A Passion Sunday Thought to Start the Week Off Right
Today is the first Sunday in Passiontide, or Passion Sunday. At least that's true in the Church's traditional calendar. For the new (Novus Ordo) calendar, it's just the Fifth Sunday of Lent, with next week, which most of us would refer to as Palm Sunday, being called Passion Sunday. This is one of those calendar changes that never made any sense to me.
In the older form, right after our break on Laetare Sunday, we're drawn into a deeper, more intense recognition of the mystery of Our Lord's Passion a full two weeks before Easter. Just as those Sundays before Lent begins - Septuagesima, Sexagesima, Quinquagesima - found the priest cloaked in purple to remind us to prepare for our Lenten observances and discipline, so Passion Sunday calls us to prepare for Holy Week, the most important week of the Church's liturgical calendar. To visually remind us, statures in the old order were, and are where the Extraordinary Form is observed, covered in purple, except for the crucifix, drawing our attention to our great symbol of hope, the Body of Our Lord hanging on the Cross. Of course, it's not like the Novus Ordo also means to draw us into the coming events of Our Lord's Passion, Death and Resurrection. It's just that none of the liturgical practices that assisted us (and still assist us where observed today) are present.
Anyway, I don't want to get into a debate about which way - the older form, a/k/a Tridentine Rite, a/k/a Extraordinary form, or the Novus Ordo - but I do want to remind you who may have forgotten, or perhaps never knew, of how we observed (and in some cases still observe) these grace-filled days leading up to Easter. I want to remind you because those observances were so very effective in drawing us into Our Lord's Passion and Death, beginning with the priest's entrance during High Mass, as the choir sings the Introit (now called the "Entrance Antiphon"), Judica me.
This chant reminds us of our situation in this world, characterized in the great prayer, Salve Regina (Hail Holy Queen), as "this valley of tears." Indeed some Catholics - maybe most? - have chosen to ignore the reality of our situation on this earth. They've taken to the secular "delights" of the material world and put their Catholic Faith out to pasture. Perhaps this poignant chant for Passion Sunday will help them return to reality. Take a moment to listen. The words will scroll to the melody of the chant. It's a fitting meditation for this Passion Sunday.
Our Holy Faith should be the center of our lives, whether we attend the liturgies of the Extraordinary Form or the Novus Ordo. We have a unique opportunity to ask for the help we need to lead a holy life during these last grace-filled days of Lent.
In the older form, right after our break on Laetare Sunday, we're drawn into a deeper, more intense recognition of the mystery of Our Lord's Passion a full two weeks before Easter. Just as those Sundays before Lent begins - Septuagesima, Sexagesima, Quinquagesima - found the priest cloaked in purple to remind us to prepare for our Lenten observances and discipline, so Passion Sunday calls us to prepare for Holy Week, the most important week of the Church's liturgical calendar. To visually remind us, statures in the old order were, and are where the Extraordinary Form is observed, covered in purple, except for the crucifix, drawing our attention to our great symbol of hope, the Body of Our Lord hanging on the Cross. Of course, it's not like the Novus Ordo also means to draw us into the coming events of Our Lord's Passion, Death and Resurrection. It's just that none of the liturgical practices that assisted us (and still assist us where observed today) are present.
Anyway, I don't want to get into a debate about which way - the older form, a/k/a Tridentine Rite, a/k/a Extraordinary form, or the Novus Ordo - but I do want to remind you who may have forgotten, or perhaps never knew, of how we observed (and in some cases still observe) these grace-filled days leading up to Easter. I want to remind you because those observances were so very effective in drawing us into Our Lord's Passion and Death, beginning with the priest's entrance during High Mass, as the choir sings the Introit (now called the "Entrance Antiphon"), Judica me.
This chant reminds us of our situation in this world, characterized in the great prayer, Salve Regina (Hail Holy Queen), as "this valley of tears." Indeed some Catholics - maybe most? - have chosen to ignore the reality of our situation on this earth. They've taken to the secular "delights" of the material world and put their Catholic Faith out to pasture. Perhaps this poignant chant for Passion Sunday will help them return to reality. Take a moment to listen. The words will scroll to the melody of the chant. It's a fitting meditation for this Passion Sunday.
Our Holy Faith should be the center of our lives, whether we attend the liturgies of the Extraordinary Form or the Novus Ordo. We have a unique opportunity to ask for the help we need to lead a holy life during these last grace-filled days of Lent.
We adore Thee O Christ and we bless Thee,
because by They Holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
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