6th Sunday of the Great Fast - Palm Sunday

Hello all, and a very blessed Holy Week to each of you! I'm getting this post out a bit earlier than usual this week so that I can focus on Triduum liturgies and preparing for our Easter weekend, which involves a visit from a good friend from out of town. So lovely! This past Sunday was our very first Palm Sunday in the Byzantine rite, and I was ever so excited to discover the similarities and differences between the two! At this point in the liturgical year (remembering that this begins September 1st in the Eastern Church) we have only rarely ventured to Mass outside of Divine Liturgy at our new Byzantine rite parish. So I'm very excited to relay all of the deets to you!

But speaking of our Byzantine rite parish, a quick diversion to say that we helped out at the Easter Bazaar this past weekend! It was so wonderful to get to know some of the parishoners of the Ukrainian language liturgy, and really feel a part of parish life. I manned the sausage and kraut table. 😎The event was quite successful, and yielded much needed funds for the parish's operational needs! The lack of events due to the pandemic really hurt this small parish, and I'm praying that these fundraising efforts continue to bear fruit and help the parish to begin to thrive and survive well into the future.

Then the next day, we headed back for our very first Palm Sunday in the Byzantine rite. We had our home icon hung out in our kitchen since the vigil the night before! We were all excited to experience Divine Liturgy on this special day.

So, Catholic Librarian Nerd piping in with the details: the readings of the day were from Philippians with the do not be anxious discourse, and the Gospel of John story of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem. There was no reading of the full Passion narrative the way that there is in the Latin rite, that was one major difference. But these readings were perfectly aligned with the theme of the day.

At the conclusion of liturgy, I was *dying* to know what the palm tradition would be, and it was willows! 😍

Father read a special blessing and showered them with holy water, which of course we're quite familiar with, and we were encouraged to take a few on our way out. I couldn't hurry to the front to scoop ours up fast enough. 😂

It was a beautiful liturgy, and we are now incredibly excited for Holy Week!

We will be attending Divine Liturgy on Easter morning at our Byzantine rite parish and I can't wait to report in on that! I'll likely be attending other triduum liturgies in our Latin rite parish, which will be determined as Holy Week unfolds. How is your Holy Week progressing, friends? 

*heart*

A beautiful Holy Week, and some unexpected developments in my prayer routine...

Hello all, and HAPPY EASTER! I hope that you had a spectacular Holy Week and Easter Sunday, and that Easter blessings continue to shower your way. For my part, I doubly enjoyed it this year, after missing the liturgies so much last year. I didn't make it to the Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday, but I made it to both the Good Friday liturgy, and the Easter vigil. It was *so lovely*, and I felt so blessed and grateful to, (a) be there with my kids, and (b) be a part of something so much larger than myself that is so magnificently rich and beautiful. It really struck me anew this year at the Easter Vigil how much I have to be grateful for, and how much I value my faith. 

And I decided to do something new this year. Instead of giving up/resolving to do something for all of Lent, I decided to try and pray both Morning and Evening Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours for the entirety of Holy Week. I mentioned an idea to my sister and a few mutual good friends that we could perhaps pray them together when we could via video chat. We began on the vigil of Palm Sunday, and though here and there 1-2 of us couldn't make some of the sessions, we were able to pray the Hours together a lot during Holy Week, and on the times we couldn't be together, we prayed them individually. It was so uplifting and cheering, and I looked forward each day to seeing the faces of those who could make it, along with any children who came along for the ride. :)

This all worked out so much better than I ever could have expected. I was so inspired by our commitment to this that 6 days into the Easter octave, I'm still praying the Hours. Mostly by myself because evenings were tough for everyone this week, but I've been praying Morning Prayer with my sister pretty much every morning (we're in the same time zone, definitely makes that easier!), and it has given a lift to my days that I haven't felt since the pandemic started. I've also found myself seeking out books about praying the Hours, and commentaries/reflections on the psalms in the Psalter, because my curiosity has been so whetted. I treated myself to this as an Easter gift, and am LOVING IT:

This is all quite unexpected. Although I've long had a love for the Liturgy of the Hours, I've never found a routine for praying them with regularity and consistency. I've picked up the St. Joseph guide each year and prayed here and there when the mood struck, but it sadly hasn't been a daily thing for me. Now I find myself craving more and more information about this form of prayer, and adding in additional Hours when I can (Daytime and Night Prayer). It's so delightful that I'm just going with it, hoping that this means it will really stick this time. I even have the Supplement to the Proper of Saints on it's way, as well as a special supplement for Dominican saints! 🙌

So my Holy Week and first week of Easter have been even more special than usual. I'll likely continue to blog about the Liturgy of the Hours and how that is going, and generally about spiritual topics this Easter season. I'm still planning out what I'd like to focus on here at the blog for Easter season and summer Ordinary Time. Thoughts on what you'd like to see? How was your Easter?! I'd love to hear from you in the comments!

Strangest Triduum ever coming up, and just trying to hang in there...

