A Deeper Look at Our Upcoming Easter Triduum Liturgies

During these challenging times, preparing for and celebrating the Easter Triduum will no doubt allow us to center ourselves and our families on Christ.

“Everything God does is ordered toward our benefit and well-being,” says our pastor, Fr. Fabio Refosco. “God constantly offers us divine guidance through the events of our lives. When life events cause us to suffer, look more closely for God’s unconditional love at work.”

The Easter Triduum is the summit of our Catholic liturgical year. Although it chronologically lasts three days, the Church teaches that it is liturgically one day that unfolds for us the unity of Christ’s Paschal Mystery. The Triduum begins with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, reaches its high point in the Easter Vigil, and closes with evening prayer on Easter Sunday. Throughout these most sacred days, we recall the Passion, Crucifixion, Death, burial, and Resurrection of Jesus, as portrayed in the canonical Gospels.

“It is all one magnificent celebration of the life of the Lord in the hands of His creation,” Fr. Fabio says. “Every year the Triduum has the same liturgical structure, but each time we participate you discover a new face of God to surprise and delight us. Commit yourself to focus on the Lord and to make friends along the way.”

Throughout Lent, we can spiritually prepare for the Triduum by thinking about and responding to God’s call to love and care for ourselves and others. The motto of St. Philip Neri calls us to have a “Spirit of Caring and Giving”

“We hear consistently from the Scriptures that God is love (1 John 4:16) and that ‘those who live in love, live in God, and God in them,’” Fr. Fabio says. “God calls us to love and care for ourselves and others. When we respond to that call, we experience the presence of God, and we are made one with Him.”

During Holy Week, the last week of Lent, faith community members will have the opportunity to participate in Mass and the Stations of the Cross on Monday. On Tuesday, we can gather for a Communion Service and the Rosary, and on Wednesday, there will be Mass and a self-penance service.

On Thursday morning, there will be a Tenebrae Liturgy, and the Triduum begins that evening with Mass and a Virtual Pilgrimage to the Seven Churches of Rome. On Good Friday, there will be Stations of the Cross and the Celebration of the Lord’s Passion.

On Saturday morning, there will be the Blessing of the Easter Food Basket, and that evening we celebrate the Easter Vigil, and then the Easter Sunday Mass the following morning.

“We offer a variety of opportunities to pray, reflect and spend meaningful time with God and the community during Holy Week,” Fr. Fabio says. “The entire Holy Week, including the Triduum, will stream on our website.”

Similar to last year, this Lent, Holy Week, and the Easter Triduum will look different, and will offer us a particular opportunity to seek Christ and “cling to the Kingdom of the Lord.”

“The world and everything in it is passing away,” Fr. Fabio says. “Cling to the Kingdom of the Lord, to divine things that are where God accomplishes His ultimate goal of being united with us forever.”

If you would like more information about the Easter Triduum at St. Philip Neri, please reach out to Jenny Funk at the parish office at 803-548-7282.