The Easter Triduum in the Extraordinary Form

Tridentine Community News (March 29, 2009):

This year marks the first time that our readers will be able to attend Holy Week services according to the Tridentine Form. The Latin term Tríduum, or three days, refers to the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday before Easter Sunday, the most sacred days of the Liturgical Year.

Your browser may not support display of this image.Because the liturgies of Holy Week were reformed in 1955, hand missals published prior to 1955 will be of limited use. Examples of hand missals currently in print that follow the 1962 Holy Week are the Marian, Baronius Press, and Angelus Press Missals. If you have an older missal, please use the Propers Handouts we will supply to follow the liturgies.

Holy Week begins on Palm Sunday with the Procession with Palms and the chanting of the Passion of St. Matthew.

Holy Thursday

The Mass on Holy Thursday evening commemorates the institution of the Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper. At the end of Mass, the Blessed Sacrament is transferred to the Altar of Repose, and the high altar is stripped of all decorations, to symbolize the desolation when Christ is not present.

Mass for Holy Thursday will be held at 7:00 PM at St. Josaphat Church.

Good Friday

On Good Friday, the Passion of St. John is chanted; the Great Intercessions are sung; the ceremony of Adoration of the Cross is conducted; and Holy Communion is distributed.

For several years, Tridentine Good Friday services have been celebrated in Windsor, which many from Detroit have attended. This year, you will have the choice of attending Good Friday services at St. Josaphat at 1:30 PM, or at Assumption Church-Windsor at 5:30 PM. The same service and same music program will be offered at both locations.

The Easter Vigil

The Mass on Holy Saturday marks the discovery of the empty tomb and proclaims the Resurrection of our Lord. The Easter Fire and Paschal Candle are blessed; the Exúltet and the Litany of the Saints are chanted; the Baptismal Water is blessed; and the congregation renews their Baptismal Promises.

The Easter Vigil Mass will be held at 8:00 PM at St. Josaphat Church.

Easter Sunday and Low Sunday (Divine Mercy Sunday)

Easter Sunday Masses will be held as usual: 9:30 AM at St. Josaphat and 2:00 PM at Assumption-Windsor.

The first Sunday after Easter is known as Low Sunday on the Extraordinary Form calendar, so named to distinguish it from the most solemn of feasts the Sunday prior. In recent years, Low Sunday has become better known as Divine Mercy Sunday, after the Vatican sanctioned the popular devotion held on that day.

St. Josaphat will hold its Tridentine Mass at 9:30 AM as usual on Low Sunday. Assumption-Windsor will move its Tridentine Mass to 1:00 PM, to accommodate Divine Mercy devotions held in the church that afternoon. St. Joseph Church in Detroit will hold a special Tridentine Mass at 3:15 PM in conjunction with its own Divine Mercy devotions. As many of our readers may recall, St. Joseph was the first church in the Archdiocese of Detroit to hold Divine Mercy devotions, starting in the early 1980s. Full-page ads were taken out on the back cover of the Michigan Catholic to acquaint the faithful with the story of Sr. Faustina and invite them to St. Joseph.

Progress on the Confirmations Front

In a conversation with Fr. Borkowski, Archbishop Vigneron agreed to celebrate Confirmations at St. Josaphat according to the Extraordinary Form. Formal scheduling is the next step.

St. John Cantius Takes Interest in Chant Sheets

The FSSP is no longer alone. Chicago’s St. John Cantius Church, a major Tridentine Mass center in North America, has taken note of Michel Ozorak’s Chant Sheets on the Assumption Tridentine Mass Community’s web site, www.windsorlatinmass.org. They have asked Michel to prepare a third setting of the Gospels, in the Tonus Evangélii, which are being posted on the web site. St. John Cantius is considering posting the Chant Sheets on their www.sanctamissa.org web site of resources for the Extraordinary Form, as well.

[Comments? Please e-mail tridnews@stjosaphatchurch.org. Previous columns are available at www.stjosaphatchurch.org. This edition of Tridentine Community News, with minor editions, is from the St. Josaphat bulletin insert for March 29, 2009. Hat tip to A.B.]