Been thinking a lot about Holy Week as oldest son was invited to a birthday party on Good Friday afternoon, and colleagues at school are planning a happy hour on Holy Thursday evening . . . I am not, and don't pretend to be a strictly observant Catholic--I miss some holy days of obligation, don't go to Confession as often as I should, etc. etc. But the idea of taking my child to play laser tag while Jesus is on the cross, or of imbibing Margaritas while Fr. Jerry celebrates the Last Supper just doesn't quite jive with me somehow . . .although I do suppose both events include friends, bread and alcohol . . .
I have very vivid memories of Holy Week as a child, attending Mass for three days in a row, going to Tennebrae with my Mom at midnight, thinking Good Friday would never end, but then hoping it could take a little longer to get to dinnertime because I knew that Salmon Patties would be waiting for me . . . but then the absolute giddy joy of Easter Vigil--both because well, it was finally Easter, and because I could once again eat chocolate, candy, or indulge in whatever other major sacrifice I had suffered through for six weeks. . . . Curious how y'all have spent, and plan to spend Holy Week?
Just remember that a bone in the salmon patty is a special treat.
ReplyDeleteTrudge to Holy Thursday Mass, trying to think of an excuse not to go. Then the hymns of old are entoned -- "Panis Agelicus" and "Pange Lingua" -- it all washes over me. Those days gone by when faith seemed simpler to cling to. We sing them in English today, not the Latin of St. Thomas Aquinas who wrote them, but they still have the power to move. To wash over the soul helping cleanse what has avoided the Lenten journey. When we get to the last two verses ("Tantum Ergo") I must sing in Latin though those around me look at me. The journey is almost complete. The Passion on Good Friday and then the purge will have run its course. Pap
ReplyDeleteWas looking for a reason not to attend Holy Thursday Mass, but couldn't get around the feeling that I ought to go. Then the old hymns were intoned ("Panis Angelicus" and "Pange Lingua") and I knew why I was to be there. Eventhough they were sung in English, their power had not diminished. Whatever had not been purged in the last forty days was washing away. By the time we got to the last two verses of "Pange Lingua" during the removal of the Blessed Sacrament to the chapel -- Tantum Ergo -- I was moved to sing those last two verses in Latin. Which cause those around me to turn and stare. I didn't care. Their healing power had not been lost with time.
ReplyDeleteHoly Saturday has always been a day that seemed lost in the midst of Holy Week. It was like a Holy Day without its own reason--stuck between Good Friday and Easter -- the ultimate downer and the ultimate upper.
ReplyDeleteThen there was the issue of what behaviour was allowed. "Back in the day" the rules of Fasting were enforced until noon on Holy Saturday. But back then we were supposed to fast on ALL days of Lent and Abstinence was on all Fridays & Wednesdays! Of couse, Abstinence was all year on Fridays.
But I digress. Some people regard the noon of Holy Saturday as the official end of Lent, which means that those cheeseburgers I gave up for Lent could be had for a late lunch today, eventhough we do not recognize the Resurrection until after sundown.
I always felt that if after 3:00 PM on Good Friday we were to conform our behaviour to solemnize the death of Christ, then ALL of Holy Saturday ought to also be devoted to the same idea. However, since even in the days when we had much stricter rules for Fast and Abstinence, noon was the end of it all, then I suppose that today's practice of treating Holy Saturday just like any other Saturday is not out of line.
Life was simpler when I didn't think about the things I didn't think about.