Holy Week
Sacred Paschal Triduum
Schedules
Sunday Mass anticipated on Saturday evenings
4:00pm English — 7:00pm Español
Sunday Morning Masses
8:00am, 9:30am and 11:00am
Monday through Friday Masses
8:45am
FOOD CUPBOARD
Mondays and Fridays between 12:00noon and 2:00pm
Any exception to this schedule is listed on the Parish Calendar
As of March 2024, our pantry is in need of cereals, breakfast bars, juices, baking goods, cookies/snack cakes, canned meats, meals and fruits.
ORDER of PENANCE
Saturdays: 3:00pm – 3:30pm
First Fridays: 8:15am
Call the Parish — (215) 672-7280 — for other opportunities
ORDER of BAPTISM of CHILDREN
Español: El primer domingo de cada mes despues de la Misa de la 11:00am
English: Last Sunday of each month after 11:00am Mass
For teenagers, young adults and adults who desire to be baptized, to be confirmed and/or to become a Catholic Christian, kindly call the Parish Faith Formation Office, (267) 803-0774.
ANOINTING of the SICK
For those who are homebound, experiencing serious illness or upcoming surgery kindly call the Parish — (215) 672-7280 — and we can arrange easily a time for this Sacrament and, if the desired, the Sacraments of Penance and Most Holy Eucharist
ORDER of CELEBRATING MATRIMONY
Information will be forthcoming shortly. In the meantime, contact the Parish (215) 672-7280
CONSECRATED LIFE and HOLY ORDERS
For women and men discerning a call to Consecrated Life, contact Sr Gabrielle Mary Braccio, RSM at the Archdiocesan Office for Consecrated Life, (215) 587-3795.
For men, married or single, discerning a call to be a Deacon, contact Msgr. Gregory Fairbanks at the School of Diaconal Formation, (610) 785-6244.
For men discerning a call to be a Priest, contact Fr. David Friel at the Vocation Office for the Diocesan Priesthood, (610) 667-5778.
The Sacred Paschal Triduum
Lent, the Season of purification and enlightenment, focused on the Elect [1] in their final formative moments to be made members of the Body of Christ. The Faithful [2] had a baptismal focus for Lent as well. Recognizing that the radiance of baptismal life has been tarnished by sin, the Faithful respond to the promptings of Holy Spirit to permit baptismal holiness to shine forth through graced-works of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. These works involve the whole person – body, mind and heart – and equips one to renewal Baptismal Promises at the celebration of Jesus’ Resurrection. Then as the sun sets on Thursday of Holy Week, the Season of Lent draws to a quiet close and the Church enters the most solemn time of the year, the Sacred Paschal Triduum.
“Since Christ accomplished His work of human redemption and of the perfect glorification of God principally through His Paschal [3] Mystery,[4] in which by dying He has destroyed our death, and by rising restored our life, the Sacred Paschal Triduum of the Passion and Resurrection of the Lord shines forth as the high point of the entire liturgical year. [5] Therefore the preeminence that Sunday has in the week, the Solemnity of Easter has in the liturgical year.
The Paschal Triduum of the Passion and Resurrection of the Lord begins with the evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper, has its center in the Easter Vigil, and closes with Vespers (Evening Prayer II) of the Sunday of the Resurrection.
On Friday of the Passion of the Lord [6] (Good Friday) and, if appropriate, also on Holy Saturday until the Easter Vigil, [7] the Sacred Paschal fast is everywhere observed.
The Easter Vigil, in the holy night when the Lord rose again, is considered the “Mother of all holy vigils,” [8] in which the Church, keeping watch, awaits the Resurrection of Christ and celebrates it in the Sacraments. therefore, the entire celebration of this Sacred Vigil must take place at night, so that it both begins after nightfall and ends before the dawn on the Sunday.
[1] The term Elect are those chosen by the Bishop at the beginning of Lent to be incorporated into the life of Jesus’ saving death, victorious Resurrection and glorious Ascension to His Father through the Easter Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and the Most Holy Eucharist.
[2] The term Faithful are those who have been fully initiated into the Body of Christ through the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and the Most Holy Eucharist.
[3] The word Paschal is the English translation of the Hebrew word pesah — “Passover.”
[4] The word Mystery, so important in Catholic Theology, originates in the Greek root verb muo. Translated literally, muo was used often in antiquity ‘to close or shut the mouth’ thus listen. Closing or shutting the mouth also conveyed a sense of fasting. Thus aspects of Catholic Christian living that are described as Mystery or Mysteries is NOT primary about being unknown but about living the reality by listening and fasting.
[5] Second Vatican Council, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 5.
[6] Paul VI, Apostolic Constitution, Paenitemini, February 17, 1966, II §3: Acta Apostolicae Sedis 58 (1966), p. 184
[7] Second Vatican Council, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 110.
[8] Augustine, Sermon 219.