Holy Week 2009

I am a bit late on posting this, but there is just too much to say and I could never figure out all I want to say!! Still don't know!

If you've read more of this blog, you know that I attended Mary, Queen of the Holy Rosary on Good Friday last year. While sitting in that back pew last year, I NEVER would have figured that I'd be sitting near the front this year!!

It was an awesome week for me! Holy Thursday was amazing!!! To cut to the chase, I was completely awed by the True Presence of Christ that I just fell to the ground and could have stayed on my knees & face for days. However, I had some squirmy girls with me, so that wasn't an option. It was an experience that I will relive many times! I hope to make a special post about it someday.

On Friday afternoon, the girls and I went to the church to pray the Stations of the Cross & pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet. I am a "fan" of the Chaplet, so to be able to pray it in a group was wonderful! I had never prayed the Stations of the Cross in that way before. We had been reviewing the Stations during school each day & I was trying to learn. The kids caught on much quicker than I. However, we were all lost when it came to praying them in the group. There was standing, kneeling, singing, praying, etc. Maybe next year I'll have a better idea of what is going on!!

The Good Friday service was also very powerful. As I watched folks venerate the cross last year, I thought, "Ok. Well, that's different, but I can see how it could be very powerful."
This year, I participated in this. The part of the service that affected me most was during the veneration, but not of my direct participation. Once I was back in my pew, I knelt, reflected, & watched other people. Hey, I'm still new at this so I want to see how other people "do" this. I've learned a lot in the Mass by watching. There is a man who is always at Mass on Sundays. He sits in a wheelchair at the back. I see him wheeled up for communion every Sunday. But on Good Friday, he was not in the wheelchair. He was walking with assistance and forearm crutches. It brought me to tears! Venerating the cross was so important to him that he wasn't wheeled to the front this time.
Jesus had to carry His cross up a hill just to suffer and die. It probably wasn't an easy walk up the aisle for this man, but he wanted to show his affection and thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ. Wow. I hope that someday I can set that kind of example.

Easter Vigil was awesome! Yes, it was long, but worth it! If you've never been to Easter Vigil, you should make it a point to go next year!!! It was sad that the place wasn't totally packed.
Seeing the people who I'd been in RCIA with receive the sacraments transcends emotions that I can express in a mere blog.
The whole service was beautiful. The music. The message. The candles.
Ah, the candles. We had plastic candle holders to keep the wax from dribbling everywhere. At one point in the service, Rebekah's candle had tilted a little and her wax holder was melting! Oh my. I shook my head.
A little later in the service, as I was turned toward the back of the church for the baptism, Rebekah brings to my attention that I had also melted my candle holder while turned the other way! There's humility for you!!!

Easter Sunday was lovely, but after Vigil, it was nearly a let-down!! Just a very crowded Mass. The other events of Holy Week involved multiple priests & deacons. There was only one priest on Easter Sunday. Can't remember if there was a deacon at the service I attended or not.
It was very crowded. Because we were at church past 11:00 PM the night before, I decided that we shouldn't worry about getting there for the 7:45 Mass. We went to the 9:15.
I hate to refer to it as a let-down, but after all of the beauty and wonder of Vigil...well...that's just the way it is! More people should come to understand and appreciate the magnificence of that service, they wouldn't be afraid of the facts that it is late and long!!!

Perhaps I should have posted this closer to the actual time of events, but there is just too much I could say & it has been hard to sort through in my head! This is all I have to offer at this time.

Continue to enjoy, experience, appreciate the mysteries of this glorious Easter season!!