New England Province » Lent

Celebrating fraternity in our Greenpoint communities on Maundy Thursday, the Priests’ Day

Toma — Fri, 29 Mar 2024 21:00:16 +0000

[Newsletter No. 3/24] It was a blessed and joyous occasion to come together with our fellow priests from Greenpoint parishes on Maundy Thursday. The joint midday prayer at the Church of Saints Cyril and Methodius was a beautiful reminder of our unity and brotherhood in our calling.

The festive lunch celebrating Priests’ Day was a heartwarming gesture. The Superior of the House, Father Eugene Kotlinski, shared his kind words, Easter wishes, and blessings with us. Then greetings, wishes, and the Blessing from Superior General Father Tomaž Mavrič were conveyed by Father Rafal Kopystynski, Assistant General, who came from Rome to participate in the liturgies of Holy Week and to help the priests fulfill their liturgical and sacramental duties at St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish.

This story was first published in the Provincial's Newsletter March 2024
edition which you can find in our Library along with all previous Newsletters.

The Stations of the Cross on the streets of Brooklyn and other activities during the Lent

Toma — Wed, 27 Mar 2024 20:33:57 +0000

Among various pastoral activities held during the time of Lent the unique Way of the Cross along the streets of Greenpoint, Brooklyn, N.Y. was the most remarkable. The event was a testament to our community’s faith and unity. Read more in the story below.

[Newsletter No. 3/24] Lent, a time of dedicated services for priests in our Vincentian parishes, was marked by unique activities. The liturgical calendar was enriched with Lenten services and local traditions, creating a vibrant daily liturgical program. Notably, stations of the Cross services were held every Friday of Lent in both Polish and English across all four parishes. St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish in Brooklyn even had a special Stations of the Cross conducted in both languages for schoolchildren. The poignant Bitter Lamentations (Gorzkie Żale) were sung every Sunday, accompanied by adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Lenten retreats, led by Fr. Hipolit Brożek, a Bernardine Franciscan friar and exorcist from Poland, and our confrere Fr. Matthew Aneesh Chittadiyil, from CM India-South Province and currently a faculty member of St. John’s University, Queens, NY, were held in both Polish and English. St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish also hosted Lenten adorations, concerts of Lenten sacred music, and an exhibition of sacred art related to the passion and sufferings of Christ.

The unique Way of the Cross was held on the fifth Friday of Lent. For the first time, this celebration took place in 2018 (on the same route). Due to COVID-19 restrictions, it wasn’t possible to organize this activity in the following years until 2023 when people walked from St. Cyril & Methodius Church to St. Stanislaus Kostka Church.

This significant event was a testament to our community’s faith and unity. Commencing after the evening Mass at St. Stanislaus Kostka Church, the Stations saw a remarkable turnout. More than a thousand people united in their devotion, marching through Greenpoint’s streets to the Church of St. Cyril and Methodius, 1.5 miles away. The faithful, shouldering a giant wooden cross, paused to reflect on the Passion of Christ and sang penitential songs, creating a powerful and moving atmosphere.

Among the daily activities of priests in our parishes is the Sacrament of Penance. Many faithful make great use of this sacrament, coming to our churches even from very distant places. But during Lent, the number of those using the sacrament of reconciliation is always much higher. No wonder confession hours were extended each day, and in the second half of Lent, there were long lines for confessions despite the 3-to-4 priests present. It is worth being tired for such moments.

It should also be noted that throughout the Lent, donations were collected for the poor and needy in the area and for the needs of the poorest.

This story was first published in the Provincial's Newsletter March 2024
edition which you can find in our Library along with all previous Newsletters.

Message from the Provincial for the Lent 2024

Toma — Mon, 26 Feb 2024 21:32:06 +0000

In the message from the Provincial, F. Marek Sobczak for the Lent 2024 we can read: “Lent is, for us, such a reset to get rid of the devil’s presence in our lives. To get rid of our failures, weaknesses, wrongdoings, and shortcuts. It is a time to turn around and become holy as we were holy during our Baptism”.

[Newsletter No. 2/24] An Arab fable tells of a traveler startled by seeing a camel’s nose thrust in at the tent’s door where he was sleeping. “It’s frigid outside,” said the camel, “I only want to get my nose in.” The nose was allowed in, then the neck, and finally, the whole body.