A very blessed Holy Thursday to all of you. *hugging* I'm going to be honest and admit that this entire Holy Week has not felt like Holy Week to me at all. Being cut off from the liturgies is making me feel so disconnected, and well, depressed. I've been struggling. As have we all, I know. So I'm not expecting much tonight, as I know my kids won't exactly be all excited about watching all of these liturgies on TV (Sunday mass is hard enough), so I'm not sure what I'll be able to experience tonight. As the title of this post indicates, I'm just trying to hang in there. I did make two curbside pickups yesterday for Easter chocolate and handmade seasonal soaps and lip balms for the kids' baskets, which perked me up a bit.

I've also been working away on my Our Lady Star of the Sea shawl:

I'm now into the blue lace section as you can see, and will soon begin melting that color in with a blush pink! I also experimented with a new local farm share box this week, and I have to say, I'm quite pleased!

There are mushrooms in the paper bag, and potatoes underneath the bananas! They ran out of micro greens, so substituted in non-local bananas, but my family loves bananas, so this worked out well. We're very basic produce consumers, if that makes any sense, so this box is perfect for us. Lettuce, tomatoes, broccoli, potatoes, eggs, bell peppers, seasonal fruit...these are things that we eat in abundance. Lesser known vegetables are a harder sell. ;-)

Henry was busy with his online school work this week (which he is much more independent with, being in 9th grade), but Anne still requires quite a bit of guidance and intervention from Mike and I. Given that it's Holy Week, I chose to have her work on the banner for her First Communion, although our date for that has been pushed off, and we have no idea yet when it will be rescheduled. *sob*

My cutie pie

Finished product!

Besides knitting and crocheting, I am decidedly *not* crafty, and so these pre-cut out kits are a life saver for us! I also meal planned for the week:

Takeout this week is pizza from a local Italian restaurant, and you can see that our Lenten Friday meal is potato soup in the crockpot.

This isn't the exact recipe that we use, but it's very close. Instead of mashing the potatoes after they cook (???) I recomment using an immersion blender if you have one! Substitute vegetable broth for chicken broth and eliminate the bacon for the full-on vegetarian/Lenten Friday version!

How is your Triduum starting out, friends? What are you planning to do over the course of the next 4 days to keep our traditions alive at home? I'd love to hear from you!

Holy Week musings...

"Easter Vigil Mass" by Prayitno licensed under CC by 2.0

Every Holy Week is different, just as every Lent is unique from one to the next. Last year Lent was quite terrible for me, by which I mean it was full of sadness and pain. I suppose that could be looked at as a good Lent. ;-) I have also had Lents that don't feel like Lent at all, that fly by to Easter with only fish fry on Fridays to mark that the season is different in any way. I have had spiritually dry Lents that eek themselves out, I have had confusing Lents, and I have had Lents that bring a lot of spiritual consolation and clarity. This Lent has felt like it has righted my path, like I have found a piece of myself that that I have been looking for since last year. It's a good feeling.

I have to admit, though, that the fire on Monday of this Holy Week at the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris really shook me up. I have no connection to France: I have never been there, nor did I study French in school (I'm a Spanish gal ;-)). I don't anticipate that I'll ever travel there, to be honest. But I feel a connection to all houses of worship that are a part of our global Church. These places house the body of Christ, both literally and figuratively, in the Eucharist and in the community that worships there. This particular cathedral also housed relics that physically connect us to our brothers and sisters in the faith who have gone before us into the great cloud of witnesses, as well as beautiful and historic works of art that raise our hearts and minds to the Almighty. These things cannot be replaced.

And so since Monday afternoon, I have been riveted to the news awaiting new word of what was happening. The timing seemed surreal, that a devastating fire in a church with this magnitude of historical significance would occur during Holy Week. It occurred to me that something good would come out of this, but the initial scene was excruciating to behold. I have been heartened by the news of the stricken crowd praying and singing together, honoring their Lady of France. And although the damage will obviously take many, many years to fully repair, the fact that the structure, and a least a majority of the relics and artwork, survived the blaze is nothing short of remarkable.

I think that God is speaking to us this Holy Week, and that there are people deeply feeling the message this year who may not normally be paying attention to the ebbs and flows of the liturgical calendar. I really feel God's hand over us this year, and that everything will be all right.

I wish you all a very blessed and beautiful Triduum, and Easter morning. May the joy of Easter follow us through the rest of this year and beyond! *heart* I will be attending the Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday, my parish's Good Friday service at 3 pm on that holy day, and the Easter vigil Mass with both of my kids for the very first time this year. I'm really looking forward to it, and I feel humbled by all of my blessings this year. God bless you all, and talk to you next week!

Final push for Easter basket preparations!

As we head towards Holy Week, I am SO EXCITED for all of the upcoming liturgies! My CatholicMom piece for this month touches on this issue, and it has me all re-inspired and re-invigorated for the Triduum. 🤗

The other thing that gets on my mind at this time of the season is Easter baskets. I have always used Easter baskets as an opportunity for (in addition to the inevitable onslaught of chocolate) small, thoughtful gifts, often of a religious nature. That's getting harder with Henry, who is 13, and requested a new skin and screen protector for his Nintendo Switch for his Easter basket. 🙄 But I'll think of something!

