HOUSTON — As Lent ends, the Church locally and around the world begins its most sacred time of Holy Week from the celebration of Palm Sunday March 24 this year through Easter Sunday March 31.
Each parish offers many special celebrations, from the Biblical washing of feet as servants of God and the institution of the Lord’s Supper on Thursday to following the Way of the Cross on Good Friday with the Passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
An abbreviated list below shows the variety of celebrations planned among the more than 140 parishes throughout the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. The annual Chrism Mass at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, to be celebrated by Daniel Cardinal DiNardo on Tuesday, March 26 at 7 p.m., sees the blessing of gallons of sacred oils to serve all parishes in the Archdiocese.
At the highly attended Mass, Cardinal DiNardo will bless huge vessels of the Oil of Catechumens, the Oil of the Sick and the Sacred Chrism used throughout the year at all the Archdiocesan Catholic churches for the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Orders. Priests also renew their vows during the Mass.
On Good Friday, March 29, churches will stage live re-enactments of Jesus’ Passion on the Cross, vividly observing the last hours of Our Lord, with costumes, props and drama of the events along the Way of the Cross (Stations of the Cross). This allows Catholics to meditate deeply on Christ’s Passion, from His trial to His crucifixion, death and resurrection.
Among those churches, Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, at 7539 Ave. K, in Houston, will begin a traditional outdoor procession at 5 p.m. in Spanish from its parking area on Ave. L proceeding through 75th Street, down Canal, and back to the church.
The neighboring Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, 7250 Harrisburg, will start earlier, with parish artists beginning to draw at 9 a.m. throughout the day to create religious designs using carpets of colored sawdust. Then, a 5 p.m. live re-enactment of the Stations of the Cross with Confirmation candidates will begin. In a symbolic gesture, the carpets and hours of work are destroyed as people walk over them in the procession.
In English, the University of St. Thomas “Way of the Cross” procession begins Friday at 10:15 a.m. with hundreds of people led by the cross traveling a two-mile procession that ends at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
An even earlier open-air dramatization of the Passion of Christ is scheduled at 10 a.m. with St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, 501 Tidwell, having a Spanish-speaking young adult group leading the live open-air dramatization.
On Saturday night’s candlelight Easter Vigil on March 30, more than 2,300 new Catholics at churches throughout the Archdiocese this year will be confirmed in one of the longest Masses of the year, way beyond the average one hour. Beginning at sunset and lasting for several hours, at times up to midnight, the vigil is a touching connection as believers await Christ’s return.
At the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Cardinal DiNardo will celebrate Easter Vigil on March 30, starting at 8:30 p.m. for Mass in English.
Easter Sunday Masses at the Co-Cathedral on March 31 are as scheduled: 7 a.m. English Mass; 9 a.m. Vietnamese Mass; 11 a.m. English Mass; and 1 p.m. Spanish Mass with Auxiliary Bishop Italo Dell’Oro, CRS.
Cardinal DiNardo will also celebrate Easter Sunday Mass at noon in Galveston at St. Mary Cathedral Basilica, 2011 Church St.
Priests will share the joyous news celebrated at Easter with the traditional greeting “Christ is risen!” and their parishioners will respond, “He is risen, indeed!”