A mini-retreat…

As we approach the great feast of Easter, I find myself grateful for the “high holy days’ of the Church – the Easter Triduum. Though we celebrate these days each year, there is something them which make them ‘ever ancient, ever new’. This entire Holy Week is meant to be lived at a different pace, a retreat kind of pace.

We take the days in measure, spending even more time in prayer, more time in reflection, and perhaps, even more time in service of our brothers and sisters.

So among the concrete practices that can help us to enter these days, let me suggest perhaps a strange one. WALK SLOWER. Yep! You heard me. Walk Slower. Let the pace of these days gradually decrease until you are still enough to enter the mystery of the dying and rising of Jesus.

And then, carve out time to celebrate the story in prayer and ritual. Here is the schedule of our Liturgical prayer for the Triduum.

Holy Thursday

  • 8:00 a.m. Morning Prayer
  • 10:00 a.m. Chrism Mass (at the Cathedral)
  • 7:00 p.m. Mass of the Lord’s Supper

Adoration begins after Mass and continues until:

  • 11:30 p.m. Night Prayer

Good Friday

  • 8:00 am: Morning Prayer
  • 3:00 pm: Stations of the Cross
  • 7:00 pm: Celebration of the Lord’s Passion

Holy Saturday

  • 8:00 am: Morning Prayer
  • 8:00 pm: Easter Vigil

Easter Sunday

  • 8:00 a.m. Mass
  • 11:00 a.m. Mass

Please join the church as it goes on our yearly mini-retreat in preparation for Easter.

In unrelated news, Pat Boul left this past Friday with the CRUDEM Foundation to Haiti. He’ll be bringing his maintenance expertise to the makeshift hospitals being used to service Haiti’s needy. And Jenna Kloepfer left for Marine boot camp on March 21. Keep them both in your prayers