Catholic community to enter Holy Week, prepare for Great Solemnity of Easter

Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., will celebrate liturgies around the Diocese

Catholics across the globe will flock to their churches April 10 for Palm Sunday, commemorating Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem for the Jewish feast of Passover and the beginning of Holy Week, the most solemn and sacred time in the Church calendar. With the easing of many pandemic-related concerns and restrictions that impacted Holy Week in the last two years, hundreds of thousands of parishioners and newcomers will gather for special services and Masses in the churches of the Diocese of Trenton to give witness to the week-long retelling of Christ’s Passion, Death and Resurrection.

This year, Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., will again preside over a series of Masses and services in parish communities around the Diocese.

APRIL 10 – PALM SUNDAY OF THE PASSION OF THE LORD
At the start of this Mass, the faithful will receive palm fronds which they will use to participate in the reenactment of Christ’s arrival in Jerusalem with a procession. In the Gospels, Jesus entered Jerusalem riding a donkey to the praise of the townspeople who laid palms or small branches in front of him as a sign of homage.
Bishop O’Connell will celebrate the 9:30 a.m. Mass on Palm Sunday in Nativity Church, Fair Haven. The Mass will be livestreamed at https://www.facebook.com/The-Church-of-the-Nativity-458535774167612

APRIL 11 – CHRISM MASS
In this demonstration of the Diocese’s unity, Bishop O’Connell will consecrate the sacred oils used throughout the coming year for the conferral of such sacraments as Baptism, Confirmation, Ordination, and Anointing of the Sick. The Chrism Mass also serves as a special day in the life of the priests as they formally recommit themselves to their priestly ministry and service in the Diocese. 

Bishop O’Connell will be the principal celebrant of the Mass of Chrism at 7:30 p.m. in St. Robert Bellarmine Co-Cathedral, Freehold. The Mass will be livestreamed at youtube.com/trentondiocese

APRIL 14 – HOLY THURSDAY
The Mass of the Lord’s Supper commemorates Jesus’ gathering with his disciples to celebrate the Passover. Jesus broke bread and instructed those gathered to “Do this in memory of me,” thereby instituting the Eucharist and the priesthood. This is also when Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, offering the example of what it means to “love one another” and to be of service to others.

At the end of the Mass, the Eucharist, referred to as the Blessed Sacrament, is carried in procession by the priest, symbolizing Jesus’ walk to the Garden of Gethsemane and his agony over the suffering he was soon to endure.

Bishop O’Connell will celebrate the Mass of the Lord’s Supper at 7 p.m. in St. David the King Church, Princeton Junction. The Mass will be livestreamed at https://www.stdavidtheking.com/livestream-mass

APRIL 15 – GOOD FRIDAY OF THE PASSION OF THE LORD
Good Friday, a day of fasting for Catholics, commemorates Jesus’ Crucifixion and Death. The commemoration of the Lord’s Passion is held at 3 p.m., close to the hour in which Jesus is believed to have died. In addition to the reading of the Passion narrative and other prayers, the service will include the Veneration of the Cross, when a cross symbolizing Christ’s crucifixion is solemnly brought into the church and congregants are able to offer their reverence in memory of Christ’s death. Many parish­es also portray the Stations of the Cross, sometimes as a procession through the streets.

Bishop O’Connell will commemorate the Lord’s Passion during a noon service in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton. The service will be livestreamed at youtube.com/trentondiocese

APRIL 16 – HOLY SATURDAY AND THE EASTER VIGIL
Holy Saturday begins in many communities with the Blessing of Easter Food, a Euro­pean tradition symbolizing the break­ing of a three-day fast as ham, eggs, breads and other ethnic foods are brought to the churches and blessed. In some parishes the foods are then given to a local shelter or distributed to families in need.
With darkness comes one of the most ancient rituals of the Church – the Blessing of the Easter Fire – in which the celebrant blesses a large fire that is lighted outside the church. From that fire, the Paschal candle symbolizing the Light of Christ is solemnly brought into the church and is used to light the candles held by members of the congregation who wait in the dark­ened worship space. By the time the Paschal candle reaches the sanctuary, the entire church is bathed in soft candle light and the image of Christ as the Light of the World ushers in the Great Vigil of Easter.
At the vigil, members of the par­ish who have been preparing for full initiation in the Church receive their Sacraments (Baptism, Eucharist and Con­formation) before their faith communi­ties. The celebration of Mass marks the start of the Great Solemnity of Easter, in memory of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Bishop O’Connell will celebrate the Easter Vigil in St. Paul Church, Princeton. The Mass will be livestreamed at https://stpaulsofprinceton.org/mass-streaming

APRIL 17 – EASTER SUNDAY OF THE RESTURRECTION OF THE LORD
Easter Sunday continues to proclaim the glorious news of the Resurrection. Jesus has been raised from the dead and the power of sin and death has been destroyed forever.