HOLY WEEK SERVICES AT THE CATHEDRAL
All are invited to worship with us at Philadelphia Cathedral this Holy Week as we commemorate the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus.. (Click on title “Holy Week at the Cathedral” to view schedule.)
To download a brochure listing the schedule of services for Holy Week, please click here.
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” (Romans 6:5)
From the Sunday of the Passion (Palm Sunday) to the Sunday of the Resurrection, with processions and dramatic liturgies, in darkness and light, the past and the present are joined.*** We are there; then becomes now. We are in the crowds that cheer and jeer at Jesus. As his disciples, family and friends, we are in that “upper room” with Jesus where he shares with us his last meal and testament. We feel the confusion, panic and anguish at his arrest and trial. We experience first-hand, the horror of Jesus’ crucifixion; and, gazing up at him from the foot of the cross, we receive his love even as he gasps his last breath and yields up his spirit. We wait in the darkness as he rests in the tomb. As we recall the story of God’s plan for humanity beginning with the Creation, the darkness is pierced by the glorious Light of Christ, and we experience the joy of Christ’s resurrection.
MARCH 28, PALM SUNDAY
10 AM - Liturgy of the Palms, Procession & Holy Eucharist
This service of Eucharist features a festive beginning with blessing of the palms and procession reenacting Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem amidst the happy cheers of the crowds; then shifts to a poignant, dramatic presentation of the Gospel account of the arrest, trial and crucifixion of Jesus.
MARCH 29, MONDAY IN HOLY WEEK
12 NOON - Holy Eucharist
8 PM - Taizé Prayer Service
Taizé Prayer is the quiet experience of human voices united in meditative song, along with readings from scripture, prayer and silence. This not only stills our rattled minds and spirits, but in the midst of the chaos and darkness that surrounds us, heightens our awareness of God’s presence and bestows unimaginable peace.
MARCH 30, TUESDAY IN HOLY WEEK 10 AM - Chrism Mass
The Chrism Mass, celebrated in the morning, is a gathering of the diocesan family, during which all clergy together with the bishop, perform the annual renewal of their vows of ordination. The oil of chrism for baptisms and ordinations, and oil for anointing of the sick are blessed by the bishop at this liturgy and distributed through their clergy to each congregation of the diocese.
Bishop Rodney R. Michel, Presider (Both clergy and laity are invited to this Liturgy.)
8 PM - Taizé Prayer Service
MARCH 31, WEDNESDAY IN HOLY WEEK
12 NOON - Holy Eucharist
8 PM - Tenebrae
Tenebrae is a Latin word, signifying “darkness,” “shadow” and “obscurity“. The name of this day’s service is taken from the words from the Gospels describing the scene at Jesus’ death: Tenebrae factae sunt: Darkness covered the whole land when Jesus was crucified. Throughout the service there is a progressive extinguishing of all lights in the church except one candle.
The chanting of Psalms and the readings of lessons and prayers form a pro- longed experience of abandonment, judgment and death, with an obscure hint of resurrection symbolized by the remaining candle
APRIL 1, MAUNDY THURSDAY
12 NOON - Holy Eucharist
8 PM - Maundy Thursday Liturgy
On this evening we recall and relive the events of the night of our Lord’s final Passover with his disciples and friends, by which we have passed over from death to eternal life. We begin by experiencing the elements and festivity of the Passover meal. Then following Jesus’ example given at his last Passover, we wash one another’s feet. This is followed by the Eucharist and meditation until midnight.
APRIL 2, GOOD FRIDAY
12 NOON - Liturgy of Good Friday
The ancient Good Friday Liturgy includes the Passion reading and solemn prayers for the whole world and features the special rite in which each person present may express devotion to the cross by kissing, bowing, kneeling, or lying prostrate before it. We glory in your cross, O Lord, for by virtue of your cross, joy has come to the whole world. Communion is administered from the reserved sacrament from the Maundy Thursday shrine.
8 PM - Day of Devotion
The Way of the Cross
A profoundly dramatic and solemn service of prayer, meditation and sacred music as we walk in the footsteps of Jesus toward Calvary. The Cathedral Singers, directed by Dr. Riyehee Hong, will be joined by guest musicians, Yuko Okado, Soprano, Rebecca Harris, Baroque Violin, Barbara Prugh, Trumpet and Brian Ming Chu, Baritone. Dean Lloyd S. Casson will be the Officiant.
APRIL 3, HOLY SATURDAY
1 - 3 PM - Sacrament of Reconciliation
8 PM - Great Vigil of Easter & Rites of Christian Initiation
Bishop Rodney R. Michel, Presider
On this most holy night, in which our Lord Jesus passes over from death to life, we celebrate the most ancient of all of these services, the Great Vigil of Easter. Exiting slowly from darkness into the brilliant light of the resurrection, we experience anew the victory over the powers of darkness that is ours in the Light of Christ. In the early church, this was the traditional time for baptizing new Christians, symbolizing their passage from an old life of sin to new life in the Risen Christ.
The service begins in darkness with the kindling of new fire and the lighting and procession of the Paschal Candle. Chanting of Psalms and readings from scripture in candlelight recall God’s acts in history beginning at the creation. This is followed by the Litany of the Saints, Rites of Initiation, when members of the cathedral congregation and from around the Diocese of Pennsylvania are baptized, confirmed, received from another communion and reaffirming their baptismal vows. Then, with sudden bursts of light, shouts of “Alleluia,” bells, hymns and anthems, the Resurrection is proclaimed and the first Eucharist of Easter is celebrated.
APRIL 4 - EASTER DAY
6 AM - Sunrise Eucharist
9:30 AM - Lauds
10 AM - Festival Eucharist
11 Mar, 2010 — Daniel Tomko
