Holy Week

In the Orthodox Church the last week of Christ’s life is officially called Passion Week. In popular terminology it is called Holy Week. Each day is designated in the service books as “great and holy.” There are special services every day of the week which are fulfilled in all churches. Earthly life ceases for the faithful as they “go up with the Lord to Jerusalem” (Matins of Great and Holy Monday).

Each day of Holy Week has its own particular theme. The theme of Monday is that of the sterile fig tree which yields no fruit and is condemned. Tuesday the accent is on the vigilance of the wise virgins who, unlike their foolish sisters, were ready when the Lord came to them. Wednesday the focus is on the fallen woman who repents. Great emphasis is made in the liturgical services to compare the woman, a sinful harlot who is saved, to Judas, a chosen apostle who is lost. The one gives her wealth to Christ and kisses his feet; the other betrays Christ for money with a kiss.

On each of these three days the Gospel is read at the Hours, as well as at the Vespers when the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is served. The Old Testamental readings are from Exodus, Job, and the Prophets. The Gospel is also read at the Matins services which are traditionally called the “Bridegroom” services because the general theme of each of these days is the end of the world and the judgment of Christ. It is the common practice to serve the Bridegroom services at night.

Behold, the bridegroom comes in the middle of the night and blessed is the servant whom he shall find watching, and unworthy the servant whom he shall find heedless. Take care then, 0 my soul, and be not weighed down by sleep that you will not be given over unto death and be excluded from the Kingdom. But rise up and call out: Holy, Holy, Holy art T hou O God, by the Theotokos have mercy on us (Troparion of the First Three Days).

During the first three days of Holy Week, the Church prescribes that the entire Four Gospels be read at the Hours up to the point in each where the passion of Christ begins. Although this is not usually possible in parish churches, an attempt is sometimes made to read at least one complete Gospel, privately or in common, before Holy Thursday.

http://www.oca.org/OCchapter.asp?SID=2&ID=72

Big line up for the final round of Holy Thursday. NastyNasty and So What of Frite Night Records, the UK’s Natural Self and the Bay Area’s own Broken Figures, Bozak and Spinnerty all dropping original beats! I’m gonna miss this party for sure. I saw a lot of great performances, met a bunch of cool cats and got to play out some of my own shit for some true heads because of it. RIP Holy Thursday!

NastyNasty – No Names c/o XLR8R

Natural Self – Feet Keep Moving c/o Jus’ Like Music

[As stated in my About, I want to tell the world about the Orthodox faith. Up to this point, my blogs have somewhat unorganized to do that. Now God has given me a more coorinated way to do that. I will be sharing articles from the Orthodox Faith.

This will be a long series, but I trust it will be profitable to you in learning about the Orthodox faith. From time to time, I will also provide addition blogs of interest.  - Herman Art]

Chrismation

In the sacrament of Chrismation we receive “the seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit” (See Rom 8, 1 Cor 6, 2 Cor 1:21-22). If baptism is our personal participation in Easter — the death and resurrection of Christ, then chrismation is our personal participation in Pentecost — the coming of the Holy Spirit upon us.

The sacrament of chrismation, also called confirmation, is always done in the Orthodox Church together with baptism. Just as Easter has no meaning for the world without Pentecost, so baptism has no meaning for the Christian without chrismation. In this understanding and practice, the Orthodox Church differs from the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches where the two sacraments are often separated and given other interpretations than those found in traditional Orthodoxy.

Chrismation, the gift of the Holy Spirit, is performed in the Orthodox Church by anointing all parts of the person’s body with the special oil called holy chrism. This oil, also called myrrh [miron] is prepared by the bishops of the Church on Holy Thursday. It is used in chrismation to show that the gift of the Spirit was originally given to men through the apostles of Christ, whose formal successors in the world are the bishops of the Church (see Acts 8:14; 19:1-7).

