Holy Week Marathon

I joke sometimes that Holy Week for an MC is like running a marathon. So this year, I used my FitBit tracking and figured out the distance I walked, starting with our Palm Sunday rehearsals and ending on Easter Sunday.

This year, I clocked about 70km¹ – that’s 43 miles. Given that a marathon is 26 miles, I actually walked a marathon and a half². Who knew?

It’s obviously worth it, of course. These are the high holy days of the year, and one wishes to make them as close to the eternal heavenly liturgy as mere human effort and meager resources allow. These days are to honour the Paschal Mystery, to walk with the Lord in the days from His triumphant entry into Jerusalem right through His passion, death, and resurrection.

We cannot give them anything but our all.

We had some serious challenges this year. Because our parish church of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary has had some ceiling collapsing issues, we are still celebrating Mass in the school auditorium. And of course, because we’re partnered with another parish under a single pastoral team, this year wasn’t our turn for the Easter Vigil.

In fact, we had to celebrate our annual tradition of Tenebræ in our sister church of Our Lady of the Visitation.

On years where we do not host the Easter Vigil, Good Friday is our longest day. We start with Lauds at 9:00am. This year, we chanted in the chapel attached to the offices, and we had about 18 people. Not our best turnout, obviously, but they did fill that little space before the altar of repose.

I was sad that we did not veil the statues and crucifixes this year.

Tre Ore – the three hour devotion of the last words of Christ from the Cross – followed at Noon. Our Pastoral Coordinator Deacon Fish led the first three words, and I the last four. Deacon was originally supposed to lead all the way through, but he was unavoidably called away on a facilities issue.

After Tre Ore at 3pm, the President of our Pastoral/Finance Council led Stations of the Cross.

Then setting up the auditorium and marking the books, rehearsal at 6pm, then the Celebration of the Passion of the Lord.

I always find this a moving and deeply spiritual rite, but this year it was an even deeper movement into the Passion and Crucifixion. I can’t really explain it, but others felt it too. There was a somber reverence, and a spiritual stillness. A silence so loud that you could hear it.

It was glorious.

And then the Vigil at Visitation. And then Easter Sunday Mass with our priest and two deacons crammed with the servers on the beautifully decorated stage of our school auditorium.

Thank you, Deacon Fish, Deacon Teskey, and Father Bourke, for celebrating these mysteries with our parish community.

And for all those who worked or volunteered in the Holy Week and Triduum sacred liturgies, I pray the Lord grant you rest from your labours, both on earth and in heaven.

1. It was 69.57km to be precise.
2. Well, about 1.65 marathons.