Lent, which began with Ash Wednesday, ends with Holy Thursday. The evening Mass in Coena Domini marks the beginning of the Easter Triduum, that is, the three days in which the Passion, Death and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ are commemorated. The fulcrum is reached in the solemn Easter Vigil and the conclusion takes place with the Second Vespers of the Easter Sunday of Resurrection. According to tradition, representatives of the Tuscia and Sabina Delegation participated in the celebrations of Holy Thursday on 28 March 2024 in Viterbo and Good Friday on 29 March 2024 in Caprarola.

Crucifixion

“Before the feast of Easter, Jesus, knowing that His hour had come to pass from this world to the Father, after having loved His own who were in the world, loved them to the end” (Jn 13:1).

From a liturgical point of view, the Easter Triduum is a single celebration:

In the Mass in Coena Domini there is no farewell, but the assembly dissolves in silence.

On Good Friday the celebration begins in silence, without introductory rites, and ends without blessing and without farewell, in silence.

The Easter Vigil begins with the skylight, without the sign of the cross and without greeting, and only at the end is there the final blessing and farewell.

Holy Thursday in Viterbo

A representation of the Tuscia and Sabina Delegation of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George, led by the Delegate, Nob. Attorney Roberto Saccarello, Knight Grand Cross of Jure Sanginis with Gold Star, on Holy Thursday 28 March 2024 at 6.30 pm took part in the solemn celebration of the Mass in Coena Domini in the Church of the Trinity-Santuario Maria Santissima Liberatrice, as the Church celebrated the institution of the Holy Eucharist and the Priesthood.

As has happened every year, together with other members belonging to the parish community, two Constantinian Knights were chosen for the washing of the feet.

Afterwards, Constantinian Knights took part in the procession with which the Eucharistic bread was brought to the richly decorated altar of reposition. Then, at 9.00 pm some Knights also participated in the Eucharistic adoration organized by the Augustinian Community of Viterbo.

Good Friday in Caprarola

On Good Friday the Church celebrates the salvific Death of Christ. In the afternoon liturgy the Church meditates on the Passion of her Lord, intercedes for the salvation of the world, adores the Cross and commemorates her origin from the side of the savior (Cf. Jn 19.34). Among the manifestations of popular piety on Good Friday, in addition to the Way of the Cross, the “Procession of the Dead Christ” stands out. It commemorates, in the forms typical of popular piety, the small procession of friends and disciples who, after having received the body of Jesus from the Cross, take it to the place where the “tomb dug into the rock was, in which no one had yet been placed”. ” (Lk 23,53b).

In accordance with tradition, at the invitation of the Diocese of Civita Castellana, and also in the light of the historical ties of Caprarola with the Royal House of the Two Sicilies, through the Farnesian succession, on Good Friday 29 March 2024 a representation of the Delegation of Tuscia and Sabina took part in the Procession of the Dead Christ. The Constantinian Knights provided an escort to the simulacra of Jesus taken down from the Cross and Our Lady of Sorrows, and followed the pious devotion of the Way of the Cross.

The Procession of the Dead Christ in the ancient districts under the imposing silhouette of Palazzo Farnese, watching over the town of Cimini as always, takes place in an atmosphere of austerity, silence and prayer. The celebration is well attended by all the Caprolatti people, who perceive the many meanings of this manifestation of popular piety, which thus represents a worthy culmination of the liturgical celebrations of Good Friday.

At the end of the religious procession, after having greeted the Parish Priest Father Camillo Ricci and Mayor Angelo Borgna in the cathedral (which is dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel), who expressed their thanks and appreciation for the presence of the Constantinian Knights, the Delegate for Tuscia and Sabina donated an offering to the parish for needy families.

On the occasion of the Easter Triduum, the Tuscia and Sabina Delegation of the Constantinian Order donated the Easter candle, adorned with the Constantinian Cross and created by the Benedictines of the Monastery of San Pietro in Montefiascone.

Holy Thursday and Good Friday

in the Easter Triduum

 

Holy Thursday

The first day of the Easter Triduum is reserved for two distinct liturgical celebrations:

The Holy Morning Chrism Mass. On the morning of Holy Thursday, the bishop with a solemn ceremony in the cathedral consecrates the sacred chrism, that is, the blessed oil to be used throughout the following year for Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Orders, the Anointing of the Sick and to anoint the Catechumens. All the priests and deacons of the diocese participate in this ceremony, gathering around their bishop, as a visible confirmation of the Church and the priesthood founded by Christ, preparing to participate in their individual churches and parishes, with the celebration of the last stages of the life of Jesus: the Passion, Death and Resurrection.

The evening mass in Coena Domini. In the late afternoon of Holy Thursday, the Mass in Coena Domini (the Lord’s Supper) is celebrated in all churches. This is the commemoration of the Last Supper – depicted by entire generations of artists – which Jesus held together with his apostles before his arrest and death sentence.

All four Gospels report that, as the Feast of Unleavened Bread, that is to say, the Jewish Passover, approached, Jesus sent some disciples to prepare the table for the ritual dinner in the house of one of their followers. Passover is the most solemn Jewish holiday and is celebrated with a precise ritual, which recalls the wonders performed by God in the liberation of the Jews from Egyptian slavery (Exodus 12). Its celebration lasts from the 14th to the 21st of the month of Nisan (March-April).