In chrismation a person is given the “power from on high” (Acts 1-2), the gift of the Spirit of God, in order to live the new life received in baptism. He is anointed, just as Christ the Messiah is the Anointed One of God. He becomes-as the fathers of the Church dared to put it — a “christ” together with Jesus. Thus, through chrismation we become a “christ,” a son of God, a person upon whom the Holy Spirit dwells, a person in whom the Holy Spirit lives and acts — as long as we want him and cooperate with his powerful and holy inspiration. Thus, it is only after our chrismation that the baptismal procession is made and that we hear the epistle and the gospel of our salvation and illumination in Christ.

After the baptism and chrismation the person newly-received into God’s family is tonsured. The tonsure, which is the cutting of hair from the head in the sign of the cross, is the sign that the person completely offers himself to God — hair being the symbol of strength (Jud 16:17). Thus, until the fifteenth century the clergy of the Orthodox Church — the “professional Christians,” so to speak — wore the tonsure all their lives to show that their strength was in God.

The Rite of Churching

Together with being baptized and chrismated, the new-born child is also “churched.” The rite of churching imitates the offering of male children to the temple according to the law of the Old Testament, particularly the offering of Christ on the fortieth day after his birth (Luke 2:22). Because of this fact, baptism in the Orthodox tradition came to be prescribed for. the fortieth day or thereabouts. In the New Testament Church both male and female children are formally presented to God in the Church with special prayers at this time.

Also at this time, once more in imitation of Old Testament practice, the mother of the new-born child is also “churched.” Here we have the specific example of the purification ritual of Jesus’ mother Mary (Lk 2:22). In the Orthodox tradition the churching of the mother is her re-entry into the assembly of God’s people after her participation with God in the holy act of birth and after her separation from the Liturgy during her confinement. Thus, the mother is blessed to enter once more into communion with the mystery of Christ’s Body and Blood in the Divine Liturgy of the Church from which she has been necessarily absent.

The new mother should be churched before the baptism of her infant so that she can be present at the sacramental entrance of her child into the Kingdom of Christ. The official service book indicates that this should be done.

It is also the Orthodox tradition that the mysteries of baptism and chrismation, called officially “holy illumination,” are fulfilled in the immediate reception by the “newly-enlightened” of Holy Communion in the eucharistic liturgy of the Church. This is the case with infants as well as adults.

The Epistle of Baptism-Chrismation

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the sinful body might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For he who has died is freed from sin. But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. For we know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Rom 6:3-11

The Gospel of Baptism-Chrismation

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshipped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.”

Mt 28:16-20

http://www.oca.org/OCchapter.asp?SID=2&ID=52

The past two episodes have been amazing.  I’ve been watching Supernatural since 2005.  The past two episodes are part of the reason I love this show.  Supernatural just has the ability to make something serious funny.  In the middle of the drama someone will have a great one-liner that just works.  In last week’s episode, “Free to Be You and Me” there were several lines that where definitely quotable. Last night’s episode, “The End” had a couple as well.

Both episodes deal with similar issues, Sam and Dean are both stubborn and bullheaded.

Free to Be You and Me

This episode focuses a lot on Sam’s issue.  He’s given up hunting and he’s trying to live a “normal life”.  It just seems that crazy stuff just follows him everywhere.  While catching a couple of minutes on a TV at the bar he works in he discovers the weather is acting peculiarly.  He calls Bobby up, lets him know what’s up and wants him to send hunters to check it out.

Instead of taking matters into his own hands, he stubbornly refuses to do what he should.  Which is take care of it himself.

It goes to pot when the hunters Bobby sent find out Sam’s part in the whole bringing on the apocalypse mess.  They aren’t too happy when one of their own gets killed by demons.

Sam finally learns his lesson, his stubbornness caused more trouble than it should have.  If he had taken care of it himself, instead of insisting that he can’t do it, all would have worked out.  Even with him not drinking demon blood.

It seems from this episode that Sam is a better hunter when he’s with his brother.  Instead of hiding from what he is, he needs to embrace the fact that hunting evil things is something he’s meant to do.