Soon, the traveler began to be inconvenienced by such an ungainly companion in a room not large enough for both. “If you are inconvenienced,” said the camel, “you may leave; as for myself, I shall stay where I am.”

“Give but an inch,” says Anglican bishop Lancelot Andrews, “and the devil will take an ell; if he can get in an arm, he will makeshift to shove in his whole body.”

This happens in our lives much too often. In our busy lives, we compromise with the devil by allowing him to tempt us. And then we fall to the devil’s temptation quite often. And finally, we allow the evil spirit to enter our hearts and dwell within us. The Holy Time of Lent is an excellent opportunity to eliminate it.

How often did our cell phone or computer freeze, get stuck, or become unresponsive? What did we do in such a situation? We had to restart or even do the reset of the equipment to make it work again.

Lent is, for us, such a reset to get rid of the devil’s presence in our lives. To get rid of our failures, weaknesses, wrongdoings, and shortcuts. It is a time to turn around and become holy as we were holy during our Baptism.

You may find it hard to believe, but I remember that my grandmother did not eat meat, cold cuts, sweets, and cakes, nor drank milk, coffee, sodas, or alcohol throughout Lent. On the other hand, she prayed a lot and went to Church for Lenten services such as the Stations and Lamentations.

According to historical sources, many early Christians rejected the pleasures of this world, the comforts of life, or good food by fasting 290 days a year. Their goal was to live in God, to sacrifice themselves to increase God’s glory.

In the Old Testament Book of Daniel 9:3, we read: “So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, fasting and sackcloth and ashes.”

The author reminds us that Lent is a time of prayer, petition, fasting, and repentance. And the purpose of Lent is to get closer to God, who wants to be closer to us.

During Lent the Church tries to lead us to a metanoia or true “repentance” and renewal of life through fasting, prayer, almsgiving, self-control, and practice of the corporal and spiritual works of mercy.

The Superior General, Father Gregory Gay, in one of his letters writes: “The Church offers us a precious gift: the season of Lent. It is a sacred space, a time beckoning us to pause, draw back from life’s daily grind, and drink more deeply of Jesus’ story of our salvation: his life, passion, and resurrection. Simply put, Lent is a time of sabbatical for the soul.

As a people claimed by Christ and committed to the charism of St. Vincent de Paul, this holy season can help us better live out our Catholic faith and the Vincentian way. Like Vincent, our identity is rooted in Christ. These forty days of Lent are not only a time for prayer, penance, and almsgiving, but also for reflection, connection, and action”.

Referring again to modern achievements of technology in this digital age we may say that “We’re all connected” through all kinds of electronic media. How true it is. Our faith and charism challenge us to connect Jesus’ command to love God and serve our neighbor more profoundly. Lent calls us to examine the presence of the suffering Christ in the world more clearly so that we might understand their plight and be Christ to them.

Make your Lent a time for personal reflection on where you stand as a Vincentian in accepting the Gospel challenges in thought, word, and deed. Assess your relationships with the people you serve and the people who still wait for your help or services. Connect them with the love of God.

Examine whether you can make any positive contribution to other people’s lives.

Convert your Lent into a time for spiritual growth and Vincentian maturity.

Take up the fight daily against the evil within and around us, and never give up. Jesus has assured us that the Holy Spirit is with us, empowering us to achieve final victory through Jesus Christ.

In other words – get rid of your own evil and live in holiness of God’s love. This is what Lent is all about.

Marek Sobczak, C.M.

This story was first published in the Provincial's Newsletter February 2024 edition which you can find in our Library along with all previous Newsletters.

Superior General for Lent 2016: a time for fasting, a time for prayer

Toma — Wed, 10 Feb 2016 09:49:01 +0000

Father Gregory Gay is addressing Vincentian Family in his last Lenten Letter as Superior General of the Congregation of the Mission. He uses stories to help us reflect on Lent as a time for fasting and time for prayer telling stories from his personal journey and Jesus story. In all themes he invites us to writes new stories, our stories.

