Easter Triduum Liturgies Live with Archbishop Gregory

April 8, 2020

Preparing for the Easter Triduum

“ Faithful Cross, above all other, one and only noble Tree! None in foliage, none in blossom, none in fruit thy peers may be! Sweetest wood and sweetest iron, sweetest weight is hung on thee! ”

(from a hymn for Evening Prayer in Holy Week, The Liturgy of the Hours)

Easter Triduum Liturgies Livestreamed

The summit of the Liturgical Year is the Easter Triduum—from the evening of Holy Thursday to the evening of Easter Sunday. Though chronologically three days, they are liturgically one day unfolding for us the unity of Christ's Paschal Mystery. The single celebration of the Triduum marks the end of the Lenten season and leads to the Mass of the Resurrection of the Lord at the Easter Vigil.

As a sign of hope and Christian unity, Archbishop Gregory invites each of us to join him in placing a light in the window of our home from Holy Saturday evening through Easter Sunday evening. We remember that on Easter, we celebrate the triumph of light over darkness through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Watch the video message.

Archbishop Gregory will celebrate the liturgies of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, the Easter Vigil, and Easter Sunday at the Cathedral. Bishop Dorsonville will lead the praying of the Stations of the Cross at 3pm on Good Friday. Click the buttons below to watch and participate in these celebrations, to be streamed online on the Archdiocese of Washington YouTube channe l, and to find worship aids. (Worship aids for the Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday Mass will be available shortly on the ADW Holy Week webpage.)

See also guides to Wednesday of Holy Week, to Holy Thursday, and to the Easter Triduum from the Archdiocese of Washington. From St. Matthew's, enjoy a look at Holy Week events in the Gospel of Matthew by Fr. Hurley, and a reflection on the Liturgy of Tenebrae by Tom Stehle.

Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord's Supper Livestream - 5:30pm

Holy Thursday Worship Aid

Good Friday Liturgy of the Lord's Passion Livestream - 1pm

Good Friday Worship Aid

Good Friday Stations of the Cross in Spanish - 3pm

Easter Vigil Livestream - 8pm

Easter Sunday Mass Livestream - 10am

National Moment of Prayer on Good Friday

The U.S. Bishops are calling for a national moment of prayer in this time of the coronavirus. Visit the LACatholics special webpage at 12 Noon on Good Friday to join the livestream of the praying of the Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Together in prayer, we will seek the healing and protection of our Savior. Find the text of the Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus .

Resources for Prayer and Connection

Be sure to check out these resource and information links to help you stay spiritually centered and well, and to stay connected with our parish ministries and one another.

Mass and prayer - Find links to: daily and Sunday livestreamed Masses and Eucharistic Adoration; free digital access to prayer periodicals and to the Liturgy of the Hours prayers; audio, video and print Stations of the Cross; praying the Rosary; making a spiritual communion; and prayer apps.
Video homilies and messages by St. Matthew's priests
Eletter updates in this period of Covid-19 response
Mental health information & hotlines
Ongoing parish ministries
April calendar of events

Message from the Rector

I hope you tuned in for Archbishop Gregory's first Palm Sunday Mass at St. Matthew's! Once we got rolling, everything went well - a Palm Sunday to remember, complete with blessing of palms. What we missed most was you! I hope you will participate throughout Holy Week via the livestreamed liturgies, beginning with Holy Thursday.

Yes, it is a different Holy Week, but as I promised, we will celebrate new life and hope. We will gather again with our Archbishop and one another in spirit, and as Church we will shout out the Hosannas on Palm Sunday and the Alleluias at Easter. We will pray for the dead, the sick and the dying – including many of our loved ones – confident in the new life Christ has won for us. Our catechumens will not be baptized at the Easter Vigil, nor our candidates received into full communion, but we will celebrate with them soon. When we do, it will indeed be a celebration!

Easter Offertory

I thank all who participate in FaithDirect and otherwise give faithfully to support our Cathedral parish. The reality, however, is that due to the church closure we are missing most of our income from the Sunday offertory collections. The loss of our Holy Week and Easter offertory collections, in particular, will be significant.

If you are able to make an Easter offertory gift, I ask that you please do so. Our parishioners and visitors always have responded so generously. I know that many of you also may be facing financial losses in this crisis. I’m sorry to turn to you again, but I really need your help, especially if you are in a position to give at this time.

We are in trouble financially, as are many parishes. Since I wrote to you last week, we have furloughed our choirs and several parish and rectory staff members. Reductions in the hours of our remaining staff are under consideration.

Supporting our Parishes

Archbishop Gregory in a recent video, below, stresses the importance of parishes receiving needed support to operate through this challenging time and offers a giving portal at https://adw.org/paris h that allows the making of a gift to any parish in the Archdiocese of Washington . The link for St. Matthew's brings you to our FaithDirect enrollment page.

Please support our parishes, "the core of Catholic life in our local communities."

I ask—if you haven’t yet enrolled in FaithDirect, our electronic giving program, will you please do so now at St. Matthew's Faith Direct page (Church code DC284) (or click on the Faith Direct icon)? This is the best way to help, as sustained giving is the key to our survival as a parish.

To make an online gift now using PayPal or your credit or debit card, click here or on the icon below. For those who have used the QR code in our music leaflet to make a donation, the PayPal and debit/credit options are the same payment options offered via the QR code.