In the days leading up to Easter, Catholics throughout the Archdiocese of Baltimore will have the opportunity to participate in special Holy Week liturgies that celebrate the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.
“Any time is a good time to be with Jesus,” Archbishop William E. Lori said, “but no week is as full of grace as Holy Week for then it is that we retrace most solemnly the steps of Jesus by which he led us out of the exile of sin and death into the new freedom of his Father’s grace and glory.”
On Monday, March 26, Archbishop Lori will celebrate the annual Chrism Mass at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Homeland beginning at 7:30 p.m.
During the liturgy, priests from throughout the archdiocese will publicly renew their vows. The archbishop will bless the oils of catechumens and the oils of the sick. He will also consecrate Holy Chrism, a mixture of olive oil and balsam fragrance, that will be used to anoint the newly baptized, to seal candidates for confirmation and anoint the hands of priests and the heads of bishops at their ordination in the coming year.
The Easter Triduum begins on Holy Thursday, March 29, with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper. The liturgy commemorates the institution of the sacraments of the Eucharist and Holy Orders. Archbishop Lori will celebrate a 7:30 p.m. Mass at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen.
Many parishes will offer Stations of the Cross on Good Friday, March 30. At the National Shrine of St. Alphonsus Ligouri in downtown Baltimore, Archbishop Lori will lead the Stations of the Cross during a prayer walk to a Planned Parenthood facility on Howard Street. Participants will pray the rosary outside the building and the chaplet of Divine Mercy on the walk back to St. Alphonsus.
That afternoon, the archbishop will participate in a 3 p.m. service at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen, commemorating the passion and death of Christ.
The archbishop will celebrate the 8 p.m. Easter Vigil Mass March 31 at the cathedral and an Easter Sunday Mass at 10:45 a.m. at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore.
For Holy Week activities at your parish, click here or contact your parish.
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