An Easter Triduum

It has only been in the past several years that I've rediscovered the rituals of the beautiful Easter Triduum that are at the center of my Catholic faith and traditions.  The three days that begin with Holy Thursday, continue through Good Friday and are completed with the Easter celebration commemorate the soul of our faith.  I thought that I would be unable to share in this tradition this year, since I wasn't in Ithaca where I am used to attending services.  But I discovered three wonderful services that brought fresh insights and new understanding for me.  I was drawn to these services for superficial, secular, reasons-they promised good music.  I left them fulfilled because of the messages that the congregations and celebrants shared with me.

For Holy Thursday I celebrated the Mass of the Lord's Supper at the Church of St. Francis Xavier in Chelsea, pictured above.  I was struck by what a beautiful church this was the minute I walked in the door.  The choir and music director had a  program of music that suited the Mass making it both intimate and majestic: the prelude of the Samuel Barber's Adagio for Stings, played on the organ was movingly appropriate for the occasion.  When the procession began it included wonderfully diverse members of the congregation led by a woman who carried the incense in a large silver bowl.  She wore a flowing white gown, and bare feet, and could have been Mary Magdalene at the Last Supper.  One of the highlights of the Mass of the Lord's Supper is the commemorative Washing of Feet.  I'm used to seeing the priest choose 12 members of the congregation as he alone recreated Jesus' act.  But on this night chairs were set up all around the church and we all particpated (or those who chose to).  We stood in line and after we washed someone's foot we would sit down and have our foot washed.  For the first time I really felt an active participant in the tradition that began at the first Lord's supper.  The remainder of the service continued with this combination of wonderful music, active participation by all the congragation, and a living liturgy.

On Good Friday I went to St. Patrick's Cathedral for a service titled The Seven Last Word's.  Once again I was attracted for superficial reasons because there was to be music and the timing was good for me.  Imagine my surprise when I looked at the program and learned it was to be "three hours reflection on the passion and death of Jesus Christ."  I started to make plans for a quiet escape after an hour. Yet I stayed for the entire three hours and reflected and meditated in a more intensive way than I have at any other Good Friday service.   My meditation began that morning when I tried to determine what Jesus' seven last words were.  Like many Catholics, I haven't studied the Bible well and when I began to review the four versions of the Passion (by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) I realized the tremendous difference in their accounts.  Last year I read What the Gospels Meant by Gary Wills and it was the first time I truly appreciated how each of the accounts was developed during the early years of the church.  So on Good Friday, having taken a close look at the four different accounts of the Crucifixion, the meditations offered by Archbishop Dolan made a greater impact.  The service was broken into seven parts and each part was introduced by excerpts from these passion stories-most from John but one each from Mark and Luke.  After "The First (or Second, or Third) Word(s) there would be a response, a reflection, music by the choir, and music that the congregation participated in.  The choir performed selections from a piece by Cesar Franck titled The Seven Last Words

It seemed fated that Greg would decide he wanted to go to an Easter service that included music and he chose the Church of St. Francis Xavier as our destination.  Beth had spent the night with us and so the three of us had an early breakfast and headed back up to Chelsea.  It was a glorious,warm, perfect spring day.  We arrived a bit early and dallied over coffee nearby.  That was almost a mistake because when we returned the church was completely filled-but Someone was taking care of us because we found three folding chairs on the side that offered us the best view of the service and the choir.  Once again the congregation and the Jesuit priest who conducted the service were glowing with joy and it was contagious.  We soon learned why-the Triduum were the first services conducted in the newly restored church.  They had just completed a massive campaign to renovate and restore a 130 year old church.  What a magnificent job they did and we were so moved by their beautiful Easter service.  I'll close with one of my favorite moments-the choral rendering of the Psalm 118 was done by their music director, John Uehlein.  He just beamed as his chorus sang his notes with such energy and joy and the entire congregation joined in to proclaim:  "Today is the day and now is the time for joy and gladness and the great I AM."