WARNING!
On Good Friday evening at the 7:30 p.m. Service of Tenebrae, a service of darkness and shadows, the service ends with a sustained loud earthquake.  If you bring small children, please explain in advance the story of Jesus' resurrection and the earthquake which signaled his rising from the dead.  This hour long ceremony has its roots in the ancient liturgies of Holy Week and is extremely powerful and beautiful.

THE GOOD FRIDAY SEPULCHRE OR COFFIN
Many thanks to Tom Halaska who rebuilt our sepulchre for the Paschal Candle and to Joyce VanderWyst who painted the designs on the coffin for this Service of Tenebrae.
The sepulchre is adorned with the symbols of the passion; the nails and crown of thorns, the dice, spear and reed, the rooster and also the Greek letters of the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the skull and cross bones of the first man; Adam, the lamb of God, seated on the Gospel book, and the Cross of the Five Holy Wounds, (the Jerusalem Cross of the Holy Sepulchre).  The top of the lid, bears the inscription, from the lauds of Easter Vigil:
"And very early in the morning after the Sabbath, they came to the sepulchre, at the sunrise, Gaudeamus!"

VOTIVE CANDLES AND STATUES
During the Triduum of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday, there will be no votive candles to light until after the new Easter fire has been struck and blest on Holy Saturday eve.  Also, during Holy Week the statues and images of the saints will be veiled in purple, a very ancient custom, so that our attention is solely focused on the Cross of Christ.  Candles may be lighted once again on Easter Sunday.

PALM SUNDAY LITURGIES
Due to the length of the Palm Sunday Masses, there will be no homily given today.  The Liturgies of Holy Week speak most profoundly for themselves and require little amplification.

HOLY THURSDAY ADORATION OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT
You are invited to come and pray before the Blessed Sacrament following the Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper until midnight.  Jesus invites everyone to come and spend time with him:  what he says to his apostles, he says to us -- "Could you not spend one hour with me?"  Let us honor him with the gift of ourselves, if even for a short period of time.

MASS INTENTIONS
From Palm Sunday through Easter Sunday, there will be NO PRAYERS OF THE FAITHFUL after the homily.   

Liturgy News&
    Today marks the beginning of Holy Week.  The Universal Church invites all her children to enter into a type of solemn retreat with our Lord and Savior.
    Today, along with the children of the Hebrews, we chant:  "Hosanna!  To the Son of David, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord."  The Liturgy of this Sunday opens with a grand procession in honor of Christ, whom we acclaim as Lord.  We invite all to walk in procession in the Church, young and old, and children on the shoulders of parents.  Just as many of us root for a football, baseball or puck gliding down a field, how much more so should we be able to acknowledge Jesus, the Christ!  Then suddenly the Liturgy downshifts with the proclamation of the Passion narrative and the Mass continues in the Lenten spirit.
    Holy Thursday we recall the institution of the Eucharist along with the Washing of the Feet.  We do as the Savior did, we serve one another in fraternal charity.  Following Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament is carried in Solemn Procession to its place of repose and the Sanctuary is striped in darkness, as Psalm 22 is chanted.  Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament continues until Midnight.
    On Good Friday afternoon, the Solemn liturgy is divided into three parts: the Liturgy of the Word, the Solemn intercessions, and the Veneration of the Cross.
    In the evening hours, we invite you to come and pray for healing as the Tenebrae candles in the hearse are extinguished, one by one.  During the nightwatch, our Lord's body is carried through the church and then the Paschal Candle is anointed in preparation for the Great Vigil of Easter.  Then, all present will receive the anointing of the hands in preparation for our own burial.  Next, the Paschal candle is buried until Holy Saturday and the one remaining lighted candle is removed from the Sanctuary.  Symbolic of the Lord's resurrection, there follows an intense and loud earthquake and the lone lighted candle reappears, and all leave in the silence of the night -- only to return for nightwatch: the Great Vigil of Easter.
    At the mother of all liturgies, we enter the darkened church building as the new Easter fire is prepared.  We recall our history as the Lessons from the Old Testament are proclaimed and thus are fulfilled in the proclamation of the Easter Gospel.  Then the Easter Water is blessed, and our candidates are welcomed into the church through the Sacrament of Baptism and Confirmation and all are sprinkled from the fountain of Easter Water.  Finally, the Easter Eucharist is celebrated, for our Lord has truly been raised from death and we are brought to new life.
    Join us, as we celebrate these saving events for our Salvation in union with the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ.  And when you come, bring a friend to share your joy!

Blessings in the Paschal Lamb,

Jay Hunstiger