Notes from the Triduum: Holy Thursday

I spent the weekend in church, absorbing every minutes and looking forward to having/taking the time to blog on it. 

 

The opportunity was provided by the Holy Week versions of What Did You Hear? at Open Book. 

 

I'm re-purposing my comments here--so I'll be able to find them later...

 

Happy Easter to All!  Congrats to the newest Catholics!

 

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Comments / Notes on Holy Thursday

 

Before Mass:  Gather Us In. (Triduum services have music lead by the main--11 AM--choir group, which a few of us from other Masses join.  They have a tradition of doing a song before Mass--it seems to me like a time-filler that might distract from prayer.  But, that, and the "Lord of the Dance" in the Vigil are really my only distractions this season.)
 
Entrance: Lift High the Cross.

 

Kyrie in Greek.

 

Gloria with (seldom used in this Parish) bells.  The bells and the incense and the music and the later hour combined to evoke tears of overwhelming joy.  The Eucharist, the institution of which we celebrate tonight, is the source and summit of our lives--we really meet God at this Table!!!

 

I lectored--a bit choked up on the 1st reading from the joy of the Gloria.

 

12 sets of feet washed--hard to tell all the ages & genders from my spot in the choir area, but it was more than viri selecti.

Foot-washing music:  The Servant Song (our Padre's favorite), The Lord Jesus (after eating with His friends washed their feet), and Pan de Vida

 

Offertory: What Wondrous Love is This

 

Agnus Dei in Latin

 

Communion:  Now in this Banquet

 

We processed from the small Chapel to the tiny Chapel of Repose in the (accessible from the outside) basement of our Catholic Student Center.  We sang the Pange Lingua and Tantum Ergo in Latin, which became difficult for most of the congregation who stood in the dark outside of the Chapel of Repose.  Choir members with flashlights carried the music along.

 

We had been encourage to return to the Chapel to silently observe the stripping of the altar.  It's so moving to return to a semi-darkened church and see the open tabernacle, the empty candle-holder, and bare granite altar.   We share a bit of the panic and confusion of the disciples during the night.

 

The reverential silence continued as we walked into the night--only whispering as parishioners watched the bats trying to escape the netting.