What else happened?

Jessica reappears in a dream.

Jessica turns out just to be Lucifer in disguise.

Many of the angels believe God is dead (according to Raphael).

Sam is meant to be Lucifer’s vessel (what a shocker. heh.)

Favorite lines:

Dean:  Eat it, Twilight!

Sam:  [paraphasing]  I’m a riddle wrapped up in an engima, wrapped up in a taco.

The End

This episode also shows how stubborn Dean is too.  At the beginning of the episode Sam calls dean, hoping they can get back together.  Dean puts the kabosh on that one and is then sent five years to the future.  He meets his future self there, a stoned out Castiel, and Chuck just being Chuck.

The entire episode to me represents Dean’s stubbornness.  Instead of admitting he misses Sam he just plays his usual denial card.  Dude Dean, it’s kind of getting old.

What I find so interesting about the whole Sam/Apocalypse/66 Seals deal-io is that Dean doesn’t trust Sam because of it.  But, if I recall correctly Dean is the one who started the ball rolling!  What’s up with that?

I get it, I get, Sam is Dean’s soft spot and Dean is Sam’s soft spot.  But that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be together.  It’d probably be good if they kept their eyes on each other, because it’s obvious they get themselves into serious trouble when they’re apart.

What else happened?

Future!Dean is a jerk.

Future!Dean tries to convince Dean to agree to become Michael’s Vessel.

Sam in the future is gone, Lucifer has taken over his meatsuit (boo!)

Bobby is dead.

Favorite Lines:

Castiel [speaking to Future!Dean:  What?  I like past you....

All is not lost!  By the end of, "The End" Sam and Dean have reunited, after Dean encounters Lucifer!Sam in the future (who looks mighty spiffy in the white suit!).

Yay!  The boys are back!

Next week:  Guess who's coming to town?

Paris Hilton

]]> http://upinthecuts.wordpress.com/2009/09/29/holy-thursday-1-year-anniversary-wegadz/ Tue, 29 Sep 2009 18:06:06 +0000 Peter http://upinthecuts.wordpress.com/2009/09/29/holy-thursday-1-year-anniversary-wegadz/

Egadz! triumphantly returns to San Francisco for the one year anniversary of the party he helped launch, Holy Thursday. Check out a couple of cuts from his fine new release ‘Egadz! is Dead’. Support from Mophono, E da Boss and Grown Kids Radio.

EGADZ! – Glock Out c/o DFM

EGADZ! – Going Home c/o DFM

If you’ve been living under a rock the past week or so you may have missed all the hoopla that went down on Twitter. What happened is this: I’m not sure who started it, but I believe it may have been Super Wiki’s Twitter that called for all Supernatural fans to post the hashtag of #luciferiscoming on Thursday. Which happened to be the season premiere that night.

I took part, just look at my twitter. However, certain people became worried that some sort of cult or satanic group had taken over Twitter. Insert eye roll.

P. Diddy himself was a big part of it.
All of the hashtags regarding SPN were taken down. Censorship!

I recently heard through the grapevine…thank you, Buddy TV….that there’s a new campaign in progress.

As of Thursday, 9am Vancouver time all fans are supposed to tweet:
#PDiddyIsScaredOfHisTV: http://bit.ly/44Jo7k Aww, P Diddy is scared of the big bad #Supernatural TV show on CW 9/8C http://bit.ly/16KP45

I guess we’ll see how this one will turn out!

Buddy TV

Holy Thursday is back this week with a special all Bay Area edition. Performing are 4OneFunk’s F.A.M.E., Aspect McCarthy’s gohstNOTES and DJ Dskrybe. If you haven’t heard the guys from F.A.M.E. combine those keys with the controller one, well here’s your chance. Live beats!!!

Grown Kids Radio presents live beats this week at Holy Thursday. The line up includes Portland’s Devonwho, plus The Bay’s Edison and Bookworms. Blap!

