The
weather on Good Friday this year reminded one more of winter
than spring. Gray skies, cold winds and snow flurries nearby
made it seem more like Advent than Holy Week. It was certainly
a far cry from Good Friday 2006 when violent storms of Biblical
proportions punctuated our solemn commemorations.
Father Taylor
was joined by our good friend, Father Eusebius Mbidoaka for
the commemoration of Christ's passion and death. Priests and
lay ministers entered silently and prostrated themselves before
the bare altar. Father Mbidoaka read the parts of Christ in
the passion, then followed with a spirited homily about pain
and happiness, and the ultimate joy found through helping
others. Next followed the prayers prescribed by the Catholic
Church for the special needs of the many populations of God's
people.
Veneration
of the cross began with ministers accompanying Father Taylor,
as he carried a rough hewn cross to the front of the church.
Three times he intoned "Behold the wood of the cross,
on which hung the savior of the world!" Parishioners
replied "Come, let us worship!" Fathers Taylor and
Mbidoaka then led parishioners in placing a nail in a pail
beside the cross - symbolizing leaving our sins at the cross.
Each worshipper then kissed or reverently touched the cross.
While the choir provided beautifully somber music for most
of the service, a talented trio of parish instrumentalists
provided appropriate music in a classical style for this part
of the service.
The service
concluded with a communion service - there is no mass on this
day. The Our Father and other familiar communion prayers were
followed by distribution of Christ's body, accompanied by
"I Know it Was the Blood" rendered by the choir.
At the conclusion, the Blessed Sacrament returned to the Repository
(our daily chapel) where it remained until the celebration
of the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday night. |
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