Diary of a Parish Priest

Chrism Mass in Trenton

Last evening Bishop O'Connell celebrated mass with the priests of the Diocese and a full cathedral of the faithful in what has been called the Chrism Mass due to the mixing and blessing of the Sacred Chrism which is done during Holy Week.

All three of the Holy Oils are blessed: The Oil of the Catechumens: used to anoint those approaching Baptism; The Oil of the Sick: the oil used in the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick; The Sacred Chrism: the oil used to anoint during the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Ordination to the Priesthood, and for consecrating churches and new altars. After the mass, a portion of each of these three oils were distributed to the priests and their parish representatives for taking home to their parishes for use during the coming year. 

Our oils will be officially received at the beginning of the Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday. Parishioners will process in with the oils, they will be presented to the congregation, placed in the ambry and incensed. The public reception of the Holy Oils by each community reminds us of our unity in Christ with our diocesan bishop and the church of the Diocese of Trenton and is a tangible connection with the working of Christ and the Holy Spirit in our midst.

Vessels containing the Holy Oils are often labeled with the Latin initials of their contents. OC (Oleum Catechumenorum); OI (Oleum Infirmorum); SC (Sanctum Chrisma). In the past, smaller amounts of the three sacred oils were often kept under lock and key in a small vault which can often be seen in one of the walls of the Sanctuary. In recent years, it has become the custom to display the oils in an ambry, which is often located in a prominent spot in the church, sometimes near the baptismal font. Our oils are kept in an ambry near the votive candles on the Blessed Mother's shrine.

Palm Procession at Holy Cross from Sea Bright to Rumson 2012

Thank you to all the parishioners who participated in our Palm Sunday Procession from Sea Bright to Rumson. The rain held off; the only sprinkle was the holy water!

Parishioners gather in Sea Bright for blessing and processing the palms.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Palm Procession through the streets and across the Shrewsbury River

The procession arrives at Holy Cross to begin the 10:30 AM mass

Plan to Process from Sea Bright Unless It's Raining

Check in with the blog around 9 AM tomorrow to see whether we're planning to start our Palm Procession from Sea Bright tomorrow morning. If it's not actually raining, we'll brave the wind and chill. 

Christ Our Light - Lighting of the Easter Candle at Holy Cross

Holy Thursday Foot Washing Poll

The results of the Holy Thursday foot washing poll are interesting. In retrospect, I wish I had included questions about whether or not respondents have had their feet washed, or whether they attend the Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday. There is always a balance between making the surveys quick to take and informative at the same time.

Somewhat suprisingly, the foot washing is not looked upon with universal appeal, despite the fact that it has been restored to the liturgy in one form or other since the 1950's. Those who are charged with recruiting volunteers to have their feet washed may have expected as much, since it seems a difficult privilege for people to accept in some parishes.

A majority were neutral or opposed to the foot washing. Anyone who answered that the washing sould be eliminated would also refuse to be washed, while those who advocate it should be retained answered they would agree to be washed.

I doubt we would ever eliminate it since there is a tradition at Holy Cross, at least in recent years to include this option. However, exhaustive efforts to recruit twelve persons might be missplaced.

Liturgical experts generally agree that substituting other "washings" is wrong-spirited and a majority of our respondents agree. While it's true that we generally wash our hands before meals, and foot washing isn't part of our contemporary practice, neither is hand washing generally performed for us by a servant, so the substitution falls a bit flat. (Let's not even think of Purell!)

The liturgy committee won't take up the matter for another year, so there is plenty of time for prayerful reflection on the matter.

 

Easter Vigil

Allelulia! Christ has conquered the darkness of sin and death!

