GLEANINGS FOR NEXT WEEK'S CALENDAR

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXX, Issue 12, 20 March 1902, Page 7

GLEANINGS FOR NEXT WEEK'S CALENDAR

HOLY THUBSDAY. The Thursday before Easter is called Holy Thursday. On this day only one Mass cau be Baid in the Fame church, and that Mass must be a public one. The Mass is celebrated in white vestments, because the institution of the Eucharist is joyfully commemorated, but at the same time there are certain signs of the mourning proper to Holy week. The bells, which are rung at the ' Gloria,' do not sound again till the ' Gloria ' on Holy Saturday, and the Church returns to her ancient use of summoning the Faithful or arousing their attention by a wooden clapper. Nor is the embrace of peace given. The celebrant consecrates an additional host, which is placed in a chalice and borne in procession, after the Mass, to a place prepared for it. The 'Pange Lingua ' is sung during the procession, and the place to which the Blessed Sacrament is removed — often called the sepulchre, but properly the repository — ia decked with flowers and lights. Afterwards the altars are stripped, to remind the Christians of the way in which their Master was'stripped of His garments. In some churches, the priest or prelate, assisted by deacon and eubdeacon, washes the feet of 12 poor men, in imitation of our Savionr who washed the feet of His Apostles. Since the seventh century the holy oils, formerly consecrated at any time, have been blessed by the bishop in the Mass of this day. GOOD FBIDAY. Good Friday is the day of God's mercy, because it is the day on which Jesus Christ, by an excess of love, incomprehensible to every created mind, suffered the greatest torments, and expired ignominiously on the Cross, in order that we might be healed through His wounds, washed in His blood, and that in His death we might find the principle of our true life. We call this Holy or Good Friday ; it is also called Parascere, which means a preparation, it being the day in which the Jews prepared for the celebration of the Sabbath. Our ancestors gave it the name of Adoration Friday, on account of the solemn worship of the Cross which takea place on that day. The Greeks call it the Pasch of Jesus Crucified, and the Sunday following it, they term the Pasch of Jeeua Resurrected. In the office of Good Friday, everything inspires compunction, and all the ceremonies and prayers tend to penetrate the soul with the most profound and salutary affliction. The bells are silent on this mournful day, the candles are extinguished, the altars are stripped of their ornaments ; over the main altar a simple cloth only is extended to symbolize the winding sheet which covered the dead body of the Saviour. At the commencement of the office the celebrant and his assistants prostrate themselves upon the floor, testifying by this posture the bitterness in which the heart is plunged at the thought of the ignominious death which Christ suffered in order to take away from us the yoke of the devil. On Good Friday the holy sacrifice of the Mass is not celebrated. Although it is a real living representation and continuation of the Sacrifice on the Cross, it can inspire us only with joy and fill us with consolation ; but these sentiments are incompatible with the mourning of the Church on account of the death of Jesus Christ. Nevertheless the order and many ceremonies of the Mass are preserved therein; ib is called the Mass of the Presanctified. This Mass was formerly observed on fast days by the Eastern Churches, during which the priest and faithful communicated by receiving the hosts which were consecrated the preceding day. The office of Good Friday commences with two lessons taken from Holy Scripture, which are followed by the reading or chanting of the Passion, according to St. John. After this the celebrant offers solemn prayers for all the states and conditions of life, for the just as well as for the unjust, and even for heretics, schismatics, Jews, and pagans, because Jesus Christ died for all men, and wishes all men to be saved. The foregoing solemn prayerß are followed by the adoration of the Cross. The Cross, covered with a veil, to signify that the mystery of the Cross had been hidden for a long time, is now solemnly uncovered. After having uncovered the Cross, the celebrant raises it and shows it to the people, with these words : ' Ecce lignum crucis ' (behold the wood of the cross) ; the deacon and subdeacon sing with him : ■In quo salus minuli j)cpcndit ' (upon which has rested the salvation of the world), to which the choir replies : ' Venite aduremus,' (Come let us adore). Then the celebrant and ministers, having taken off their vestment?, prostrate themselves three times and adore the Cross. The people likewise do the same. After this the celebrant gees in procession, without singing, to the Repository to take to the altar the sacred Host which had lain in the Repository from the preceding day. Arriving at the main altar, the priest proceeds wkh the Mass o' the Pr9sanctified, so called, because he consumes the sacred Host which had been consecrated the preceding day. According to the present discipline of the Church, neither clergy nor people may communicate on Good Friday ; an exception to this rule is made in favor of those in danger of death.

March 23, Sunday. — Palm Sunday. „ 24, Monday.— Feria. „ 25, Tuesday. — Feria. „ 26, Wednesday. — Feria. 27, Thursday.— The Last Supper, „ 28, Friday.— Good Friday „ 29, Saturday.— Holy Saturday.