Anne is still into cute Easter basket ideas (although, at nearly 8, I'm certain she's going to know that there's no way the Easter bunny came up with these ideas that sound *just like* the things she and mom like to look at together) and I thought I'd share them with you if you're still needing basket ideas with enough time for things to ship and arrive before Easter morning!

(1) Shining Light Dolls - I just love these things, AND they're having a sale from today through Friday April 12th. Use code EASTERJOY19 for 20% off your order! In addition to the dolls, they now have saint charms to clip onto bags or backpacks, Easter egg wraps, and flower seeds for your garden based on a Marian theme!

#forthewin

(2) Tiny Hands Food Jewelry - One of my favorite handmade sellers is Mei from Tiny Hands. She makes scented food necklaces and earrings, and they are DARLING! She has a scented chocolate bunny necklace that is PERFECT FOR EASTER. I ordered one for Anne! You need to get your order in by Saturday April 13th in order for it to arrive in time for Easter! I've tried her Necklace of the Month club in the past, and I absolutely loved it, I'm tempted to re-subscribe.

(3) Rosaries by Allison - My kids both love rosaries, and like their mom, never think that you can have too many. ;-) Allison is having a sale this month, 20% off, and her rosaries are perfect for Easter, First Communion OR Mother's Day! My current 2 favorites are the crystal copper cube bead rosary, and the light golden glow Holy Face rosary!

(4) Sweet Clementine Soaps - This is another favorite of mine in terms of homemade products, I order from her all the time. The Lush Succulent Soap Bar is perfect for Easter, and she had a bunny one that appears to be temporarily sold out. She always features seasonal scents, and makes bar soap, whipped soap, other bath and shower products, lotion, fragrance spray, lip balm, you name it. I ordered some soap for my kids, and a fragrance spray for Anne.

(5) Lenny the Lamb Scentsy Buddy - You all know how I am about Scentsy. ;-) And Lenny the Lamb is a perfect Easter basket addition if you're looking for a stuffed toy. He comes with a Scent Pak that you zip inside of him, in your choice of scent! I do have one tucked away for Anne. 😎

Those are my ideas! What do you usually do for Easter baskets! Any Easter morning traditions you'd like to share? I'd love to hear from you!

Throwback Thursday: Holy Week prep edition...

As we near Holy Week, I was looking back through some old posts for ideas for my upcoming April piece for CatholicMom.com. I found a post that I had written just after I took Henry to an Easter vigil Mass for the very first time, the same year that he received his First Communion. It was so endearing, that I keep thinking about it, even several days later. I thought it would make a cute re-post as we inch closer to Holy Week 2019. And so here we have it, originally posted April 22, 2014...

__________________________


Hello all! I'm very glad to be back and blogging with you. It's kind of rainy and dreary here today, but Easter weekend was sublime. Let us chronicle...

*makes tea*

I had a super long day last Thursday, working the evening reference shift, and thus was extra thankful that I had taken Good Friday off. I got to sleep in and relax in the morning, and pray with my Magnificat magazine. Despite my resolution to pray Morning and Evening prayer for all of Lent, that hadn't gone very well :0 until Holy Week. Everything just really gelled for me Holy Week, and that continued during the Triduum. My Magnificat had absolutely fascinating details about all of the Triduum liturgies that I pored over. How could I have been a Catholic my whole life without knowing all of this *fantastic* information?!

Due to work, I missed the Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday, but I was rearing to go on Good Friday afternoon. I almost didn't make it to the Celebration of the Passion liturgy, held at 3 pm at my parish, because Anne had a bad nap wake up and pitched a fit that could be heard for miles before we left the house, but I persevered. She had thankfully calmed down by the time we arrived, and was an excellent girl for the entire service. The only thing is (a) we were a few minutes late due to aforementioned fit pitching, and (b) the instant our butts touch the pew, she announces that she has to go to the bathroom. But we made it, and so I'll take it.

The entire liturgy lasted just over an hour. During the veneration of the cross, Anne was wide eyed as she watched everyone take their turn going forward, from little kids to elderly people needing help walking up. I could tell that that made quite an impression on her. I plan to make the Good Friday service an absolute must attend event each year, WOW does it pack a wallop. From the reading of the Passion in St. John's gospel, to the bare altar & empty tabernacle, I leave in tears every time.

As soon as Anne and I were heading out to the car, I was thinking about completing the Triduum with the Easter Vigil. We usually attend Mass on Easter morning, I'd only been to the Easter vigil twice in my entire life. Once before I realized how different the liturgy was on that day from every other vigil of the year, and once in 2011 when one of my best friends was baptized and confirmed and I was her Godmother.

*beams*

That was a very special Easter, obviously. After a spiritually dry year so far this year, I was loving my fruitful Holy Week and felt very inspired for the vigil Mass. So I made plans. This involved:

(a) staying awake, since the vigil starts at 8 pm and I'm usually ready for bed by 9:30. *snorts*

and,

(b) talking Henry into going with me. I thought it would be a special thing given that his First Communion is coming up in two weeks.

