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Thursday, April 8, 2010

THE EASTER TRIDUUM IN PICTURES, ALLELUIA

SAINT JOSEPH CATHOLIC CHURCH, MACON, GEORGIA, DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH, FATHER ALLAN J. MCDONALD PASTOR, FATHER JUSTIN FERGUSON, PAROCHIAL VICAR

I am very grateful to Buck Melton for taking these photographs and many more than just what is posted! They're great!

Holy Thursday is First, Good Friday's Passion Liturgy, followed by the Way of the Cross, then the Great Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday Extraordinary Easter!

Click on any photo to enlarge

Holy Thursday:

Washing of the Feet


Presentation of blessed oils and bread and wine:


Receiving the Sacred Chrism and other blessed oils

Liturgy of the Eucharist



Transfer of the Holy Eucharist to the altar of repose:




Altar of repose and stripped altar



GOOD FRIDAY
The beginning of the Liturgy of the Passion of the Lord


The Good Friday Intercessions ad orientem!


Veneration of the Holy Cross
After the procession down the aisle, the third unveiling and "Behold the Wood of the Cross"




Beginning Good Friday's Way of the Cross

The 12th Station, "Jesus Dies on the Cross!"


GREAT EASTER VIGIL
Priest's view of fire to be blessed and to stay away from!

Blessing of the Paschal Fire

Lighting the newly blessed Paschal Candle from the newly blessed fire

Procession into the darkened Church


Third Lumen Christi and then the singing of the Exultet

Five men to be baptized with their godparents

Flowing water to be consecrated as the Paschal Water of Holy Baptism

The Noble Liturgical Simplicity of the Crucified and Risen Christ's lavish and unconditional love to allow us to die and rise with Him and to be washed cleaned of all sin and made a new creation! In Him you have been baptized! Alleluia!

See in your white garment an outward sign of your Christian dignity!

The newly baptized after having been clothed in their white garment and given their baptismal candle go throughout the congregation lighting the candles of the candidates and all others for their renewal of baptismal promises and sprinkling with the consecrated Easter Water

The Candidates for reception into the full communion of the Catholic Church along with their sponsors:

I receive you into the Holy Catholic Church!

All the newly baptized and those received into the Full Communion of the Church are Confirmed in the Holy Spirit by the Anointing with Sacred Chrism

The Easter Vigil Liturgy of the Eucharist (Mass of the Faithful)

All the newly baptized and candidates now confirmed make their First Holy Communion thus completing their initiation into God's Holy Church, His Spotless Bride!

Our Communion in the Blood of Christ!

Ite Missa Est! Alleluia!


AN EXTRAORDINARY EASTER SUNDAY
The Extraordinary Form Latin High Mass, Easter Sunday 1:00 PM
Preparing for the Vidi Aquam!

Prayers at the Foot of the Altar (whatever happen to those?)






Deo Gratias, Alleluia, Alleluia!

6 comments:

Jody Peterman said...

Father,

I think you have this whole reverance thing down. I may have missed the pictures, but when can I expect to see you in a fiddleback?

Anonymous said...

Where were these photos taken?

Jenny said...

How incomparably lovely! Wish I lived closer...!!

Templar said...

To Anonymous: All photos were taken at St Joseph Catholic Church, Poplar Street in downtown Macon. The most beautiful Church in the Diocese of Savannah in my humble opinion, (MHT in Augusta is a close second).

The Easter Triduum was beautiful, wholly sacred, and profoundly moving. The treat of the EF Mass on Easter Sunday was better than anything I could have asked for. However one image struck me more than anything, and it was on Good Friday. After the unveiling of the Holy Cross, the clergy knelt and venerated it. Following the lead of their clergy many of the laity knelt also during the veneration, and many more at least genuflected before the veneration of the cross. What was so striking about all that was that many of these people would not do this for Communion, which actually is Jesus Christ, and not merely a symbolic representation of him.

This odd juxtaposition, kneeling and genuflecting for a symbol, while merely giving a bow, or sometimes a slight head nod, for the real thing, hit me like a ton of bricks. I felt ashamed for having received Communion standing for so long and felt compelled to receive kneeling that day. Despite the discomfort of doing so, and despite the awkwardness caused by that discomfort, I'm not sure I will be able to receive standing again. All I'll ever be able to think about now is all those people kneeling to venerate the cross, and then standing to receive Communion.

And one other thought, a heartfelt thank you to Father Ferguson, no doubt with your permission Father so thanks to you even more so, for the Good Friday Prayers Sung Ad Orientem. I would be curious if you received even one note of complaint. It was beautiful to be "led" in those Prayers to God, instead of having them sung at me.

Fr. Allan J. McDonald said...

To Templar, I had forgotten that Fr. Justin did that on Good Friday, although from where I was sitting I saw him face on, so I didn't think to place that on the blog, which I have now corrected. And no, no one said anything to me about it, positive or negative, but many have had plenty to say about how beautiful all of our Easter Triduum Liturgies were. We had people at the Easter Sunday EF Mass there for the first time, some not realizing it would be that way. They came up to me and said how wonderful it was and so reverent and that they'll need a missal to follow, these were people who had never experienced this Mass even as a child. Fr. McDonald

Templar said...

Oh, I forgot to mention some good news from Good Friday. My son brought along three friends to the Stations of the Cross, 2 Methodists and a Baptist!! Two of the three joined us for the procession and full participation, although afterward both confessed to being lost on the Hail Mary at Station #12, LOL!!

Ecumenism!!