Devonwho – Peppajack c/o Fresh Selects

Bookworms – Since I Met You c/o Solos Records

Live beats tonight!! Kat 010 & Woodstock of Crown City Rockers, Galapagos 4’s Mike Gao and my man Spinnerty.

If I had a vision of the full moon with a piece missing it would not have occurred to me that Jesus was telling me a feast celebrating the Eucharist was missing from the Church calendar.

If the connection between the moon with the piece missing and the host had occurred to me, I probably would have prayed for forgiveness. After all, as a good Catholic girl (more years ago than I like to admit (both the good and the Catholic)), I always thought you weren’t allowed to chew the host, because it would be like biting Jesus. But I guess that’s no longer the case, or maybe I was misinformed, since now I think they don’t have hosts that dissolve on the roof of your mouth, but are more like bread, and so you have to chew them.

So you can chew the host, even though it truly is the corpus Christi, and it’s that transubstantiation, as they call it, that gets celebrated today. And all this is due, amazingly enough, to a young thirteenth-century Belgian orphan named Juliana. She had the vision when she was eighteen, got Jesus’ message, became a nun, and kept fighting for this feast day even though lots of ecclesiastical authorities attacked her, even to the extent of getting the people of Liège to invade her monastery. Finally Bishop Robert of Thourette, on his deathbed in 1246, established the feast in order, as he put it, “to counteract the madness of heretics.”

And one more thing, in case you’re wondering why they needed this extra feast day when they had Holy Thursday, which after all celebrates the Last Supper – they decided that they were too busy, on Holy Thursday, washing feet.

In his poems, Blake also expresses his views towards the Christian Church.  Blake was very critical when it came to his views of the Church.  He did not believe that a person absolutely had to go to church every week in order to reach Heaven.  On the other hand, he believed that a person should have been able to pray on his own and did not necessarily have to be in a church.  Blake believed that a person would reach Heaven with knowledge rather than with great faith.  Blake thought of the Church as an institution in the way it controlled people in mass.  To Blake, the Church was a very dry and emotionless.  These views of Blake are made clear in a few poems in Songs of Innocence and of Experience.

In one poem, “The Little Vagabond,” Blake expresses his view of the Christian Church as being dry and emotionless.  In the poem, Blake contrasts the Church with an alehouse.  He describes the Church as being cold in the first line of the poem.  The alehouse, however, he describes as a healthy, pleasant, and warm place.  Then, in the second stanza, Blake expresses how he wishes the Church could be like the alehouse.  “But if at the Church they would give us some Ale, / And a pleasant fire, our souls to regale: / We’d sing and we’d pray all the life-long day: / Nor ever once wish from the Church to stray” (pl. 45).  Here, Blake is not literally expressing the fact that he wishes the Church would serve ale, but that he wishes it could be a warm and pleasant place to be.  He wishes it were not so dry and cold.  In this poem, he makes this view of the Christian Church very clear.

In another poem in Songs of Innocence, “Holy Thursday,” Blake expresses his view of how the Christian Church is an institution.  In the poem, Blake writes of little children going to church on Holy Thursday night.  They are all in ordered lines filing into the church.  They all raise their hands in unison and sing songs together.  In this poem, Blake is critical of how the Church is an institutional system that requires a very structured etiquette for attending mass. He even refers to the children as lambs in the church, which gives the impression that the children are in the church’s control and are being “herded” in.

Blake’s critical view of the Church expresses his desire for reform.  He desires for the Church to become less cold and become more pleasant and a place where he would like to never leave.  There is also a desire for the Church become less structured in its ways.  Blake’s critical view of the Christian Church is made clear in these poems.

Blake, William.  Songs of Innocence and of Experience.  Oxford:  Oxford University Press, 1967.

Harris, Drew. “Analyzing William Blake’s Poetry.” Web.25 May 2009. <http://www.emmitsburg.net/archive_list/articles/ce/misc/drew/blake.htm>.

