Sadly we don't have the usual photos of our Palm Sunday Procession to post this year as the beginning to our Holy Week update. The rain defeated us and we had to cancel our planned procession but we had a beautiful Palm Sunday Mass nevertheless.
Of course the Easter Triduum begins with the evening Mass of the Lord's Supper with the Washing of the Feet which is such a moving and humbling experience for a priest.
We watch with Our Lord up to Midnight. Again, it is very emotional; entering the church, almost in darkness with the glow from the Altar of Repose and seeing people keeping watch with Our Lord in silent prayer; some kneeling, some sitting.
In fact, from a priest's point of view, I think the Chrism Mass at our Cathedral in Arundel is also a very moving liturgy and a precursor to the emotional journey we travel during the Triduum.
Our Easter liturgies are well under way now, having just Celebrated the Passion of the Lord and the Veneration of the Cross. It was wonderful to see a full church and the way people entered into the solemnity of the liturgy with such reverence. Our readers read well and the Gospel reading of the Passion narrated by our Deacon with individual parts read by readers from the body of the church was very moving, as always.
As a slight diversion from the liturgies of the Easter Triduum, we have for many years participated in an ecumenical Procession of Witness with other Christians in Banstead on the morning of Good Friday. Once again, many people turned up to walk through the village following behind a large wooden Cross and stopping for a brief mediation at several 'Stations' along the way.
Now we are entering that quiet, desolate time in between the Crucifixion of Our Lord on Good Friday and his Resurrection on Easter Sunday. We know what is awaiting us on Sunday; can you imagine what the disciples must have felt like not knowing this . . . ?
We enter into the tomb with Him and if you enter into our church in the morning tomorrow, I think you will immediately sense that something is missing . . .
The door of the tabernacle is open and empty for all to see. The altar is bare and the whole atmosphere is one of emptiness and waiting.
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