Rome, Lent 2016

My Dear Brothers and Sisters, Members of the Vincentian Family,

Lent: a time for Fasting

A Story: During a visit to Venezuela where I met with members of the various branches of the Vincentian Family, people spoke about the country’s social and economic crisis and its impact on everyday life. People have to wait in long lines to buy basic foodstuffs such as bread, milk, rice, beans, etc.; people have to wait in long lines to purchase soap, toothpaste, paper products; people have to wait in long lines to obtain medicine and medical supplies; people have to wait in long lines at bus stations because of reduced schedules resulting from fewer spare parts and no new tires for those vehicles used in public transportation; people have to wait in long lines in order to obtain travel visas and again they have to wait in even longer lines at airports. Waiting for hours, however, provides no guarantee that one will obtain the desired goods and provides no guarantee that one will not hear those dreaded words: we have run out of bread (or whatever one is looking for). That declaration means that one will have to wait until the following week since one can only become part of “long line” when the last number of one’s personal identity card corresponds to a specific day of the week. At the same time, however, people have spoken about positive effects of this crisis, pointing out the fact that the bonds of solidarity have been strengthened. One of our confreres stated that the present situation has led them to adopt a simpler lifestyle and has brought the community closer to the reality of the poor. This social, economic, and political situation and its negative and positive elements can be viewed as a movement from the cross (the crisis) to the resurrection (solidarity and greater identification with the situation of those who are poor).

A Jesus Story: And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us (John 1:14). God, all loving, all merciful, all compassionate, never abandoned humankind. In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways to our ancestors through the prophets; in these last days, he spoke to us through a son (Hebrews 1:1-2). Jesus mingled among the people who formed the long lines of outcasts, waiting and hoping to participate as active members of society. Jesus fed the multitudes and not only was no one turned away but baskets and baskets of leftovers were gathered up (Mark 6:34-44). Jesus extended unconditional forgiveness to sinners, seventy times seven (Matthew 18:22) and exhorted his followers to be as compassionate toward their brothers and sisters as God was compassionate toward them (Luke 6:36). As a result of the Incarnation, Jesus today can be found in all those long lines that are found in countless cities throughout the world, long lines of men and women who cry out every hour of every day, demanding to be included as equal members of society.

A New Story: Yes, Lent is a time for fasting, but during this Year of Mercy our fasting must take on a new form, one that leads to personal and community conversion. Our fast should mean that we can never be accused of passivity, indulgence or culpable complicity regarding the intolerable situations of injustice and the political regimes which prolong them (Evangelii Gaudium, #194). Our fasting must penetrate our very being, must pain us to the very depths so that we can hear and understand anew the cries of our brothers and sisters. Then, as we listen to those cries, let us run to serve them as if we were running to a fire [note]Vincent de Paul, Correspondence, Conferences, Documents, translated and edited by Jaqueline Kilar, DC; and Marie Poole, DC; et al; annotated by John W. Carven, CM; New City Press, Brooklyn and Hyde Park, 1985-2014; volume XI, p. 25; future references to this work will be inserted into the text using the initials [CCD] followed by the volume number, then the page number, for example, CCD:XI:25.[/note] . Let us remember, however, that as we establish relationships with those on the peripheries, we have to sympathize with them in order to suffer with them … we have to … make them [our hearts] sensitive to the sufferings and the miseries of our neighbor, and ask God to give us the true spirit of mercy, which is the characteristic spirit of God (CCD XI:308). May our fast during this Lenten season give us, members of the Vincentian Family, a new heart, a heart of flesh, a heart that enables us to establish ever stronger bonds with our lords and masters, with the countless men and women who are forgotten and abandoned throughout the world. May our Lenten fast reflect that same movement that our brothers and sisters in Venezuela experience, a movement from the cross (our own situation of crisis) to the resurrection (solidarity and greater identification with the situation of those who are poor).

Lent: a time for Prayer

A Story: Last month, on the Feast of the Epiphany, I traveled to Notre Dame de Prime-Combe, a shrine that is administered by the confreres from the Province of Toulouse and by a well-prepared lay pastoral team. At one time as many as 50,000 people would gather together to celebrate the feast. Today, perhaps 300 people come to commemorate the Feast of Our Lady, but each Sunday, whenever possible, a confrere celebrates the Eucharist there. I was deeply impressed by the simple faith of the some 50 members of the congregation who had gathered there to celebrate the Eucharist. They were, all of them, 60 years of age or older (no young people were present). Sharing life with this community of faith is a group of Benedictine monks who, since the 1990s, have lived in one of the buildings on the grounds of our property. This group of monks, however, is a very special community. Each member lives with some handicap. Yet, these men lead their lives in a joyful and simple manner and provide the surrounding community with a powerful example of the manner in which work and prayer can be interwoven with one another.