On that night, the lamb, previously slaughtered, is consumed during a meal (the Passover meal) as to which every gesture is established; in this period one is allowed to eat only unleavened bread, in Greek azymos, hence the term “Unleavened Bread.” Jesus and the Apostles did not only eat according to tradition, but for the last time Jesus had with him all the twelve disciples he had chosen and he gave them a speech where farewell, promise and consecration are intertwined.

The episode of the washing of the feet, a symbol of hospitality, is told in chapter 13 of the Gospel of John. Jesus, writes the evangelist, “having loved His own who were in the world, loved them to the end,” and while the devil had already put the intention of betraying Him in the heart of Judas Iscariot, Jesus got up from the table, took off his cloak and taking a towel he wrapped it around his waist, poured some water into the basin and with an unprecedented gesture, because washing feet was reserved to slaves and servants, he began to wash the feet of the Apostles, then dried them with the towel he had girded.

It must be understood that at that time people walked on dusty and muddy roads, perhaps fouled with animal excrement, which made their feet, fitted only with sandals, in an imaginable condition at the end of the day. The washing of the feet was a characteristic of hospitality in the ancient world, it was a duty of the slave towards the master, of the wife towards the husband, of the son towards the father and was carried out with a special basin and with a “lention” (dryer) which eventually became a sort of uniform for those who served at the table.

When it was Simon Peter’s turn, he opposed Jesus’s gesture: “Lord, will you wash my feet?” and Jesus replied: “What I do, you do not understand now, but you will understand later.” Then Peter, who did not understand the symbolism and example of this act, insisted: “You will never wash my feet.” Then Jesus replied again: “If I do not wash you, you will have inheritance from me” and then Peter with his usual impulsiveness replied: “Lord, not only the feet, but also the hands and the head!”

This washing is one of the greatest lessons that Jesus gives to his disciples, because they will have to follow him on the path of total generosity in giving of themselves, not only towards the usual, hitherto pre-eminent figures of like the husband or the father, but also towards all brothers in humanity, even if considered inferior to themselves.

After the washing of the feet, Jesus dressed and returned to sit among the twelve apostles and began a highly suggestive conversation with them, mentioning several times the betrayal that will occur on the part of one of them, causing a veil of sadness and disbelief to descend upon that convivial ritual. “Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me,” says Jesus, to which the apostles react with dismay and in various tones ask him who he was. John himself, the beloved disciple, resting his head on his chest, in a gesture of confidence, asked: “Lord, who is he?”. And Jesus, moved, replied: “He is the one for whom I will dip a morsel and give it to him” and having dipped a morsel he handed it to Judas Iscariot, telling him: “What you have to do, do as quickly as possible”, to the amazement of the disciples who continued not to understand, while Judas, having taken the morsel, got up and went out into the darkness of the night.

The liturgical rites of Holy Thursday, the day in which the Church celebrates not only the institution of the Eucharist, but also that of Holy Orders, that is, the Christian priesthood, end after the Mass in Coena Domini with the reposition of the Eucharist in a chapel at the side of the churches, festively decorated to commemorate the institution of the Blessed Sacrament. The chapel is a destination for devotion and adoration, for the remaining evening and for the whole of the following day, until the afternoon rites of Good Friday begin. All the rest of the church is darkened, as a sign of pain because the Passion of Jesus has begun; the bells fall silent, the altar becomes unadorned, the tabernacle empty with the small door open, the Crucifixes covered.

Good Friday

On the second day of the Easter Triduum, the Church celebrates the crucifixion and death of Jesus. It is a day of fasting and abstinence from meat. The Eucharist is not celebrated and the only liturgical action that takes place is the Passion of the Lord, composed of the Liturgy of the Word, the Adoration of the Cross and the Rites of Communion.

On the morning of Good Friday, Eucharistic adoration continues, albeit without solemnity, at the altar of the Reposition, set up after the evening Mass of the Supper of the Lord on Holy Thursday. In many cathedrals and churches, the Office of Readings and Morning Prayer are celebrated as a community.

In the afternoon of Good Friday, the liturgical action of the Passion of the Lord takes place, which has very ancient origins (from the 7th century, and is also present in the Byzantine rite, as one of the three types of Divine Liturgy) and is divided into three parts:

The liturgy of the word. First reading: Fourth Canto of the Servant of the Lord (Isaiah 52.13-53.12). Second reading: Christ’s salvation through the painful obedience of the Passion (Hebrews 4,14-16; 5,7-9). Gospel: the Passion according to John (Jn 18.1-19.42). The great universal prayer follows, in which we pray solemnly for the needs of the Church and the world.

The adoration of the Holy Cross. The Crucifix is ​​solemnly carried on a cushion towards the main altar. Three times the Cross is raised, while the antiphon Ecce lignum Crucis in quo salus mundi pependit (Behold the wood of the cross, on which the savior of the world was hung) is sung and three times everyone kneels before it in adoration . Once again the Cross, after being placed on the steps of the altar, is adored with three genuflections and with a kiss of veneration to the Crucifix.

Communion with the Eucharistic species. They were consecrated on Holy Thursday, because Good Friday is the only day in the liturgical year when Holy Mass is not celebrated.

The announcement of the death of the Lord, the great universal prayer and the adoration of the Holy Cross create a strong ritual continuity between the profession of faith of the Roman centurion (see Mt 27.54) and the adoration of the faithful. Two very significant passages of the proclamation of the Word deserve to be highlighted: the first and second reading of the beginning of Vespers (Is 49.24-50.10 and Is 52.13-53.12), as prophetic predictions of the Passion of Jesus.