I’m not trying to rush us through these last weeks of Lent. But, let’s take a look at these days—including a glance at some additions and tweaks to Holy Week.

Passiontide. We seem to have forgotten this word, but the scriptures and prayers of the final two weeks of Lent continue to focus on the Lord’s approach to his Passion. With that in mind, we offer Tenebrae this Sunday (March 17) afternoon at 4 pm at St Boniface: A Liturgy of scripture and song that draws us into the darkness of these days, a darkness that ultimately leads to the bright light of Easter.

A Holy Week Addition. Holy Week, especially the last three days—the Paschal Triduum, calls us to prayer over and over again! This year we’ve added three celebrations of Morning Prayer (called in Latin Lauds) to Thursday, Friday, and Saturday—each at 8:30 am at St Lawrence. These liturgies run for about half an hour. They’re made up largely of psalms and scriptural canticles. Seminarian Andrew McCarroll will offer a reflection. Join us as we open each of these holy days in God’s praise.

And the Holy Thursday tweak. Mass will be the same as usual—7 pm at St Boniface. The tweak comes at the end of Mass. We’re moving the Altar of Repose out of the lounge (where the lavatories are located— important to people on their Holy Thursday pilgrimage, distracting to folks trying to pray!) into the Narthex, in front of the icon of the Virgin and the votive candles. That means we need to leave Mass quietly that night! That night’s Mass, after all, doesn’t end with any “Go in peace.” It ends with the silent stripping of altars and the silence of our adoration.