"It involves FIRE, Hank! But it *is* longer, so you have to be patient."

"Longer?! I don't think so, Mommy."

"But...FIRE!"

Let's just say that I prevailed.

At 8 pm Saturday evening, Henry and I were sitting in the darkened church, craning our necks to see the fire getting started outside. As our deacon processed into the dark church with the lit Easter candle, intoning "Behold, the light of Christ!" I thought to myself how very grateful I am to be Catholic. Our faith is truly a treasure.

I was teary as Hank and I had our candles lit, feeling so thankful that God is always there, even in our spiritual darkness. When the lights were flipped on dramatically as the cantor sang the Easter Proclamation, I could tell Hank was impressed. This indeed was different than any Mass he had ever seen.

Following the Blessing of Fire and Procession of the Candle, we moved to the Liturgy of the Word. This is the tough part with the Easter Vigil. :) There are 7 readings at this liturgy, each with their own Psalm and prayer, and Henry's agonized face as he flipped through his missal said it all. If I have a missal with which to follow along, *I'm* fine with that many readings, but feeling Henry's misery oozing from every pore was raining on my Easter parade a bit.

Well, at the pastor's discretion, the initial 7 readings can be pared down, and our parish ended up reading 3 of those, plus then the Pauline epistle and the Gospel, so 5 readings in total rather than 9. I thought that was an excellent compromise, and it soothed Henry quite a bit to see the readings dwindling. 

Following the homily comes the third part of this Mass, which is the baptismal liturgy. Sublime! The litany of the saints, oh!

*ANGELS WERE LITERALLY SINGING*

It was so beautiful. We had 2 catechumens (receiving baptism, confirmation and Eucharist) and 2 candidates (receiving confirmation and Eucharist). One of the catechumens was a much older man, probably approaching 90 years old! I teared up during the baptisms, and then when the congregation renewed our own baptismal promises, it was just... Only when my good friend Irena was baptized, and when I got married, have I ever been that emotional at a Mass before. 

When we moved on to the final part of the Mass, the Liturgy of the Eucharist, I could feel Hank relax. He knew exactly how long we now had to go, and so he was cool with that. I think he just likes to know what to expect, and we just didn't know exactly how long we would be there. In total, our Easter Vigil was just under 2 hours, to my mind, an ideal length. When I returned from receiving communion, he leaned over to remind me that there was only one more Mass to go before *he* could receive communion, which made me smile.

When we got home, it was just after 10 pm. Although he was impatient at the beginning of Mass, I thought Henry did a great job overall, and I'm so glad he came with me. Next year, my goal is the entire Triduum, I don't want to miss Holy Thursday again!

I'm still smiling, two days into the Easter Octave. He is truly risen! How was your Easter? Leave me a comment!

Tea Time for Lent/Easter 2018 - Episode 7! Triduum recap...

So, we had a bit of a production delay ;-) and thus have a combined Lent/Easter edition of...

Today I chat about my Triduum, 2018 edition, Henry and the marathon altar serving, and the poignancy of the Easter vigil mass. Join me!

**To subscribe to the audio version of Tea Time with Tiffany, just search for it in iTunes or use this link to subscribe in your podcast app of choice. Intro music is "Feelin' Good" from http://www.purple-planet.com 





Happy Easter everybody! How was your Triduum and Easter weekend? I'd love to hear from you!

Tea Time for Lent 2018 - Episode 6! Contemplating the Holy Week liturgies...

I get all into liturgy nerd mode on our late-Lent edition of:

I wax nostalgic a bit today about my cradle Catholic years with Lent and Easter, but having never experienced the Triduum liturgies until just a few years ago. We linger over Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil, and the meaning behind those liturgies. To be continued last week since I got so into this!




**To subscribe to the audio version of Tea Time with Tiffany, just search for it in iTunes or use this link to subscribe in your podcast app of choice. Intro music is "Feelin' Good" from http://www.purple-planet.com 

What are your experiences with the Holy Week liturgies? Did you participate in them as a child, or only as an adult like me? I would love to hear from you!

Tea Time with Tiffany #91 - Frantic week, & Holy Week preparation...

It's our vigil of Holy Week edition of:

Today I talk about the crazy week that I have been navigating, teaching drama, SQPN meet-ups, upcoming dance performances, prayer, and my plans for Holy Week!





**To subscribe to the audio version of Tea Time with Tiffany, just search for it in iTunes or use this link to subscribe via Feedburner in your podcatcher of choice. Intro music is "Tea Ceremony" from PlayonLoop.com

 Items mentioned in this episode:

• Crazy Tuesday post
• Expression Fiber Arts spring KAL
• Live Today Well, chapter 11 on prayer

How was your week, dear ones? What are you plans for Holy Week? I would love to hear about it in the comments!

Tea Time with Tiffany #41 - Special Holy Week edition!

