Thursday, April 5, 2007

A Meditation on the Passion


For anyone who is interested, I will be presiding at The Cathedral of the Madeleine's Seven Last Words devotion on Good Friday. These meditations, which constitute a celebration of the Word, begin shortly after the conclusion of the Celebration of the Lord's Passion, which commences at Noon and concludes shortly before 3:00 PM, when the Choristers from The Madeleine Choir School will sing Giovanni Battista Pergolesi's Stabat Mater, a choral meditation on the Passion.

The service consists of seven Gospel passages that constitute what Scripture records as our Lord's words spoken from the Cross, a short commentary on the reading, a homily, then several minutes of kneeling in silence. We do all this before the Cross of Veneration, which contains a relic of the True Cross.

Lent ends with Evening Prayer this evening. The Mass of the Lord's Supper, which begins after sundown, starts the Triduum. This Mass, along with the Celebration of the Lord's Passion on Good Friday, and the great Easter Vigil, really constitute one liturgy. There is no dismissal (i.e., "The mass in ended . . .") until the end of the Vigil

(Picture is the 12th Station from the Stations of the Cross in Lodwar, Kenya Cathedral, taken from Australian EJournal of Theology)

No comments:

Post a Comment

Monday of the Fifth Week of Lent

Readings: Daniel 13:1-9.15-1719-30.33-62; Psalm 23:1-6; John 8:1-11 Whenever I hear Jesus’ encounter with the woman caught in adultery, m...