A Jesus Story: Jesus often withdrew from the crowds and from his disciples in order to spend some time in prayer. He told his followers: pray for those who persecute you (Matthew 5:44) and he himself prayed that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you (John 17:21). We are all familiar with the account of Jesus’ anguished prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:32-42). At the same time Jesus extoled the humble prayer of the tax collector: O God, be merciful to me a sinner and stated that it was the tax collector who went home justified because those who humble themselves will be exalted (Luke 18:9-14). Jesus also praised the generous offering of the poor widow who went up to Jerusalem to pray (Mark 12:43-44). Before he departed this world, Jesus left his followers the legacy of a prayer that combines two great desires centered on God, with three cries of petition centered on the urgent basic needs of humanity. Jesus tells the Father the two desires of his heart: hallowed be your name and your kingdom come. That is followed by the three cries of petition: give us bread, forgive our debts, and do not bring us to the time of trial [note]José Antonio Pagola, Jesus: An Historical Approximation, translated: Margaret Wilde, Convivium Press, Miami, 2014, p. 313-316. [/note] . As a result of the Incarnation, God understands our needs, understands that we are broken and wounded, and in the person of Jesus all those realities are raised up to the Father!

A New Story: Yes, Lent is a time for prayer, and our prayer, like our fasting, must also take on a new form during this Year of Mercy, one that leads to personal community conversion. Without prolonged moments of adoration, of prayerful encounter with the word, of sincere conversation with the Lord, our work easily becomes meaningless; we lose energy as a result of weariness and difficulties, and our fervour dies out. The Church urgently needs the deep breath of prayer (Evangelii Gaudium, #262). Our prayer and fasting give meaning to our ministry/service and our ministry/service gives meaning to our prayer and fasting. My hope is that during these 40 days of Lent we might take time not only to listen to the cries of the poor, not only to serve and minister on behalf of the poor, but to pray with the poor. Furthermore, are not all of us like the members of the Benedictine community at Notre Dame de Prime-Combe, that is, are we not in some way broken and in need of healing, in need of the prayers of others? Therefore, like the Benedictine monks, our “handicaps” should not prevent us from contributing to the building up of our community, the association, the Congregation.

Finally, what would it be like to ask people, as Pope Francis continually does, please pray for me? What would it be like to invite the poor into our homes to share with them a time of prayer? I would encourage you to do this and then during the Easter Season we could share with one another our experience of sharing prayer in such a manner with our lords and masters.

May our prayer and fasting enable us to die with Christ during this Lenten Season of 2016 so that we might rise with Christ on Easter Sunday and sing our song of Alleluia.

Your brother in Saint Vincent,

G. Gregory Gay, C.M.
Superior General

You may read and/or download the Lenten Letter
in one of eight languages clicking on these links or scanning codes

Lent 2015 – Letter of the Superior General

Toma — Wed, 18 Feb 2015 21:01:44 +0000

“My theme for this Lenten reflection centers on reconciliation, peace, and humility, which I chose after insights I gained in pastoral visits I made to apostolates of the Daughters of Charity in South Korea, Nagasaki, Japan, and Mauritania and Tunisia, Africa.” writes Rev. Gregory Gay, C.M., Superior General of the Congregation of the Mission in his Lenten Letter to the Vincentian Family worldwide.

Lent 2015: Walking the Way of Reconciliation, Peace, and Humility

Rome, 18 February 2015
Ash Wednesday

Scan the code to get eBook version of this letter.

My dear Brothers and Sisters of the Vincentian Family,

May the grace and peace of Our Lord Jesus Christ be forever in our hearts!

The season of Lent is a time ripe for reflection on the mysteries of our faith. Once again, we are invited join Jesus on his journey to Jerusalem, to accompany him to Calvary, to wait quietly at the Tomb, and to know the glory of his Resurrection, which he shares with us. The Gospel for Ash Wednesday reminds us that, underneath the rich outward symbols of this season of grace, Lent is an inward journey: “But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.” (Mt.6:6)

My theme for this Lenten reflection centers on reconciliation, peace, and humility, which I chose after insights I gained in pastoral visits I made to apostolates of the Daughters of Charity in South Korea, Nagasaki, Japan, and Mauritania and Tunisia, Africa. Amidst the worries, tensions, pains, and sufferings we experience for our world and in our own lives, Lent provides us with many occasions to enter the ‘inner room’ of the soul to encounter and embrace a concert of consolations that come to us through reconciliation, peace, and humility.

