Happy Easter everyone!  I didn't manage to get anything up here during the Triduum, so this will be the first post about these last few days.  I hope you all had a wonderful Holy Week, Triduum, Easter, and now Easter Week - I sure have/am.

Holy Thursday:

I already posted on the Chrism Mass, which for the diocese of Springfield, IL, was celebrated on Tuesday.  On Wednesday, I don't remember anything special happening (though I was tired) on Wednesday, and the first half of Thursday was also pretty normal (went for a run, packed the car in record time, went to sociology class, finished a paper and uploaded it for theology, went to ethics class...).  I left directly after that class (thankfully Music class was canceled , filled up with gas, and cruised the 5 hours home non-stop.  Yep, it was pretty long, but I had some good Cd's to listen to, and the weather was spectacular (sunny and 50 degrees).  Anyway, the drive went by fast enough and I got to Quincy just in time (2-3 minutes before) the 6 PM Mass of the Lord's Supper at St. Rose.

St. Rose, in case you don't know, is a chaplaincy of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, and has Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite (the Traditional Latin Mass).  A deacon came over from their  (the FSSP's) seminary near Lincoln Nebraska, to help with the different liturgies of the Triduum, and, thus, the Mass on Holy Thursday was a solemn high Mass (with Sub-Deacon, Deacon, and Priest).  It turned out beautifully, with the chanted Gospel, the washing of the feet (while the choir chanted antiphons most of which were from John 13 - "Love one another, as I have loved you..." [diligatis invicem, sicut dilexi vos])  Mass concluded with the procession carrying the Eucharist to the altar of repose and the stripping of the altars.  We (the family) went back home after Mass, ate some dinner, and then came back to "watch with [Jesus] one hour" (Matthew 26:40).

I guess, technically, we were there for more like 3 hours (we went over sometime during 9 o'clock), but I was pretty tired (5 hours of driving does that to you), and so the "watch and pray" (Matthew 26:41) was sometimes a little lacking.  At least I'm not the first person to fall asleep on Holy Thursday...  I think that I finished reading the Gospel of John (I started the New Testament at the beginning of the year and have been working on it a little bit each day), read several pages of Pope Benedict's Jesus of Nazareth Part 1 (which is pretty deep, and thus, not good reading when you are tired), and, of course, said the Rosary and some other prayers.

More later...

For now: Luke 22:39-46:

And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him.  And when he came to the place, he said to them, "Pray that you may not enter into temptation."  And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me.  Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done." And there appeared to him an angel from heaven strengthening him.  And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.  And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping fro sorrow, and he said to them, "Why are you sleeping?  Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation."  

Really great image of Christ's Agony in the Garden