Chapter III. The Great Days of Holy Week.

The Second Sunday of the Passion (Palm Sunday).
Read St. John^s Gospel, 12:12-36, and consider what we

must keep in mind in order to make our acclamations to Christ
on this day more meaningful than those of the people of
Jerusalem on the first Palm Sunday.

Consider which title of Christ means most to us. King?
Leader? Redeemer? Messias? Some other title?

Consider the need in our day of messianic zeal in Christians.
The world is entering a new era. Who will lead it? Who will
unite it? Can the Palm procession be made an expression of
confidence in Christ and of determination to follow Him? How?

Holy Thursday^ the day of the Eucharist.

Read the epistle in the Mass of the Lord’s Supper (I Cor.
11:20-32). In the early years of the Church the weekly

celebration of Mass, with all receiving Holy Communion, was
in the evening, after a community supper. The supper was
meant to be a natural bond of unity and the Lord’s Supper

was the supernatural bond of unity. St. Paul tells the people

of Corinth they are unworthy of eating the Lord’s Supper

because in the common meal those who have plenty to eat
are ignoring the needs of the poor. Consider the various types

of division and discrimination among men today and consider
why they should be eliminated entirely among those who
partake of the Lord’s Supper.

How does the rite of the washing of feet bring out the
same lesson?

30



Good Fridayf the day of our Lord^s death.

Read the second Lesson in the Missal for Good Friday (or
the fuller account in the book of Exodus, chapters 11 to 14).
Consider the ways in which the liberation from Egypt was a
figure of the Redemption. Consider the ways in which the
Passover was a figure of Holy Week.

In “the Prayer of the Faithful” the celebrant announces the
intention for which all are to pray, the deacon sings “Flectamus
genua,” that is, “Let us kneel,” and all kneel to offer their
prayers individually. Then all stand at the invitation of the
deacon and the celebrant sings the collective prayer, all an-
swering “Amen.” Several successive intentions are prayed for
in this way. Consider the various intentions of the Church as
they are given in the Missal.

How does each of the first three parts of the Good Friday
service dispose our mnids for the reception of Holy Communion?

Holy Saturday^ our Lord among the dead.

It is probable that the practice of dedicating Saturday to

the Blessed Virgin Mary arose in memory of the fact that she
alone kept faith and hope alive during the time from Christ’s
Death to His Resurrection. Later He was to call His Apostles
slow of heart for not understanding the Scriptures and His own
words. See Luke, 24:25-27, 44-49.

See also Luke 9:18-36; 18:31-34; John, 5:24-30; 12:23-36.
Consider the Blessed Mother’s understanding of the prophe-

cies of His Sacrifice, for example those from Isaias, read as
Lessons in the Mass on Wednesday in Holy Week.

Are you acquainted with any of the numerous descriptions
in literature of “the harrowing of hell”?

The Easter Vigil, the Night of the Resurrection.

What are some of the specific evils in our day that constitute
the darkness which Christ’s Light alone can dispel?

Reread St. Paul to the Romans, 6:1-11, and the quotation
from St. Cyril of Jerusalem in the first chapter. Consider these

in relation to the rite for the renewal of Baptismal vows and
the Epistle in the Mass of the Vigil.

31



Refer also to the Time Table for Holy Week, pages
16-17

THE EUCHARISTIC FAST FOR THE LAITY

Circumstances What Is Permitted Time Limit
Priest’s Advice

Sickness (1) Liquids;
non-alcoholic

Medicine; non-alcoholic
None Required

Hard Work (2) Liquids; non-alcoholic One
Hour Required

Late A.M. Hour of
Communion ( 3

)

Liquids; non-alcoholic One Hour Required

Long Journey (4) Liquids; non-alcoholic
One Hour Required

School Children ( 5

)

Liquids; non-alcoholic One Hour Required

Evening Mass Solid Food (6)
Liquids; non-alcoholic

Three Hours
One Hour

Not required
Not required

WATER NEVER BREAKS THE FAST

1. Patients need not necessarily be
confined to bed or house.

2 Such as night duty by hospital personnel,
police, watchmen transport work-

Sfor work by^ at least an hour must attend to domestic
duties before going to Mass.

, , r i

3 Holy Communion can be received only
at a late hour; for example, after

9 A M. or at an hour considerably later than the time
of rising.

4. A mile and a quarter on foot, or 15 to 20 miles by
car in order to reach

5. ^en^difficult for them to go to Church
for Holy Communion, return home

for breakfast, then go back to school.

6. Beer and wine may be taken at meals, but no
stro^

^ rr • Manr
chart: © 1953, Jefferies & Manz