Reconciliation

When I visited the Daughters of Charity in South Korea, they brought me to “Reconciliation Park,” a strip of land between South and North Korea. Built after the Korean War in a collaborative effort between government and citizens, Koreans come there to reflect and pray for reconciliation on a peninsula made up of two nations, but one people who share the same history, language, and culture. The Daughters made our visit like a pilgrimage, as we walked slowly through the park, meditating and praying. This experience relates to Lent, which calls us to seek reconciliation in our own lives, starting with inner reconciliation, as we realize we are God’s beloved children. Only then can we reach out to our families, neighbors, religious communities, work, ministries, and associations we belong to with gestures of reconciliation. In doing so, we deepen our bonds as brothers and sisters of our Lord Jesus Christ.

When we allow this spirit of reconciliation to permeate our lives, we can identify with the Lenten story of the Prodigal in the Scriptures. We who were dead “come to life again”; we who were lost “are now found” by our Father who wants to “celebrate and rejoice” with us. (Lk 15:32) Saint Vincent de Paul, whose life was given over to bringing about reconciliation between peoples of all strata of society, said: “The blessing of peace and reconciliation…is something so great and pleasing to God that He says to each of us: “Inquire pacem et persequere eam.” (Search for peace and seek to attain it.) (CCD: Vol. I, Letter 150, p.214, 16 September 1633)

This Lent, let us we pray for reconciliation between nations (i.e., North and South Korea), regions, countries, and in our families and communities, so we may be people whose lives and actions mirror the reconciling love of Christ. Only through the person of Jesus can we truly achieve an authentic reconciliation with a lasting effect upon our Church and society.

Peace

A fruit of reconciliation is peace, which brings me to my second pilgrimage in Kobe, Japan, when visiting my Vincentian confreres and the Daughters of Charity. We went to Nagasaki, a city with the largest number of Catholics in Japan. As history records, Nagasaki endured the atomic bomb on August 9, 1945. After this horrific experience, Japan, along with people of good will, sought a visible way to promote peace amidst this tragedy. They constructed a “Peace Park” that we visited, one filled with symbols of peace donated by nations and people across the world.

The central symbol that caught my attention was the statue of a man, who sits with one arm outstretched, and the other arm raised to heaven, which is meant to be a call for peace. With one foot on the ground and the other crossed over his knee, it is meant to symbolize that seeking peace entails a need for contemplation (a crossed foot), and action (a foot on the ground). The outstretched hand also symbolizes the need for all people to be peacemakers, and the hand reaching upward points to the need for divine assistance in bringing about true works of peace.

The root of reconciliation is peace, necessary for each of us, and it begins in our hearts. Only then can it take root in our families, religious communities, neighbors, work, ministries, and the associations to which we belong. As a Vincentian Family, we must strive to cultivate peace and promote it in any way possible. Saint Vincent reminds us that, “Charity demands that we strive to sow peace where it does not exist.” (CCD: Vol. 5, Letter 2054, p.602, 23 April 1656).

This Lent provides an ideal time to pray for peace, as we live among a backdrop of constant threats of war, terrorism, and violence in our world. A movement toward reconciliation, whose fruit is peace, comes about in practicing the virtue of humility. I saw this virtue in action in a very powerful way during my visit to the Daughters of Charity in Mauritania and Tunisia.

Humility

To exercise their ministry of service to the poor in these countries, the Daughters of Charity must do so an unassuming, humble way. In Mauritania, which claims to be 100% Muslim, the Daughters work with religious communities of Christian descent which are not recognized as visible entities in that country. In these countries, the Daughters practice great humility, both as individuals and as a community, because they work in secular service associations that serve the poor. They are not in charge, and they must work with others who direct their activities.

To live and work in such an environment demands reconciliation and inner peace with one’s status in life. Most of all, it calls forth a real humility, a “kenosis” to empty oneself. To live in an environment where you are not recognized nor acknowledged is difficult. It is more challenging when there is not the ability to make a public witness to the Church or to our Vincentian charism.

In so doing, this exercise in the virtue of humility is possible only by a strong interior life of prayer and mutual support in community. Letting go of the human ego needs for control and to seek approval and recognition is never easy. The presence of the Daughters in the Province of North Africa is a quiet, but firm witness to the virtue of humility. It enables the continuance of our charism in serving the poor, especially those living on the margins. These are God’s and St. Vincent’s poor, the little ones whose personal dignity is often discounted and even negated.