In William Blake’s poem, “Holy Thursday,” he is making a social commentary on the social welfare system for the poor, specifically the children. He starts off this poem with an ironic tone when he states, “Is this a holy thing to see, / In a rich and fruitful land, / Babes reduced to misery, / Fed with cold and usurous hand?” (pl 33). In this first stanza, Blake is making commentary of the poor social care system for children in England during the 1700s. In Steven King’s book, Poverty and Welfare in England, 1700-1850: A Regional Perspective, King writes in regard to the social welfare system, “In this sense, it [social welfare system] was something less than a welfare safety net; to borrow the words of an earlier chapter; the communal welfare system in the north and west was a threadbare and much mended canvas riven with barely disguised holes through which large numbers fell” (215). King is stating here that the welfare system in place in England during the time of Blake was very faulty, and let a large number of people slip though the cracks as it was barely a safety net for the poor.

Blake continues the poem over the next two stanzas, speaking of the poor situation of the impoverished children in England. Interestingly though, Blake finishes the poem with a final stanza stating: “For where-e’er the sun does shine, / And where-e’er the rain does fall: / Babe can never hunger there, / Nor poverty the mind appall” (pl 33). Blake seems to finish his thought in Holy Thursday with an optimistic tone, stating that wherever it rains and wherever the sun shines, children can’t go hungry and poverty will not slip the mind of the general population. This once again shows Blake’s commitment to social criticism and reform as he is making a statement for the reformation of the flawed social welfare systems currently in place.

Blake, William.  Songs of Innocence and of Experience.  Oxford:  Oxford University Press, 1967.

King, Steven.  Poverty and Welfare in England, 1700-1850: A Regional Perspective.  New York:  Manchester University Press, 2000.

As part of the Lenten Season tradition, Catholics conduct church pilgrimage during Maundy Thursday, otherwise known as Visita Iglesia. Traditionally, 7 churches are being visited and 2 stations of the cross are recited for each. But some practice visiting 14 churches, one station of the cross for each OR all are recited. Doers’ believe that the more churches are visited, the greater sacrifice is being offered.

We used to visit 14 nearby churches and recite one station for each. But for this year, we decided to extend our visit to old churches in Quezon province and famous landmarks in Tagaytay. Our list was narrowed to 7 churches and 2 stations of the cross for each. We left at 4 a.m. and arrived at 8 p.m. Wasn’t that a full blast?!

San Pedro Bautista Parish, Candelaria Quezon

First church we saw while crossing the Candelaria main road. Renovated in 2005, this is where the religious Candle Festival offered to Nuestra Seňora de Candelaria (Blessed Virgen of Candelaria) is being celebrated every February 5th. The structure is relatively new plus the huge images of Catholic saints on the side attract church goers.

 San Miguel de Archangel Basilica Menor (Tayabas Churh), Tayabas Quezon

Situated at the heart of Tayabas town proper, this church was build using indigenous materials. It was initially built by the Franciscan Friars in 1585 with St.Michael the Archangel designated as patron saint.

It was again repaired in 1590 under Sn. Pedro Bautista. In 1600, a church made of brick was built but it was destroyed by the 1743 earthquake.

The Tayabas Church is famous for its long aisle. Couples getting married will experience quite a longer time in their wedding march plus additional expenses for flowers needed to line up the way.

The bell tower also features a clock which is unbelievably still working despite its old age.

Tayabas Church is the oldest church in the Diocese of Lucena (Quezon Province has two diocese, the other one is Gumaca). The church is home to many liturgical artworks and is frequently a venue of liturgical celebrations.

Kamay ni Hesus Healing Church, Lucban Quezon

Famous for its healing masses, 292 staircase going to 14 stations of the cross, and a 50-foot statue of the ascending Christ at the top (third largest Christ Statue in the world), I can say that this was the highlight of our pilgrimage. Getting here wasn’t easy especially during Holy Week. During our visit, the weather was hot and so many pilgrims are coming over. But it was ALL WORTH IT! Nothing can beat the inner joy, peace and warmth that pilgrims feel upon reaching the top. In our own little way, we were able to sacrifice for and give praise to God.

