THE PASCHAL SEASON
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Triduum Introduction

ALL THE DAYS, from Ash Wednesday to Pentecost, are our Paschal (Passover) Season. The 40 days of Lent and the 50 days of Eastertime surround the Triduum, the Great Three Days from Holy Thursday evening through Easter Sunday evening. This entire season has a unity centered in the Easter Vigil. It is visibly expressed through our Lenten focus on Love First, and continued celebration of baptismal death and resurrection in Christ during Eastertime. Togetherwe experience A Change in Perspective during Lent so that we might come to Love Always during Easter and, in turn, go forth at Pentecost with the power of the Spirit to transform the world.

Triduum: Come to the Table, Come to the Cross, Come to the Fire and Water!

This year we are not able to Come to the Table, Come to the Cross, nor Come to the Fire and Water as we have in the past. But we can still remember, and celebrate, from our homes; holy families gathered virtually and spiritually as Holy Family.

The Great Three Days, the Easter Triduum, is the center of the year for Christians. Everyone in the community is invited to plan ahead so that the whole time, from Thursday night until Easter Vigil, is as free as possible from distractions. We are asked to fast during Good Friday and to continue fasting, if possible, through Holy Saturday, so that we come hungry and full of excitement to the Easter Vigil. We make Good Friday and Holy Saturday free for prayer, reflection, preparation and silence. The Church is getting ready.

Whether you are young or old, please set these days aside for renewal. All of us should know that our presence for the three-day liturgy is not just by invitation. We are all needed to be present spiritually during these greatest days.

On these three days, we gather several times. Together we hear some of the Church’s most beautiful prayers and scriptures, and we make some of our finest music. Please look closely at the following schedule and make plans to take part in these Great Three Days.

The first day of the Triduum, from Holy Thursday sunset to Good Friday sunset, is like the sixth day of creation when God formed us from clay and breath. In dying, the Lord Jesus fell asleep, like Adam, that we might be formed from his own body, like Eve, a new creation.

The Mass of the Lord’s Supper will be live-broadcasted from Holy Name Cathedral on Holy Thursday, April 9, and can be viewed at archchicago.org. The church bells will call the community to spiritually prepare ourselves, and enter into the sacred Triduum. Due to social distancing requirements, there will be no washing of feet ritual during the Cathedral mass but we encourage you to observe the ritual with your own family at home. After listening to the scriptures, we wash each other’s feet in tender humility, imitating Jesus who gave us this image of what we, the Church, the Body of Christ, is supposed to look like, feel like, act like. We then celebrate the Eucharist, a sharing in the Body and Blood of Christ that is best expressed in the way we serve and minister to one another. This evening liturgy has no dismissal, no ending. We are now in the quiet, the peace, and the glory of the Triduum. The Blessed Sacrament is carried in silent procession to the Altar of Repose. Now we keep watch with Christ, as in the Garden of Gethsemane, until Midnight.

At the end of the Holy Thursday mass, walk around the block with a lit candle or flashlight, recalling the procession with the Blessed Sacrament and the night watch of the disciples. At midnight, extinguish the light until the end of the Easter Vigil.

The second day of the Triduum, beginning Good Friday sunset, is the Sabbath. The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christwill be broadcasted from Holy Name Cathedral on Friday, April 10, and can be viewed on archchicago.org  We pray for the needs of the world. The holy cross is held up in our midst to be reverenced with a kiss, a bow, or a genuflection. Do so with your home cross. No Mass is celebrated. In burial the Lord Jesus rested, and we rest with him, through the night and into the next day. This day is an image of the timelessness before time began. In death the Lord Jesus entered the “formless void,” the utter nothingness before creation. On this day we continue our fasting with the anxiety of separated lovers. We keep watch, learning the lessons of restfulness, silence and darkness. We reserve this day, unique in all the year, to do nothing at all except to glory in the cross of Christ.