Daughters of Charity and members of the Vincentian Family, serve in similar situations across the world today. In their humble, often hidden service, they become one with the poor by their intentional witness. Saint Vincent said that “Humility consists in emptying ourselves completely before God, overcoming ourselves in order to place God in our heart, not seeking the esteem and good opinion of others, and struggling constantly against any impulse of vanity…Humility causes us to empty ourselves of self so that God alone may be manifest, to whom glory may be given.” (CCD: Vol. 12 Letter 211, p. 247, 22 August 1659)

From my own experience, to work for reconciliation and gain peace in one’s heart, we must acquire and practice the virtue of humility. This is best done by examining oneself with total honesty and openness before God. It leads us to what Saint Paul called a ‘kenosis’, an emptying of oneself. Our model is Christ, who “although he was in the form of God, he did not deem equality with God something to be grasped at. Rather, he emptied himself, becoming a slave, coming in human likeness, and found human in appearance.” (Phil. 2:6-7) The humbling experience of ‘emptying oneself’ in the Christian life is not only an individual endeavor, but a core part of our identity as Church. Lent calls us to personal and communal conversion of heart.

A heart filled with mercy

Pope Francis’ 2015 Lenten Letter is titled “Make your hearts firm” (Jas.5:8), a fitting theme for our reflection. Only by practicing humility, peace, and reconciliation can our hearts become firm and be grounded in the mercy and love of Christ. Lent is the time to seek interior renewal in prayer, immersion in Scripture, the daily Eucharist, and living our Vincentian charism of service of the poor. All this calls for a firm heart. Listen to these words of our Holy Father:

“A merciful heart does not mean a weak heart. Anyone who wishes to be merciful must have a strong, steadfast heart closed to the tempter, but open to God. A heart that lets itself be pierced by the Spirit, to bring love along the roads that lead to our brothers and sisters. And ultimately, a poor heart, one that realizes its own poverty and gives itself freely for others. During this Lent, brothers and sisters, let us all ask the Lord, “Fac cor nostrum secundum cor tuum- Make our hearts like yours.” (Message of His Holiness, Pope Francis for Lent, 2015, p.3)

May this Lent help us grow in love of Christ and our Vincentian charism, as we walk the way of reconciliation and take the path of peace, with “humbled and contrite hearts.” (Ps. 51:19)

Your brother in Saint Vincent,
G. Gregory Gay, C.M.
Superior General

HOLY SATURDAY – liturgical norms for celebrations

Toma — Sat, 19 Apr 2014 10:00:33 +0000

Liturgical norms for Holy Saturday celebrations (during the day) according to ORDO – Liturgical calendar for the Vincentian Family.

LITURGY OF THE DAY
The Liturgy of the Hours is celebrated with the special features indicated in the Proper of Time.

It is highly appropriate that the Office of Readings and Lands be celebrated in solemn fashion with the people
(IH, 210).

Compline as after Second Vespers of Sunday. However, it is omitted by those who are present at the Easter Vigil.

Liturgical color: purple

1. On Holy Saturday the Church waits at the Lord’s tomb, in prayer and fasting, meditating upon his Passion, Death and Descent into Hell, and awaiting his Resurrection

2. If it is not possible to celebrate the Office of Readings and Lauds with the people’s participation, there should he a celebration of the Word of God or some devotional exercise appropriate to today’s mystery, especially one that honors the Blessed Virgin Mary for her sharing in Passion of her Son.

3. An image of Christ crucified or laid in the tomb may be set up in the church for the veneration of the faithful, or else a portrayal of his descent into Hell, such as casts light upon the mystery commemorated by Holy Saturday, or else an image of Our Lady of Sorrows.

4. Today the Church abstains completely from the celebration of the Eucharist. Holy Communion may only be given in the form of viaticurn. There should be no celebration of Matrimony nor of the other sacraments, except for Penance and the Anointing of the Sick.

5. The faithful should be instructed concerning the special character of the day. Festive practices linked to the former anticipated celebration of Easter on Holy Saturday should be restricted to Easter Night and Easter Sunday itself.

Vew another post to read Liturgical norms for EASTER VIGIL and EASTER DAY

For more information visit this page:
ORDO – Liturgical Calendar of the Vincentian Family
or scan one of the codes in the image