All! So nice to be with you on a special (rushy rushy! though not in terms of length ;-)) Holy Week edition of:

Today I talk about adventures with my kids in a Palm Sunday procession, my experiences at the outset of Holy Week (Sacrament of Reconciliation! SUCH a good thing), and the religious handmade gifts I picked out for the kids' Easter baskets. I LOVE supporting handmade sellers, and all of my recommendations are below!





**To subscribe to the audio version of Tea Time with Tiffany, just search for it in iTunes or use this link to subscribe via Feedburner in your podcatcher of choice.

Items mentioned in this episode:

• 54 Day Rosary Novena
• Divine Mercy Novena
• Palm Sunday decor at my parish.
• Henry's St. Maximillian Kolbe doll and rosary:

• St. Luke's Brush on Etsy
• Rosaries by Allison on Etsy
• Anne's St. Kateri necklace:

• Mary's Prayers on Etsy
• Saints for Girls: A First Book for Little Catholic Girls

Long show notes today, but that's a wrap! How is your Holy Week going? What are your Easter plans and traditions? Do you have any projects that you'd like to suggest to me for this upcoming spring and summer season, i.e. novenas or other prayer endeavors, podcast topics, blog topics, anything creative that comes into your brain that you'd like to collaborate on? Do write in and let me know!

Holy Week begins, and thus novenas are in the air!!

Ooooooh, look at that, it's Monday and I'm posting again!! Well, the fun times come to an end after this particular Monday, for sure. Until the semester wraps up, that is. Spring break is over, but my regular class is cancelled today in lieu of a "research day" (i.e. we didn't expect many of them to be alert and conscious on the first day back from break). I did have a one-time English Composition class to teach today, but that was done by 10 am, so my schedule is much more open today. This worked out well since the end of my week is going to be blog-less due to it being Holy Week.

But Holy Week.

*swoons*

I had a FANTASTIC start to things with Palm Sunday yesterday, and my plan is to talk about that during a special Holy Week edition of Tea Time with Tiffany that I will record on Wednesday. Tuesday? Ishk. If that's a word. Let's just be honest, it ISN'T. So, I'm coining this now, "ishk" means "don't even ask, it's THAT crappy." Very, very busy tomorrow, so I don't know if I'll have time to blog. But Wednesday we should be able to have tea together. So go ready your mugs!

In the meantime, I sorted out some novena plans over the weekend, and wanted to see if you all desired to join me! I am in need of a new rosary novena for some special intentions. To that end, I have created a brand new 54 Day Rosary Novena page, and the first day is TODAY! I have all of the deets on how the novena works (and why it is so long!) over on that page, so click on over, dear reader, and have a look! I love that the finish day when we start day is May 13th, feast of Our Lady of Fatima. I mean, is that perfect or what?! So start your rosaries today if you want to participate. If you start a day or so hence, just adjust your dates accordingly and we'll still be praying in tandem for the majority of the time, which is great too!

Also, this Friday marks day one of the annual Divine Mercy Novena, and I LOVE that one each year! Pray More Novenas is hosting this one, so you can sign up to get the prayers in your email inbox. Head on over to their site to join in!

Multiple novenas plus the other spiritual reading that I'm still finishing up for Lent? Indeed I may be setting myself up to miss something and not get a gold star on everything. But that's OK. I'll endeavor to do my best, and I'll be praying along with all of you. That is all that is important, and it keeps my focus on where it needs to be. I'll take it.

Joining in? Let me know! We can pray for each others' intentions. *heart*

Good Friday sorrow...

Bare altar on Good Friday at St. Joseph's Cathedral, Diocese of Buffalo

I hope that you are all having a very blessed and holy Good Friday. I am feeling quite melancholy today, and it ties into the suffering theme of the day, I suppose. I've known for a few weeks that the daughter of a good friend was diagnosed with cancer. It's been heavy on my heart, and the news coming out from the hospital via Facebook has been increasingly difficult, particularly today. They received some bad news yesterday. I'm just beside myself, and I can only imagine what her parents are going through. She's just 14, and her name is Julia. Would you wing up a prayer for her health and healing on this Good Friday? It is much appreciated.

On that solemn note, I'm not really in my happy writing place like I usually am when I compose these posts. So I'll keep it brief. But I did attend the Holy Thursday liturgy yesterday, and Henry accompanied me, which meant so much to me. It was an absolutely beautiful Mass. And my very favorite part? The end, with the Eucharistic procession, incense, and repose of the Blessed Sacrament in the side altar. And then the dramatic departure of the priest and deacon without a word. WOW. Powerful stuff, right there. I know that when Anne and I arrive for the Good Friday service at 3 pm, the altar will be bare and the main tabernacle open and empty. Very stark, and fitting.

