Commemorated on April 29 THURSDAY: The Last Supper Two events shape the liturgy of Great and Holy Thursday: the Last Supper of Christ with His disciples, and the betrayal of Judas. The meaning of both is in love. The Last Supper is the ultimate revelation of God’s redeeming love for man, of love as the very … [Read more…]
Commemorated on April 26, April 27, and April 28 Holy Week: A Liturgical Explanation for the Days of Holy Week 3. MONDAY, TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY: THE END These three days, which the Church calls Great and Holy have within the liturgical development of the Holy Week a very definite purpose. They place all its celebrations in the … [Read more…]
Commemorated on April 25 Palm Sunday Palm Sunday is the celebration of the triumphant entrance of Christ into the royal city of Jerusalem. He rode on a colt for which He Himself had sent, and He permitted the people to hail Him publicly as a king. A large crowd met Him in a manner befitting royalty, … [Read more…]
Children scrambling up trees to cut branches they will wave, people spreading their garments in the road for the King to ride on and shouting, “Hosanna!” These are the joyful images of welcome we associate with the Entrance of Christ into Jerusalem. Yet we know that in a few days, some of the same spectators … [Read more…]
Commemorated on April 24 Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday Visible triumphs are few in the earthly life of our Lord Jesus Christ. He preached a kingdom “not of this world.” At His nativity in the flesh there was “no room at the inn.” For nearly thirty years, while He grew “in wisdom and in stature, and … [Read more…]
Commemorated on April 18 Saint Zosimas (April 4) was a monk at a certain Palestinian monastery on the outskirts of Caesarea. Having dwelt at the monastery since his childhood, he lived there in asceticism until he reached the age of fifty-three. Then he was disturbed by the thought that he had attained perfection, and needed no … [Read more…]