 

Holy Week 2011 Holy Cross Church, Rumson NJ

Last evening's diocesan celebration of the Chrism mass at St. Mary's Cathedral in Trenton with Bishop O'Connell was a spirit-filled beginning to the grace-filled period of Holy Week. Many priests of the diocese gathered along with the bishop to bless the sacred oils that will be used in sacramental anointings at all the parishes in the diocese during the coming year. Our own RCIA team was selected to bear the Oil of the Catechumens to the sanctuary for blessing. It is tradition for the priests to renew their promises of priestly commitment at the Chrism mass each year. The presence of so many faithful from parishes all over the dioceses made the occasional even more poignant.

Bishop O'Connell preached to the largest number of priests in recent years and exhorted them to be bearers of the Truth to a world which sometimes doesn't want to hear it. While noting the tragedy of those priests who have wounded the church, he celebrated the goodness of the priesthood and of faithful priests, emphasizing their sacramental roles in persona Christi throughout the diocese.

This Wednesday, there will be mass at 9 AM as usual, followed by Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament all day until Evening prayer and Benediction at 5 PM.  Traditional Latin Mass will be prayed at noon as usual. Confessions will be heard in the church from 6 PM to 7 PM.

There will be no Faith Seeking Understanding meeting this Wednesday, but sessions will resume sometime after Easter with a bible study on the Book of Revelation. More details to follow.

 

Chrism Mass in Trenton Tonight

Tonight Bishop O'Connell and all the priests of the Diocese of Trenton will bless the sacred oils used in the sacraments of the Anointing of the Sick, Confirmation, Ordination to the Priesthood and Baptism.

Our own RCIA team will have the privilege of bringing up the Oil of the Catechumens to be blessed at the mass.

The Chrism mass is an opportunity for the bishop to address the priests of the diocese and along with them to renew the promises made at priestly ordination.

Please pray for our bishop and our priests.

Palm Procession from Seabright to Rumson Holy Cross Parish

Well, the rain did hold off! Just as we reached the church's parking lot, the sun broke through the clouds and we enjoyed a beautiful, sunny Palm Sunday. The sky in these photos even tell the story!

Thanks to all who braved the initial cold and helped us mark the solemn beginning of Holy Week.

The earliest arrivals at the public parking lot in Seabright

The holy water was blowing everywhere!

The procession speed never reached 30 mph, but the winds might have!

Our intrepid group leaves Seabright for the walk across the bridge.

 

It's always exciting to cross the bridge into Rumson on foot.

Home Sweet Home and Just In Time for the 10:30 AM mass!

Foot Washing Poll So Far

 
 
 

Jump into the Survey with Both Feet...or Not

 

Click here to take survey

Pope Benedict and the Shroud of Turin

Pope Benedict is one of those rare individuals who although steeped in philosophy and theology can express these complex and profound truths in a spiritual and pastoral way.

His Holiness made a pilgrimage to see the Shroud of Turin and his words not only about the Shroud, but about the importance of Holy Saturday make for very prayerful reading. At Holy Cross, we have tried to give Holy Saturday its due importance in the Triduum - the time of soul searching and questioning the meaning of Jesus' life by disciples who hadn't understood anything about the resurrection. Even though we pray morning prayer on Saturday, the church is soon alive with the preparations for the Easter Vigil.

The pope begins his meditation by exclaiming that as he makes this pilgrimage, he carries the whole Church, indeed all of humanity in his heart.  Read his thoughts and save them for Holy Saturday, or any day that seems too dark.

Pope Benedict XVI's remarks after viewing the Shroud of Turin

Easter Candle Lights the Church and the Exultet is Proclaimed

  Photographs courtesy of Sean Smyth

Blessing of the New Fire at the Easter Vigil Holy Cross Rumson

The Blessing of the New Fire at the Easter Vigil 

Easter Vigil Services Tonight at 8 PM

Please join us tonight for a celebration of the beginning of Easter at the Easter Vigil services beginning at 8 PM. It is imperative that the ceremony begins after darkness, as the blessing of the new fire and the new Paschal Candle illumine the church.

This year we will welcome twelve new members into the fullness of the Catholic faith: several will be baptized, many will be confirmed and all will receive first Holy Communion. These baptisms, confirmations and communions are always a source of great joy.