It's a very gray and dreary day here in WNY, which also seems fitting. If you're able to attend your parish's Good Friday liturgy, that takes the place of Evening Prayer, should you be praying the Liturgy of the Hours this Holy Week. Magnificat, special Holy Week issue, to the rescue. ;-) I hope that you're able to take part in at least one of these beautiful Triduum liturgies, and write in and tell me all about it if you do. :)

I'll be home with the kids again on Monday, but I'll be sure to post about Easter weekend. I'm aiming to attend both the Vigil Mass and Easter morning. #Catholicnerd Until then, I hope that you all have a prayerful end to the Triduum and a beautiful start to the Easter season. Talk to you all on Monday.

A blessed Holy Thursday to all of you!

We have grass! Could spring finally be sprung?!

Hello all, and I hope that you're as excited about the start of the Triduum as I am! I'm home from work for the duration actually, through Easter Monday. A mini staycation of sorts. :) And I'm loving it, it's been a beautiful day here. So far today, I crammed in Morning Prayer, worked a bit on a pair of Easter socks that I'm knitting, then got ready so that the four of us could run a few errands. Mike's car needed a new battery, so we took care of that, and then went to Dinosaur BBQ for lunch. I'd never been there before, this franchise is new to our city, and HELLO! We'll be going there again. :0 Awesome beer on tap plus barbecue sandwiches? Yes, on all fronts. The kids liked it too, getting small barbecued sliders with homemade macaroni and cheese on the side. It was a huge hit.

Now we're home, Anne is napping, Henry is over at a friend's house, and I'm thinking ahead to the Mass of the Lord's Supper at 7 pm. This will be my very first time attending this liturgy, and I can hardly stand it, I'm so excited. My Triduum Fever has rubbed off on Henry and he has volunteered to go with me tonight, which should qualify as a miracle for somebody's cause of canonization, I'm thinking. I'm looking forward to that very much, and I'm hoping that I don't forget about Evening Prayer tonight, because that little enterprise has been going very well so far for the week. I attempted to pray a rosary in the car today while we were running errands, but with interruptions every 15 seconds of...:

"Mommy! What's that? Why is it taking so long, Mommy? Where are we going again? Mommy, Henry made a face at me! ARE WE THERE YET, MOMMY?!"

...I got through two mysteries. :0 Sometimes, that's all you can do. But I'm feeling spiritually bright eyed and bushy tailed for tonight's liturgy. Tomorrow, I doubt I'll do 7 Quick Takes, because I just won't have time, but I will check in with all of you briefly about how Holy Thursday Mass went. And then Anne and I will be attending the 3 pm Celebration of the Lord's Passion and Veneration of the Cross. Oh! And don't forget about the start of the Divine Mercy Novena tomorrow. :)

How is your Holy Thursday going, dear reader? *heart*

The Catholic Nook: Spy Wednesday

It's Wednesday of Holy Week, and suddenly we're on the heels of the Mass of the Lord's Supper! Time flies. Thus today, as I scrolled through my social media feeds, I noticed several mentions of Spy Wednesday. I thought to myself:

"I wonder what that means?!"

And this is one of the many things I love about being Catholic - it doesn't matter how many years I've done this thing, there are still always new and fascinating tidbits to learn!

So, Spy Wednesday. The explanation was simpler than I anticipated, but no less profound. As this is the day prior to Holy Thursday, it is the occasion on which we remember how Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus by going to the high priest and negotiating information in exchange for 30 pieces of silver. The Synoptic Gospels record this scene in Matthew 26:14-16, Mark 14:10-11, and Luke 22:1-6. Ominous music is playing in the background as we draw closer to the Last Supper. :) It is also the day the Scriptures note (Matthew 26:613, Mark 14:3-9, and John 12:1-19) that Jesus was in the home of Simon the leper, and anointed with expensive perfume by a woman who was also present. Lots of foreboding right there. As I was looking for information on Spy Wednesday, I read on several sites that this day is marked in Poland with a tradition of dragging a three dimensional representation of Judas through the streets.

We now all know what Spy Wednesday is all about, horray! For my part this Holy Week, I've been like the Little Engine That Could with my Divine Office app, trying to squeeze in Morning and Evening Prayer each day. I'm on the reference desk right now, and I forgot to pray Morning Prayer before I came down (oops!) so that will be prayed when I get back to my office at 11 am. Not exactly on a monastery schedule, but for a laywoman I do what I can. ;-) I've also been trying to think more deeply about the mysteries of the rosary as I pray them, but yesterday as I prayed in the car, I managed to get my Bl. Mother Teresa rosary entangled in my *steering column* as I drove. Right, I was turning a corner, it was REALLY bad timing, *and* was I trying to rewind the Catholic podcast I had on in the background. Is God trying to tell me that I do too much multitasking? I wouldn't be surprised. :) At any rate, I broke my rosary, and had to make a trip to JoAnn's for replacement chain to make it up to poor Bl. Mother Teresa. I've promised her that this will never happen again. :0

How is your Holy Week going dear reader?