Parokya ni San Francisco ng Assisi, Sariaya Quezon

Found at the main road of Sariaya, this 250-year old church is one of the oldest in Quezon. The Church features intricate tableaux of sacred and miraculous images.

Ina ng Laging Saklolo (Our Lady of Perpetual Help) Parish, Tagaytay

Franciscan Missionaries of Mary Retreat House, Tagaytay

Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Tagaytay

My favorite church of all. This has been our family church (is there such a thing?! Lolz ) and we often attend mass on Sundays (considering that travel time from our place to this is approx. 1.5 hours. Did I say that the 1.5 hours travel time is traffic-free? ).

“Faith is not measured on the distance traveled nor the number of churches visited. It is the sincerity of your prayers in every stop that counts.”

St. Vladimir’s Seminary sent out those on their mailing list an excerpt from Fr. Alexander Schmemann’s book on HOLY WEEK.   The entire passage is beautiful, but I will quote her part extrememly relevant to Holy Thursday and the commemoration of the Last Supper – the institution of the Holy Eucharist.   Unfortunately in Orthodox piety the Vespers-Liturgy which celebrates Christ’s instituting the Eucharist is often made a less important liturgical service than doing the Matins of Holy Friday with its 12 Gospel readings.  But it is in the Upper Room, in the washing of the disciple’s feet and in Christ saying the words of consecration that we are given to understand the sacrificial nature of His voluntary death on the cross.    Perhaps one day there will be the liturgical revival that will restore the services to their proper times and which will make the Vespers-Liturgy of Holy Thursday as central to Orthodox piety as it is to our theology.

God is Love (1 John 4:8).  And the first gift of Love was life.  The meaning, the content of life was communion.  To be alive man was to eat and drink, to partake of the world.  The world was thus Divine Love made food, made Body of man.  And being alive, that is, partaking of the world, man was to be in communion with God, to have God as the meaning, the content, and the end of his life.  Communion with the God-given world was indeed communion with God.  Man received his food from God and making it his body and his life, he offered the whole world to God; transformed it into life in God and with God.  The love of God gave life to man; the love of man for God transformed this life into communion with God.  This was paradise.  Life in it was, indeed, Eucharistic.  Through man and his love for God the whole creation was to be sanctified and transformed into one all-embracing sacrament of Divine Presence, and man was the priest of the sacrament. 

But in sin man lost this Eucharistic life.  He lost it because he ceased to see the world as means of communion with God and his life as eucharist, as adoration and thanksgiving.  He loved himself and the world for their sake; he made himself the content and the end of his life.  He thought that his hunger and thirst – that is, the dependence of his life on the world – could be satisfied by the world as such, by food as such.  But world and food, once they are deprived of their initial sacramental meaning as means of communion with God; once they are not received for God’s sake, and filled with hunger and thirst for God; once, in other words, God is no longer their real ‘content,’ can give no life, satisfy no hunger, for they have no life in themselves.  And thus by putting his love in them, man deviated his love from the only object of all love, of all hunger, of all desires.  And he died.  For death is the only inescapable ‘decomposition’ of life cut from its only source and content.  Man thought to find life in the world and in food, but he found death.    His life became communion with death, for instead of transforming the world by faith, love, and adoration into communion with God, he submitted himself entirely to the world; he ceased to be its priest and became its slave.  And by his sin the whole world was made a cemetery, where people condemned to death partook of death and ’sat in the region and shadow of death’ (Matthew 4:16). 

