Bishop O'Connell's Holy Week, Easter Schedule

Once again, Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., will lead the people of the Diocese of Trenton in a sacred celebration of Holy Week, the last week of Jesus’ life on earth. The Bishop will follow a full schedule of liturgies and prayer services, beginning with Christ's Passion and through his glorious Resurrection, in parishes around the Diocese.

The Bishop’s schedule is as follows:

• Palm Sunday Mass at 8:30 a.m. April 9 in Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish, 137 W. Upper Ferry Road, Ewing. Palm Sunday, also referred to as Passion Sunday, celebrates Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem after his 40 days in the desert, which is celebrated by Catholics as Lent. 

• Chrism Mass at 7:30 p.m. April 10 in St. Robert Bellarmine Co-Cathedral, 61 Georgia Road, Freehold. The Chrism Mass will unite lay faithful, religious, deacons and priests of the Diocese of Trenton as Bishop O'Connell blesses the oils and consecrates the Sacred Chrism to be used in all the churches of the Diocese throughout the coming year. 

• A Tenebrae service at 7:30 p.m. April 12 in St. Catharine Church, 215 Essex Ave., Spring Lake. The Tenebrae, which means darkness or shadows, will portray Jesus’ Passion with prayed and sung psalms, lessons and chants expressing grief in a darkened church illuminated only by candles and extinguished one-by-one. Bishop O'Connell was instrumental in reinstituting the service in the Diocese during Holy Week 2016. You can watch a Live stream of the Tenebrae service, here.

• The Mass of the Lord’s Supper at 7 p.m. April 13, Holy Thursday, in St. Justin the Martyr Church, 975 Fischer Blvd., Toms River. The Triduum, Latin for “three days,” commences on the evening of Holy Thursday. During the Last Supper, Jesus instituted the Eucharist and the priesthood. It is also at this Mass when the Gospel is read of how Jesus washed the feet of the disciples.

• The Commemoration of the Lord’s Passion, commonly known as Good Friday, at 3 p.m. April 14 in St. John the Baptist Church, 1282 Yardville Allentown Road, Allentown. The Church’s ancient tradition is that this is the only day during the year when Mass is not celebrated. The observance will take place within the context of a communion service, and will be marked by veneration of the Cross on which Christ died.

• Easter Vigil at 7:30 p.m. April 15 in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, 151 N. Warren St., Trenton. Though celebrated on Holy Saturday evening, the Easter Vigil liturgy marks the beginning of Easter and includes a service of light, the Liturgy of the Word, the Liturgy of Baptism and the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

• Easter Sunday morning at 8:30 a.m. with the staff and inmates in New Jersey State Prison, Trenton.