Thursday, April 13, 2006

Ancient Forms of Worship

Well, Holy Thursday is upon us.... Just a quick break of silence.

I don't know how widely-practiced it is anymore -- or how feasible it is places where parishes are few and far-between -- but just in case anyone hasn't heard of it and might be keen, one beautiful custom of this night passed down through the years is the tradition of traveling to several churches after the Evening Mass to keep vigil at the Repositories. Italians being Italians, the number of visits employed is either three or seven.

It isn't as easy as it used to be -- most churches used to stay open 'til midnight, but now they close at 10 or 10.30.... Still, it's a great experience to at least make the effort.

And tomorrow, Communione e Liberazione continues its annual custom of the large-scale public Way of the Cross in cities all around the world. The most prominent of these is, arguably, New York, where the procession crosses the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan and ends at Ground Zero.

As Cieline Stephen tells me, "Since its earliest days CL has taken particular care to mark Good Friday by organizing a beautiful, public Via Crucis in the cities were people of the Movement live. We do the Way of the Cross on the streets of major cities to say that the truth of Christ's death and resurrection is not a private matter of conscience; rather, it is the definitive event of history."

The CL Way of the Cross is taking place in 30 US cities tomorrow, and here's the list and logistics of each.

Lastly, a bit of news. As Archbishop Pietro Sambi settles into the apostolic nunciature in Washington, he finds himself in need of a new Consligliere, or chief deputy. The man who's held that post for the better part of a decade, 53 year-old Msgr. Leopoldo Girelli, was named this morning as apostolic nuncio in Indonesia. Sambi held the same post from 1991 to 1998.

All nuncios hold archepiscopal rank, and Archbishop-elect Girelli has been assigned to the titular see of Capri.

As we enter into the mystery of the Triduum, may its every blessing and grace be yours and with all your loved ones.

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