But if man betrayed God, God remained faithful to man.  He did not ‘turn Himself away forever from His creature whom H had made, neither did He forget the works of His hands, but He visited him in diverse manners, through the tender compassion of His mercy ‘ (from the Liturgy of St. Basil).  A new Divine work began, that of redemption and salvation.  And it was fulfilled in Christ, the Son of God, who, in order to restore man to his pristine beauty and to restore life as communion with God, became Man, took upon Himself our nature, with its thirst and hunger, with its desire for and love of life.  And in Him life was revealed, given, accepted, and fulfilled as total and perfect Eucharist, as total and perfect communion with God.  He rejected the basic human temptation: to live ‘by bread alone’; He revealed that God and His kingdom are the real food, the real life of man.  And this perfect Eucharistic Life, filled with God, and therefore Divine and immortal, He gave to all those who believe in Him, that is, find Him the meaning and content of their lives.  Such is the wonderful meaning of the Last Supper.  He offered Himself as true food of man, because the Life revealed in Him is the truth Life.  And thus the movement of Divine Love which began in paradise with a Divine ‘take, eat…’ (for eating is life for man) comes now ‘unto the end’ with the Divine ‘take, eat, this is My Body…’ (for God is life for man).  The Last Supper is the restoration of the paradise of bliss, of life as Eucharist and Communion.

Fr. Alexander Schmemann, HOLY WEEK: A LITURGICAL EXPLANATION FOR THE DAYS OF HOLY WEEK

Here is an index to my series of Holy Week reflections:

1. Holy Thursday
2. Good Friday
3. Holy Saturday
4. Easter Sunday

A frame from Holy Thursday at Saint Monica’s Church in Santa Monica.

Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto

Instead of doing our Bisita Iglesa last Holy Thursday, we decided to go to our Lady of Lourdes grotto in San Jose Del Monte. The place which is privately-owned, hosts an exact replica of the Lourdes Grotto in France. It also features a mock hill calvary where life-size statues depict the passion and death of Jesus Christ and where visitors can pray/do the stations of the cross. This grotto attracts big crowds of devotees during the Lenten season and this Lenten season was no different.

The National Shrine of the Divine Mercy

Since the Shrine of the Divine Mercy was just less than an hour’s drive from the grotto. We decided to visit the shrine as well and took the north expressway for our way back to Manila. Since early 1990s, more than 300,000 devotees of the 3 o’clock Habit have flocked to the Shrine. The main altar features the life-sized painting of the Divine Mercy. The images of the Seven Archangels are included in the main altar. At the lower part of the Shrine and situated at the back, is the Grotto of Our Lady of Fatima. There is also an Adoration Chapel, which houses the painting of the Last Vision of Fatima. Adjacent to it is the so-called “Rosary Hill.” The 15 mysteries and the 14 stations of the cross help people experience conversion, healing, and a deeper relationship with God.

Lent is finally over. My sacrifices for Lent were 1) not to watch Taiwanese dramas, and 2) not to drink any softdrinks. For my first sacrifice, I am proud to say that I did not watch any Taiwanese dramas for the entire Lenten Season. For the second sacrifice, I honestly admit to having drank Coke/Pepsi twice within the Lenten season, with those 2 instances being instances I could not avoid. During my usual trip to Mcdonalds though, I spent the entire Lent ordering iced tea with my meals instead of softdrinks, so that’s something to be proud of.

For the usual Holy Week with my family, we attended mass during Holy Thursday and we attended Easter Eve mass last Black Saturday. Last Friday, my mom and dad went to Ateneo to attend a recollection hosted by our Charismatic Community, which is also where we had our mass yesterday and last Thursday (not at the Gesu Church). Last Friday, me and my 3 other siblings accidentally missed out on the mass at our local church because we didn’t know that the Good Friday service began at 3 and we got to the Church at around 4pm, but we were able to do our own Way of the Cross (though not in 7 Churches as the tradition in our country goes). I was also able to have confession with one of the priests from our local church (who’s from abroad) and it felt nice to be able to go to confession again, since I haven’t had confession for about a year or so.

