This column is called “Between Amens” because I generally like to reflect on the connections between everyday life and the liturgy.
There are certainly plenty of resources out there for people who want to learn more about the Mass, and that is a worthy pursuit. I am more interested in what happens before and after and in between these celebrations. How has what we have done here changed us?
We are approaching the holiest days of our liturgical calendar — the Paschal Triduum. This includes several liturgies over the chronological span of three days (from Thursday evening through Sunday evening): the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, the celebration of the Passion of the Lord on Good Friday, the Great Easter Vigil, and the Masses of Easter Sunday.
Each liturgy is distinct and unique, but together they form one great liturgy. This is truly a weird and special thing about the Triduum — it is a continuous whole.
The Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday evening begins like a normal Mass, but it does not end in the usual way. Instead of the typical concluding rites with a blessing and dismissal, Holy Thursday ends with the transfer of the Blessed Sacrament to the altar of repose. We sit in adoration for a while, and the altar is stripped. This is sort of an indefinite continuation of the Communion Rite.
There are no real introductory rites on Good Friday. Its liturgy begins with the silent entrance of the priest, who prostrates himself on the ground. All depart in silence at the end. Like Holy Thursday, Good Friday concludes with an open-ended question: What next?
The Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday begins like nothing else — with a fire in darkness, a great candle, the distinctive chants of “Lumen Christi” and the Exsultet. Finally, this long, complex, run-on sentence of the Paschal Triduum receives a period with the concluding blessing and dismissal of Easter: Thanks be to God, alleluia, alleluia.
I think the continuity of the Triduum liturgies provides a great opportunity to focus on the in-between time. It’s a reminder that our praise never ends. The liturgy continues after “Amen.”
I reject a segmented life where I practice my faith only for an hour on Sunday. On the contrary, the time spent in formal worship is just one part of a continuous, whole life of prayer in a much broader sense.
What are you doing in the in-between time this Triduum? How will you continue the prayer after leaving the church building?
This time doesn’t need to be totally somber and morose. It can and should include a lot of joy and leisure, time spent enjoying friends and family and perhaps watching the NCAA Sweet Sixteen.
But whatever we do, it must reflect the beauty of the Triduum. It must reflect the grace of God, even if in very simple ways. This is liturgical living — to make of our whole life one continuous prayer.