Beginning tonight, we will also return to distributing Eucharist under both species at weekend masses.

Holy Saturday Morning Prayer, Blessing of the Easter Food and Ephphatha Rite

On Holy Saturday, morning prayer will begin in the Church at 9 AM followed immediately by the Blessing of the Easter Food and the Ephphatha Rite (for the Aramaic, "Be Thou Opened'). Our RCIA team will gather for the last time before the Solemn Easter Vigil this evening at 8 PM. 

The Ephphatha Rite recalls Jesus' healing of the man born deaf and mute and confers a blessing of those to be received into the fullness of the Catholic faith to enable them to be faithful witnesses to the truth.

The tabernacle is empty, the altar is bare, the statues and furniture has been removed and before the decoration for Easter begins, it's important to spend time as if we were present at Jesus' sealed tomb, grieving and doubting that he was the Messiah. 

 

Tenebrae Service on Good Friday

  Tonight at 7 PM we will pray Tenebrae services, a liturgy of sacred song and reflection on the passion and saving death of Jesus. There are several variations of the liturgy, but we will begin with lit candelabra providing the only illumination in the church. One by one, after an interlude of prayer and song, the candles are extinguished until at the service's conclusion, the church is in darkness.

Tenebrae is Latin for shadows or darkness and it symbolizes the darkness which enveloped the world after Jesus death, until his resurrection broke through the darkness on Easter morn.

The Triduum - Good Friday - The Veneration of the Cross

The tabernacle is empty, the altar is bare, even the furniture and the statues are gone.

Once more we will read the Passion and this time,be invited to venerate the wood of the cross, "on which hung the Savior of the World," as the liturgy proclaims.

If we're not careful, the veneration becomes perfunctory, a kind of quick kiss you give your maiden aunt before saying goodbye. We need to slow down; this gesture really matters.

The modern world puzzles over the meaning and purpose of suffering, and surely there are no easy answers. 

But standing at the foot of the cross on Good Friday is a very good place to begin looking for one.

The Triduum - Maundy Thursday

Tonight's Mass of the Lord's Supper marks the beginning of the Triduum, the three most sacred days in the Catholic church's liturgical calendar.

Holy Thursday has also been called "Maundy" Thursday, probably from an English derivative of the Latin phrase mandatum, or command - for the new command that Jesus gives in John's gospel to Love one another and to serve others, shown best by his example of washing the feet of his disciples.

A tradition at Holy Cross has been for the RCIA candidates to have their feet washed at the mass, which begins with the reception of the three Holy Oils blessed by the bishop and priests at the Chrism mass earlier in the week. The Oil of the Sick, the Sacred Chrism and the Oil of Catechumens will be received and placed in the ambry, ready for their first use at the Easter Vigil on Saturday evening.

Since the mass commemorates the Last Supper, Holy Thursday has also been seen as Jesus' institution of the priesthood.

Tonight's mass will mark the our return to the distribution of communion under both species, the cups having been eliminated during the scares of the swine flu season. At the conclusion of mass, the Blessed Sacrament will be removed from the church and processed to a chapel of reservation in the St. Michael Media Room in the school. This temporary chapel will be open for prayer and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament until 11 PM which concludes the evening with night prayer.

The sight of the empty tabernacle in the church is always a stark sight. 

More Pictures of Holy Cross Palm Sunday Procession

It is PALM (or Passion) Sunday After All!

 

Here are a couple more photos of Palm Sunday's procession courtesy of Sean Smyth.

Despite the wind, the candles we carried did not blow out!

Procession Leaders Wait for the Rest of the Procession to Cross the Bridge

  With Police escort, the Procession heads by the Sea Bright Service Station on the way to the Bridge.

We actually distributed some palms to passers-by this year.

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I think everyone loves when we cross the Bridge.

This photo courtesy of Lori LaPlante