The Stations of the Cross is a traditional Catholic devotion, especially during Lent and on Good Friday. Please CLICK HERE for a virtual reflection on the mystery of Jesus’ passion and what it means for us today.

This third day of the Triduum begins Holy Saturday sunset. Hungry and thirsty now, and full of excitement, the Church gathers in the darkness and lights a new fire and a great candle that will make this night bright. The Easter Vigil mass will be broadcasted from Holy Name Cathedral beginning on Saturday, April 11, and can be viewed at archchicago.org We listen to some of our most powerful scriptures: stories of creation, Abraham and Isaac, Moses and Miriam and the crossing of the sea, poems of promise and rejoicing, the gospel of the resurrection. Once again we raise our voices in joyful praise as we sing the Alleluia for the first time since Lent began. We pray for all our saints to stand with us as we go to the font, filled once again with the waters of new life. There will be no baptisms this year, but all of us can renew our baptismal promises. These are the moments when death and life meet, when we reject evil and recall who we are as Children of God. All of this we do TOGETHER, in the communion we call Church. We go to the table and celebrate the Easter Eucharistic Feast. Easter day begins and we are ready for Fifty Days of rejoicing. CHRIST IS RISEN; WE COME TO NEW LIFE AND LOVE ALWAYS, ALLELUIA, ALLELUIA!

 The Easter Vigil is the high point of our liturgical year. It can be a long service for pre-school age children. With preparation, however, it can be a wonderful learning and worship experience for families of school-age children since it is such a dramatic and symbolically rich service. To help your children appreciate it, first familiarize them with the story of creation, the story of the Israelites’ gaining freedom from slavery, and the story of our own liberation from sin through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. They should be helped to understand that the lighting of the great Easter fire is a symbol of Christ, the Light of the World, who triumphed over the darkness of evil. The lit Easter (Paschal) Candle is the lasting symbol in our church of Christ risen. It stands throughout the Easter season until Pentecost as a reminder to us of the risen Lord’s presence; it is lit for all baptisms and funerals throughout the year as a reminder that the Light of Christ can never be extinguished.

This year, how can you make Easter a feast of light at home? Candles in windows? Paper bag luminaries along the walk? Strings of clear bulbs around the front door? Be creative! Be the first on your block to discover the joys of Easter lights. But remember; don’t turn them on until after the sun sets on Easter Eve!

To make an Easter candle for your home, decorate a white pillar candle with a cross made from five chunks of incense or clove set crosswise in the candle. Using paint, or even melted colored wax, draw an alpha and an omega (the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet) as well as the numerals 2-0-2-0 around the cross in the pattern shown below. This will serve as a reminder that Christ is the beginning and the end of time and this resurrection consecrates the year. The candle is lit for the first time on Easter Eve. The candle is then lit every night in Eastertime – the 50 days from Easter to Pentecost.

A
2 * 0
* * *
2 * 0
Ω

Place a bowl of water on the table while you virtually celebrate the mass with Cardinal Cupich. When he blesses the Easter water, extend your hands over the bowl, bless the water, and sprinkle yourselves in remembrance of your baptism.

 On Easter Sunday, pull out all of the stops! Celebrate Easter Sunday Mass with Fr. Terry at holyfamilyparish.org. This is the Sunday of Sundays. Christ is Risen! We proclaim Love First and Always! Celebrate! Fill the house with flowers, set the table with your best dishes, light your Easter candle, bless yourselves with Easter holy water (blessed during the Easter Vigil or the Easter Sunday mass), and enjoy a festive meal. Afterwards have a family Easter egg hunt. An egg hunt is a search for life. Like the holy women in the garden on the day of Resurrection, we discover that life has conquered death.

Easter, however, is more than just one day. Easter is a 50-day season of joy and grace. For additional spiritual enrichment resources for the Easter season, please click on this link https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/Lent/, then click on “Celebrating the Easter Season” on the far-right side of the page.

In these challenging times,

Peace and Blessings for an Easter Season filled with Love Always!