This blog focuses on the Liturgy of Good Friday and Holy Saturday.
He hangs on the cross of Calvary in excruciating agony to atone for all the sins, past, present and future of mankind. With this painful image, how can one not take sin seriously? It is obvious that God has a different viewpoint!
Perhaps we ought to ask Blessed Mary, given to us by her Divine Son on Good Friday and the only person totally faithful to Jesus throughout His earthly life, to direct our prayers to a greater understanding of His Passion this week!
Good Friday is referred to as Parasceve (Greek: paraskevé), in Hellenistic Judaism, the day of preparation for the Sabbath, i.e., the Friday before. Sorrow was expressed by inability to eat, in other words by fasting.
Between about the VII century and the XIV, there was a liturgical service held in the afternoon in Rome but never Mass. The first part of the service, composed of readings, chants and prayers, was originally derived from the Jewish Synagogue service of the Sabbath by the early Christians, known as the Mass of the Catechumens.
In ancient times, the service ended with the reading of St. John’s version of the Passion. This remnant of an ancient fore-Mass has been retained, on this one day, in accordance with the liturgical premise of preserving ancient practices of high value. Veneration of the Cross is the second part of the liturgy of Good Friday and is derived from Jerusalem.
Originally, (in Rome veneration was accomplished in the afternoon and began about 2:00 p.m. when a procession led by the Pope proceeded from St. John Lateran to the Basilica of the Holy Cross, and the relic of the True Cross was unveiled and venerated by the clergy, then the faithful.
The Communion Service, which constitutes the third part of the Good Friday service, was restored to ancient practice followed in Rome in the VIII century wherein the faithful would receive Communion in silence from Hosts consecrated the previous evening following the recitation of the Pater Noster.
The old Mass of the Pre-sanctified dates to about the XII century and was a Gallican practice, adopted from the Eastern Church, which spread to Rome and was an effort to add solemnity to the rite by making it appear as if an actual Mass were being said. This rite was common in the East where rubrics, going back to the IV century, forbade the Mass to be celebrated on ferial days of Lent. It was a substitute.
Reception of Holy Communion on Good Friday by the faithful continued until at least the XVII century in Rome.
However, custom developed in that people did not receive Communion on Good Friday. It simply grew out of the realisation by the Church that people did not want to receive Communion except on rare occasions.
The IV Lateran Council of 1215 had been forced to make reception of Communion mandatory, at least once a year, during the Paschal Season.
By the time of Pius XII there had been a change of attitude, and the Pope restored the simple Roman practice and removed the dry Mass aspect.
No Mass takes place on Holy Saturday in remembrance of the tradition that the Apostles spent the day in mourning for Our Lord. A vigil begins at twilight, or preferably later so that the Vigil Mass of the Resurrection begins after midnight. The vigil consists of the blessing of the new fire; the blessing of the Paschal Candle and procession; the readings; the blessing of Baptismal water and conferring of Baptism and renewal of Baptismal vows, the Mass and Lauds.
In the XII century the thinking developed in Rome that the new fire represented the Resurrection of Christ. In those days the faithful lighted candles from the Paschal Candle, lit by the new fire, and took the fire home as a sacramental.
Originally, the Easter Vigil began at Vespers. Five grains of incense are placed on the candle, symbols of the five wounds of Christ. The Cross, Alpha and Omega, and the current year inscribed on the Paschal Candle are customs which can be traced back to at least the VIII century in the Church, the XII in Rome.
The greeting of light is made by the deacon as he chants Lumen Christi three times and is answered by Deo gratias while processing toward the altar from outside the church. The greeting was that commonly given at Vespers. Although there were several versions of the joyful song of Easter in the early church, the one used at present is the Exsultet, composed by St. Ambrose.
There has previously been debate about the reduction of prophecies on Holy Saturday. However, the original number of readings was six, the same number of readings as on the Ember Days. The number twelve had been arrived at in Rome because all lessons were read in both Greek and Latin.
Thus, 12 were made from 6. Different lessons were introduced to keep their number at 12 when Greek was dropped from the liturgy.
The formula for blessing the Baptismal water is taken from the Gelasian Sacramentary. In ancient times the Litany of the Saints was chanted while the water was being blessed. In the early church Baptism followed.
Thus, the purpose of the readings and blessing of the Holy Baptism water concerns the Sacrament of Baptism. Pope Pius XII introduced the renewal of the Baptismal promises to show that Easter is the cause of the Baptismal graces.
The ceremonies of Holy Saturday are concluded with the chanting of Lauds, the Hour having the Resurrection of Our Lord as its theme. This was restored to its ancient practice by Pope Pius XII. The Vigil Mass of the Resurrection follows. The Mass, restored by Pius XII, is taken from the Gregorian Sacramentary.