Holy Week 2015 at Holy Innocents Church – a Report

By Eddy Toribio

HOLY WEEK has some of the more complex and most beautiful rites and ceremonies (as well as some of the most ancient practices) in the Catholic Church. It is a week unlike any other week in the liturgical year, which brings to mind in a more vivid, more solemn, and deeper sense the Passion of Jesus Christ.

Every year, people (Priests, servers, singers, congregants) are very moved, impressed, and fascinated by these beautiful and impressive ceremonies, as well as by the beautiful music and vestments. Thanks to the exceptional dedication of the servers, the singers, and the faithful parishioners at Holy Innocents, this year (2015) was not an exception to this.

Below you will find a short summary and several photos of the celebration of Holy Week (according to the 1962 liturgical books) and of the festive reception after the Easter Vigil.

Palm Sunday – 230 people were in attendance.

Traditional palms were used to adorn the High Altar and the Sanctuary was very beautifully decorated for such a solemn remembrance of the entrance of Christ into the Holy City of Jerusalem. The Passion was finely sung by Fr. Leonard Villa (the crowd parts was the setting by Tomás Luís de Victoria)

For this Sunday, 230 people were present at Holy Innocents to sing with the choir the magnificent hymns during the procession with the blessed Palms. The musical setting for this day’s Mass was Missa Æterna Christi munera by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina.

Holy Monday

A great number of penitents came to Holy Innocents in order to prepare themselves, through the Sacrament of Confession from 3PM through 9PM, for Holy Week. Three Priests made themselves available for Confession for 6 hours.

Holy Thursday – 300 people were in attendance.

Three hundred  people attended the traditional solemn Mass at Holy Innocents at 7:30PM to be part of Maundy Thursday, and thereby commemorate the Lord’s Supper in a very special way. Splendid Vestments were used (see pictures below) and the music was very beautiful (Messa a quattro voci a cappella by Giovanni Grossi). The entire congregation sang the Pange lingua in a very remarkable way.

Tenebrae – 95 people were in attendance.

After the Solemn Mass, 95 people stayed to keep watch before the Altar of Repose. At 10:30PM, we had Tenebrae of Good Friday. The Lamentations, the Responsories, the Psalms, and the Lessons were superbly sung.

Many people were inspired by the beauty of the music and the meaning of the ceremonies: the darkness in the church, the putting out of the candles, the noise, the use of the hearse (triangular candlestick), the use of yellow candles, etc.

Good Friday – 400 people were in attendance for the Liturgy and 215 for the Seven Last Words.

Seven Last Words: This was the first year Holy Innocents had the Seven Last Words. Fr. Leonard Villa, Fr. Bob Brisson, and Fr. Roger Landry gave the meditations for the Seven Last Words. Vox in Rama (the volunteer choir at Holy Innocents) devoutly sang the setting Les sept paroles de N. S. Jésus-Christ sur la croix by Charles Gounod.

Two hundred and fifteen (215) people attended this service and meditated, guided by the three priests, on the very seven last words Jesus spoke before expiring on the Cross.

Liturgy: For the Good Friday Liturgy, 400 people were present at Holy Innocents. The church felt very crowded and the balconies (seating upstairs) were used. All these faithful parishioners took part in the solemn veneration of the Cross. It was a very touching experience (as many parishioners later mentioned) … and it took a very long time! Three priests were needed to distribute Holy Communion.

The music for this Liturgy included beautiful Gregorian chant, as well as settings by Tomás Luís de Victoria (Reproaches), Guillaume-Gabriel Nivers (Crux fidelis), Juan Francés de Iribarren, Giacomo Antonio Perti (motet), Tomás Luís de Victoria (motet), Thomas Tallis (motet), and the crowd parts of the Passion by Francisco Guerrero. Fr. Leonard Villa and Fr. Louis Van Thanh sang the Passion very skillfully.

Holy Saturday (Easter Vigil) – 200 in attendance.

For the most solemn, as well as the mother, of all vigils, there were 200 people at 9PM at Holy Innocents. The vigil went for 2 hours and 50 minutes. The Celebrant wore a beautiful gold set of vestments, Relics and flowers were placed on the High Altar, and the best of everything was used for such a magnificent occasion. Fr. Leonard Villa sang the Exultet. The musical setting for the Mass was Missa Regina Coeli by Palestrina, and there were other pieces and motets by Palestrina, Orlando di Lasso, and Thomas Tallis.

After the Easter Vigil was over, the very festive reception (for which Holy Innocents is well-known) took place. Many parishioners brought different types of dishes and sweets to celebrate Easter in a very solemn and Catholic way.

Easter Sunday – 250 in attendance.

Despite the fact that many of the parishioners attended the Easter Vigil and stayed until late for the festive reception, many of them came back for the Easter day Mass. Two hundred and fifty (250) people were in attendance to continue the Easter celebration at the 10:30AM sung Mass.

The Altar was festively decorated as the night before, the musical setting was the same, but with motets by Giovanni Matteo Asola and by Palestrina. The beautiful Easter Sequence was Gregorian Chant alternated with polyphony by Lorenzo Calvi. After the Mass, there was a Coffee Hour, as is the Sunday tradition of the traditional community at Holy Innocents.

(For Photos of Holy Week at Holy Innocents parish see our reports on Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, and Good Friday.)

(Above) The festive reception after the Easter Vigil!