Awhile ago, as the usual tradition in our Charismatic community, our mass began with no light-ceremony, passing of the light from a large symbolic candle to ministers who then go around passing the light to others. A moment of sadness over remembering Jesus’ death, to joyful celebration over his rising, with noise and jubilation. I won’t go into the details, since there are too many too recall, but one thing many in my community look forward to is the dance at the end of the mass service. It’s usually done started by the men in our community, women can join in too, but I am just too lazy to. Arm in arm, everyone circles the place singing Alleluia and praised to God while dancing and lifting their feet in jubilation. It’s really a celebration of Jesus’ rising from the dead.

After our Easter Eve mass awhile ago, my entire family, together with my cousins’ family (sister of my mom) went out to Eastwood to have dinner together and we ended up at Teriyaki Boy for our dinner, then Dairy Queen for dessert. Truly a celebration!

Happy Easter everybody!

You may view my card here.

A strange thing happened last night, Holy Thursday, as I walked home from class.

My walk from campus takes me through the parking lot of the Catholic church near my house (where I generally try not to attend Mass). The Holy Thursday Mass had just finished not long before, and (or so I presume) the Blessed Sacrament remained for adoration. As I passed, I slowed, bowed, and crossed myself. Typically, even at the best (by Novus Ordo standards) Masses, I have an unfortunate tendency to allow my mind to wander, not because I wish to, but because my attention span is that of a child’s, at best. For that five seconds that I dedicated my attention to the presence of the Sacrament, my mind was completely empty of anything other than the Sacrament.

Something like that has never happened to me, however brief the occasion was.

In between Good Friday and Holy Saturday…I figured I would write a bit with an update on Holy Week 2009 as I am trying to get tired so I can have a good night’s sleep before the longest day of the year tomorrow. I also am researching and working on my Easter Sermon, so I am not wasting my time. Unfortunately, the Red Sox are in Anaheim for the first game since the Angels rookie pitcher Nick Adenhart was killed by a drunk driver whose license was revoked for…you guessed it…drunk driving. This guy killed 3 people because he got drunk and drove in the middle of Holy Week. May those passed on rest in peace, and may this criminal get punished to the full extent of the law.

 Holy Week is going fine…no news is great news when it comes to times like these. The ceremonies began on Palm Sunday without a mess of dropped palms or bad liturgy. Everything was done by the book and very spiritually inspiring. The scourging of the cross is something that needs to be experienced.

Holy Tuesday was a full day with the Central Diocesan Clergy Conference and the Mass of Holy Oils. It was good to see many of my brothers in the priesthood as it always is. I’m also glad they aren’t as “cliquey” as they could be. I have yet to have a problem with any of my brothers…although I am sure it will happen at some point. Everyone has different ideas and philosophies on relatively the same subject matter. That is what makes a political debate fun. The only unfortunate thing about Holy Tuesday is the disinterest in the Mass of Chrism. Not many people attend, but it is one of the most unique Masses of the year, concelebrated by all of the priests of the diocese. Oh well, maybe we can get it on Youtube one day.

Holy Thursday, the Institution of the Holy Eucharist, is my favorite Mass of the year. Concelebrated, the procession to the altar of Repose, the stripping of the altars. A very meaningful night. Good Friday is like no other day. Church services that are unique to this day only. I can’t imagine any priest or bishop is as comfortable doing these services as a litany or a Mass. Time is short. I hope everyone has a happy and healthy Easter. Be thankful for the gift of Christ, the sacrifice on the Cross. Enjoy the pomp and happiness of Easter Sunday. Don’t miss church!

silver bill finch

Please say a prayer for the repose of Rev. Father G. William Finch.

He died of a sudden heart attack shortly after saying the Mass of the Lord’s Supper last night.

Fr. Finch was pastor of St. Raphael parish in Rockville, Md. I was his parochial vicar for my first fourteen months as a priest.

Teaching me how to be a priest was an enormous trial for him, because I was very difficult and obtuse. But Fr. Finch endured the task with kind patience. He succeeded in teaching me a great deal in spite of my ineptitude.

Father’s sudden death is a blow to all of his brother priests and to his people in Rockville. May the angels lead him to parardise, and may the good Lord console us who ache with grief.