"Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it, broke it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my Body.” And He took a cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.” Matthew 26:26–29

Holy Thursday is the commemoration of the Last Supper of Jesus Christ when he established the sacrament of Holy Communion prior to his arrest and crucifixion. It was the final Passover meal Jesus shared with His disciples in Jerusalem. Jesus performed a final act of service as He washed each of the Apostles' feet, except Judas, who had already departed to betray Him. Christ would fulfill His role as the Christian victim of the Passover for all to be saved by His final sacrifice.

Mass of the LORD's Supper

"Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’ ” Having said this, He breathed His last." Luke 23:44-46

Good Friday is the day that Christ died on the cross for the redemption of our sins. We recall Christ's Passion and Death as we venerate the cross. Church bells are silent. Altars are left bare. We leave in silence, contemplating Our Savior's sacrifice on the Cross and the quiet of the Tomb. We remember how His Mother, followers, and friends grieved the loss of the one they thought was the Messiah, whom they believed was going to deliver them from the Romans.

FASTING AND ABSTINENCE

Fridays during Lent are obligatory days of abstinence from meat. It is binding upon members of the Latin Catholic Church from age 14 onwards. It is also a day of fasting for Catholics aged 18 - 59. For more information on fasting and abstinence see the graphic on this page.
 

tHE PASSION OF THE LORD

"The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.”

“Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard." Matthew 27:62-66

Holy Saturday commemorates the day Jesus' body lays in the tomb. On this holy night, the Church keeps watch. We wait, just like Jesus' Mother Mary waited. It is the turning point of the Triduum, the Passover of the new covenant, which marks Christ's passage from death to life. The Easter Vigil begins at nightfall (after sunset), when we reaffirm our Catholic faith, celebrate the resurrection of Christ in the sacraments, and the Catechumens receive the Sacraments for the first time.

Easter Vigil

"Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. Finally, the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.

Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”

“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put Him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”

Thinking He was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have put Him, and I will get Him.”

Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).

Jesus said, “Do not hold on to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that He had said these things to her.
John 20:1-18

Easter Sunday mASS sCHEDULE