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    Holy Thursday Foot Washing

    Tuesday, April 3rd, 2012

    Issue: May women and children lawfully participate in the Holy Thursday foot-washing ritual? Can this ritual be lawfully replaced with a hand-washing or hand-anointing, or any other ritual? Response: The Church’s current guidelines clearly prescribe that only men may have their feet washed in the Holy Thursday, foot-washing ritual. While the ritual is optional, current [...]

    Pray the Way of the Cross with Pope Benedict

    Friday, April 10th, 2009

    On the Vatican website, you’ll find the Way of the Cross meditations and prayers that will be used for today’s Way of the Cross at the Colosseum, let by the Holy Father. (They were written, at the Pope’s request, by Most Rev. Thomas Menamparampil, S.B.D., the Archbishop of Guwahati, India.) Click on the images next [...]

    Pope Benedict’s Holy Thursday Homily

    Thursday, April 9th, 2009

    Courtesy of Whispers in the Loggia. Just a snippet: Having given thanks and praise, the Lord then breaks the bread and gives it to the disciples. Breaking the bread is the act of the father of the family who looks after his children and gives them what they need for life. But it is also [...]

    Holy Thursday’s Coming…

    Monday, April 6th, 2009

    and with that, we tend to get a lot of questions on the foot-washing rite at Mass. Here are a couple pertinent links:  The Washing of Feet on Holy Thursday (CUF Faith Fact) Choosing the Twelve, Again (CUF Blog) And a few other items for your Holy Week consideration: Christ the Obedient Son: Lessons from [...]

    He Descended into Hell

    Saturday, March 22nd, 2008

    Our Lord’s descent into hell, under whose aegis Holy Saturday stands liturgically in the Church’s year, is an article of faith that is of particular significance to modern man. On Good Friday we contemplate Christ on the Cross, and on Easter Sunday we celebrate Christ’s Resurrection. In the interim, on Holy Saturday, the words of [...]

    Another Prayer for the Jews

    Friday, March 21st, 2008

    Much has been written in recent weeks concerning the revised prayer for the conversion of the Jews that Pope Benedict XVI wrote for the Good Friday service. The revised prayer, of course, is for the extraordinary form of the Latin liturgy, but a similarly worded prayer has been in effect in the ordinary, so-called ”Novus Ordo” form [...]

    Sheep and Goats

    Thursday, March 20th, 2008

    In recent years I’ve spilled perhaps an inordinate amount of ink on the Holy Thursday foot-washing rite, which surely has been the cause of some controversy in recent years. At the same time, though, the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper has never ceased to be one of my favorite liturgies of the year, [...]

    Merry Chrism Mass!

    Monday, March 17th, 2008

    On Holy Thursday, or more likely one day earlier this week, the bishop of each respective Catholic diocese throughout the world, in the company of his priests, will celebrate the Chrism Mass. This Mass typically takes place at the cathedral or some other central location that will accommodate a large number of concelebrants. At this Mass, the bishop blesses [...]

    Choosing the Twelve, Again

    Tuesday, March 11th, 2008

    The drama of Our Lord’s passion, death, and resurrection comes alive to us through the magnificent Holy Week liturgies. One unique element, not done at any other time of the year, is the washing of feet on Holy Thursday. The foot-washing rite calls to mind the episode during the Last Supper in which Our Lord, [...]

    Prayer for the Jews

    Thursday, February 7th, 2008

    When Pope Benedict XVI issued his motu proprio allowing for a broader use of the “extraordinary form” of the Latin liturgy, one concern that was raised was the prayer for the Jews in the Good Friday service. The concern was twofold. First, the language of the Tridentine liturgy referred to the blindness and faithlessness of [...]