*Photo from Patheos

7 Quick Takes {Take 75) Holy Week edition!

OOhhhhh, I have so much fun stuff to report! I had Worship Committee last night, and I want to devote a whole post to that :) so look for that next Tuesday. First, I wanted to spend an entire 7 Quick Takes on Holy Week, as it deserves it, don't you think? I'm in a pretty good mood on this Lenten Friday. Fish fry at our parish tonight, I mean, !!!!!!!!!!!!!! Good stuff, right there. OK, so a parish report-in next week, but right now, Holy Week. What am I going to be up to? And what are YOU going to be up to? I want to know. :)

-1- Hope springs eternal...

I love the Liturgy of the Hours, I really do. You'd think this meant that I pray them every day, but, well... I don't. :) I have the app and everything, but fitting it into my schedule is always a challenge. I pray Morning and Evening Prayer sporadically, when I can, and I do use the app when I do that. I knew better than to make this a Lenten goal, because I was setting myself up to fail. ;-) So, what I decided to do is try to pray Morning and Evening Prayer for all of Holy Week. I'm off for part of Holy Week anyway, so I think it may actually be manageable. My plan is to start with evening prayer tomorrow, since that is the vigil of Palm Sunday, and I am SO EXCITED for Palm Sunday. We'll see how this goes. :) But speaking of Palm Sunday...

-2- Mini palm trees from Home Depot? Sounds good to me.

Our new pastor is just darling, I really like him. And for two weeks now, the sacristy has been bursting at the seams with these palmy bushes that he plans to use as decor for Palm Sunday. I can tell that he's trying not to rock the boat by making sweeping changes, but he wants to put his own stamp on things and mix things up from the way we always do things. Because...we have sorta done things exactly the same way every year for the past 10 years. ;-) So he has this new altar decor planned for Palm Sunday, and I'm curious to see how it turns out, and how open people are to it. Based upon the Worship Committee meeting last night (again, details next week) there is some definite resistance to change, so we'll see how this goes.

For my part, I'm looking forward to Palm Sunday, and the kids and I can't wait to get our palms. And the beginning of Holy Week! *swoons* So much liturgical goodness to come. Starting with...

-3- Washing of the hands? Sounds a bit like a ritual I force upon my children :)

Holy Thursday! One little tidbit that came out of our meeting is the plans for Holy Thursday. Now, I've never been to the Mass of the Lord's Supper (scandalous!) and this year, I'm going for sure, so I'm all excited. But even I know that on Holy Thursday, there is a washing of the feet ceremony. With our new pastor still just getting to know everyone, he decided to to substitute finding 12 male volunteers for this shindig in favor of a hand washing ceremony in which the entire congregation comes forward. Interesting? Yes, I suppose. Somewhat untraditional, but what do I know? :)

-4- Good old fashioned Good Friday solemnness...

I've been to the Good Friday liturgy for the past two years, and now I won't miss it. There is a Liturgy of the Word and Veneration of the Cross. Anne has gone with me the past two years, and I plan to bring her again. I'm hoping Henry will come to Holy Thursday, I'll have to find an incentive to coax him into this. :) But on Good Friday we'll be at the service at 3 pm, and then having a simple meatless dinner later. I will try to pray the Stations of the Cross with Henry before bed.

-5- Divine Mercy novena!

Good Friday is also the start date for the Divine Mercy novena, and I've created a special page with all the details! I pray this novena every year and just love it. Consider joining in! Pray More Novenas is involved this year, meaning that you can sign up to get the prayers and a reminder right in your email inbox. I'm doing that! Join me. :)

-6- A light in the darkness.

In all of my years of being Catholic, I never had ANY idea of the hidden jewel that is the Easter Vigil until a handful of years ago. Now, I will grant: the Easter Vigil can be LONG. There are nine readings, though some parishes choose not to do all of them. The shortest Easter Vigil I've ever been to was an hour and a half. Not bad at all, but I was at one that was three hours. :0 But it's SO WORTH IT. Seeing people receive the sacraments and come into the Church...I cry, even if they're strangers to me! And the fire outside that begins the liturgy? I mean, that's a real crowd pleaser. :) And having the Eucharist in the Tabernacle again after it being missing since the conclusion of Holy Thursday? That's packs a wallop, right there. Hearing the Gloria sung again for the first time since before Ash Wednesday? Oh! It's so wonderful. I can't wait to go.

-7- And finally, we eat chocolate.

Easter Sunday I'm planning for the entire family to attend morning Mass (either 8 or 10 am, that is still under negotiation :)) and we're hosting Easter dinner for our parents. Ham and chocolate for everybody! We have Easter chocolate from Henry's school sale tucked into our cupboard, and I haven't let anybody eat it, which Henry thinks is a human rights violation. But soon! I have other special treats planned for the kids' Easter baskets as well.

What are your Holy Week plans, dear reader? Do let me know! And don't forget to check out more 7 Quick Takes over at This Ain't the Lyceum! Talk to you on Monday!

A beautiful Triduum - a tale of Holy Week happiness

Hello all! I'm very glad to be back and blogging with you. It's kind of rainy and dreary here today, but Easter weekend was sublime. Let us chronicle...

