- Holy Week
April 17 - Holy Thursday, 6:30pm at St. Joseph Church
April 18 - Good Friday, 3:00pm at St. Joseph Church, 6:00pm Stations of the Cross at Sacred Heart Church
April 19 - Holy Saturday, 8:00pm at St. Mary Church
April 20 - Easter Sunday - 7:30am St. Joseph Church, 9:15am Sacred Heart Church, 11:00am St. Pius V Church
From the Desk of Father John
Lenten Pilgrimage: Holy Week 2025
In 2025, a Jubilee Year a special time of grace and renewal, with the theme "Pilgrims of Hope," Holy Week celebrations, culminating in Easter, will hold special significance, encouraging Catholics to deepen their faith through pilgrimage, prayer, and acts of mercy, particularly in Holy Family Catholic Community. Our season of repentance is about to come to an end and our highest holy days are just ahead of us—Easter Triduum of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday! These days highlight that it’s in this week that we celebrate our salvation in the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus. It’s a shame that so many Catholics go through their whole lives without ever (or only rarely) participating in the most solemn and beautiful rites the Church celebrates. The honor of your presence is requested this week, the holiest of weeks, to join other parishioners and friends for Palm Sunday and the Triduum! Palm Sunday marks the start of Holy Week (April 12/13); Palm Sunday recalls the triumphant entry of Christ into Jerusalem with the residents greeting him with palm and shouts of "Hosanna! (Save us!)" Christians carry branches as a sign of the royal triumph that Christ won by His acceptance of the cross. The priest will wear a red chasuble the color of blood to symbolize the supreme sacrifice of Christ for mankind. The complete narrative of the Lord's Passion will be read during Mass "as a reminder of the total obedience of Christ to the will of the Father which, through His Holy Cross, brought salvation to the world.
Each year in Holy Week, the bishop of a diocese blesses and consecrates the holy oils to be used at Easter and through the coming year in local parishes. This will happen at the Chrism Mass at the Cathedral in Rochester celebrated by our shepherd, Bishop Salvatore Matano on Tuesday, April 15, 2025, @ 6:00 p.m. at Sacred Heart Cathedral. Here the bishop blesses three oils — the oil of catechumens, which is used in baptism, the oil of the infirmed, which is used for the anointing of the sick, and holy chrism, which is used for baptisms, confirmation, and ordinations. Also, at this Mass the priests renew their priestly commitments in service to the people of God. Everyone is welcome.
On Holy Thursday, April 17th the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper with the Washing of Feet and procession with the Eucharist will be celebrated at 6.30 PM at St. Joseph Church, Wayland. The words of the priest that “This is my Body” and “This is my Blood” have a special significance on this anniversary of Christ’s gift of the Eucharist “This Mass is, first of all, the memorial of the institution of the Eucharist . . . (It) is also the memorial of the institution of the Priesthood, by which Christ’s mission and sacrifice are perpetuated in the world. The traditional English name for Holy Thursday, "Maundy Thursday", comes from the Latin phrase Mandatum novum – "a new command" (or mandate) – which comes from Christ’s words: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another" (Jn 13:34). "Repeating this gesture of washing the feet in the liturgy, we are also called to actively bear witness to our Redeemer's love.” The church will remain open until 11.00 PM for anyone who wishes to come and pray before the Blessed Sacrament reserved on the repository shrine! It was after the Last Supper that Jesus asked His disciples to pray with Him in the Garden of Gethsemane. He extends that same invitation to us! Let us not have the Lord say to us as He said to the Apostles: “So you could not stay awake with me for even an hour?” (Matthew 26:40).
On Good Friday, 12.00 PM April 18th the day begins with the Ecumenical Cross Walk (Stations of the Cross) led by our own, Mr. John Landino, from Wayland Town Hall to Calvary Hill (Selbig Hill). To continue our Catholic Triduum, we will have the Celebration of the Lord’s Passion at 3.00 PM, St. Joseph’s Church, Wayland. A heavy silence envelope the church on Good Friday as we gather, not to celebrate the Eucharist, but to commemorate the death of Jesus. It begins with the priest lying prostrate before the altar as everyone kneels in solemn quiet prayer. In spirit we all lie down prostrate before the Lord who suffers so terribly for us. The large wooden cross is solemnly brought in as a vivid reminder of Christ’s Walk to Calvary. We come forward to touch or kiss the cross, the instrument of our salvation. The altar cloths are stripped, and we leave in silence, mindful of the price Christ paid for our freedom from sin. It is always a moment of grace to see young and old alike come forward at this time to venerate. We invite everybody including children to bow, genuflect, touch, kiss or embrace the Cross. On this day we also take Pontifical collection to the support the Christians in Holy Land especially in maintaining the Holy Shrines. At 6.00 PM we shall observe the Stations of the Cross, at Sacred Heart Church, Perkinsville. It is a time to reflect on sacrifice and redemption, central themes of the Jubilee.
On Saturday night, April 19th at 8.00 PM at St. Mary’s Dansville; we shall celebrate the Easter Vigil which begin by gathering in the darkness outside before a lighted Fire! The church is in total darkness as the priest blesses a new fire: "Make this new fire holy, and inflame us with new hope…" The tall Easter Candle is marked with the sign of the cross and the wounds of Jesus. The Candle is lit, and the Priest (Deacon) carries it into the church and proclaims for all of us to hear: "Christ our light." The only light in the darkness is this, Easter Candle. In this symbolic way we are reminded of Christ as the only light in the darkness of sin and the darkness of the tomb. He comes to bring us true light: the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. This is followed by a candlelit proclamation of the Easter Exsultet. A series of vigil readings and sung responses will trace our salvation history right up to the gospel account of the Resurrection. And during this solemn Easter Vigil, "mother of all vigils", the Good Friday silence is broken by the singing of the Alleluia which announces Christ's Resurrection and proclaims the victory of light over darkness, of life over death.
On Easter Sunday, April 20th Masses will be celebrated as usual: 7.30 AM, St Joseph; 9.15 AM, Sacred Heart; and 11.00 AM, St. Pius. I hope that many people will join us for this wonderful celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Those who engage themselves wholeheartedly in living the entire paschal cycle (Lent, Triduum and Easter's Fifty Days) discover that it can change them forever. This is especially so of the Triduum which, standing at the heart of the Easter season, is an intense immersion in the fundamental mystery of what it is to be Christian. Easter celebration is a powerful renewal of the promise of new life that we were given at our Baptism. Enter into this mystery of God’s love for us and be renewed in spirit. Christ is risen, Alleluia, Alleluia! Peace and hope in Jesus Christ, Fr. John