*makes tea*

I had a super long day last Thursday, working the evening reference shift, and thus was extra thankful that I had taken Good Friday off. I got to sleep in and relax in the morning, and pray with my Magnificat magazine. Despite my resolution to pray Morning and Evening prayer for all of Lent, that hadn't gone very well :0 until Holy Week. Everything just really gelled for me Holy Week, and that continued during the Triduum. My Magnificat had absolutely fascinating details about all of the Triduum liturgies that I pored over. How could I have been a Catholic my whole life without knowing all of this *fantastic* information?!

Due to work, I missed the Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday, but I was rearing to go on Good Friday afternoon. I almost didn't make it to the Celebration of the Passion liturgy, held at 3 pm at my parish, because Anne had a bad nap wake up and pitched a fit that could be heard for miles before we left the house, but I persevered. She had thankfully calmed down by the time we arrived, and was an excellent girl for the entire service. The only thing is (a) we were a few minutes late due to aforementioned fit pitching, and (b) the instant our butts touch the pew, she announces that she has to go to the bathroom. But we made it, and so I'll take it.

The entire liturgy lasted just over an hour. During the veneration of the cross, Anne was wide eyed as she watched everyone take their turn going forward, from little kids to elderly people needing help walking up. I could tell that that made quite an impression on her. I plan to make the Good Friday service an absolute must attend event each year, WOW does it pack a wallop. From the reading of the Passion in St. John's gospel, to the bare altar & empty tabernacle, I leave in tears every time.

As soon as Anne and I were heading out to the car, I was thinking about completing the Triduum with the Easter Vigil. We usually attend Mass on Easter morning, I'd only been to the Easter vigil twice in my entire life. Once before I realized how different the liturgy was on that day from every other vigil of the year, and once in 2011 when one of my best friends was baptized and confirmed and I was her Godmother.

*beams*

That was a very special Easter, obviously. After a spiritually dry year so far this year, I was loving my fruitful Holy Week and felt very inspired for the vigil Mass. So I made plans. This involved:

(a) staying awake, since the vigil starts at 8 pm and I'm usually ready for bed by 9:30. *snorts*

and,

(b) talking Henry into going with me. I thought it would be a special thing given that his First Communion is coming up in two weeks.

"It involves FIRE, Hank! But it *is* longer, so you have to be patient."

"Longer?! I don't think so, Mommy."

"But...FIRE!"

Let's just say that I prevailed.

At 8 pm Saturday evening, Henry and I were sitting in the darkened church, craning our necks to see the fire getting started outside. As our deacon processed into the dark church with the lit Easter candle, intoning "Behold, the light of Christ!" I thought to myself how very grateful I am to be Catholic. Our faith is truly a treasure.

I was teary as Hank and I had our candles lit, feeling so thankful that God is always there, even in our spiritual darkness. When the lights were flipped on dramatically as the cantor sang the Easter Proclamation, I could tell Hank was impressed. This indeed was different than any Mass he had ever seen.

Following the Blessing of Fire and Procession of the Candle, we moved to the Liturgy of the Word. This is the tough part with the Easter Vigil. :) There are 7 readings at this liturgy, each with their own Psalm and prayer, and Henry's agonized face as he flipped through his missal said it all. If I have a missal with which to follow along, *I'm* fine with that many readings, but feeling Henry's misery oozing from every pore was raining on my Easter parade a bit.

Well, at the pastor's discretion, the initial 7 readings can be pared down, and our parish ended up reading 3 of those, plus then the Pauline epistle and the Gospel, so 5 readings in total rather than 9. I thought that was an excellent compromise, and it soothed Henry quite a bit to see the readings dwindling.

Following the homily comes the third part of this Mass, which is the baptismal liturgy. Sublime! The litany of the saints, oh!

*ANGELS WERE LITERALLY SINGING*

It was so beautiful. We had 2 catechumens (receiving baptism, confirmation and Eucharist) and 2 candidates (receiving confirmation and Eucharist). One of the catechumens was a much older man, probably approaching 90 years old! I teared up during the baptisms, and then when the congregation renewed our own baptismal promises, it was just... Only when my good friend Irena was baptized, and when I got married, have I ever been that emotional at a Mass before.

When we moved on to the final part of the Mass, the Liturgy of the Eucharist, I could feel Hank relax. He knew exactly how long we now had to go, and so he was cool with that. I think he just likes to know what to expect, and we just didn't know exactly how long we would be there. In total, our Easter Vigil was just under 2 hours, to my mind, an ideal length. When I returned from receiving communion, he leaned over to remind me that there was only one more Mass to go before *he* could receive communion, which made me smile.

When we got home, it was just after 10 pm. Although he was impatient at the beginning of Mass, I thought Henry did a great job overall, and I'm so glad he came with me. Next year, my goal is the entire Triduum, I don't want to miss Holy Thursday again!

I'm still smiling, two days into the Easter Octave. He is truly risen! How was your Easter? Leave me a comment!

Tune back in tomorrow for the April edition of the Catholic Book Club, when we'll be discussing "More Catholic than the Pope: An Inside Look at Extreme Traditionalism" by Patrick Madrid. See you then!