Handcrafted Easter candles. © Clemens Rude In: Pfarrbriefservice.de
March 30, 2023
An overview of the holidays from Palm Sunday to Easter
Dresden. For Catholic Christians it is the most important and at the same time the oldest festival in the church year: Easter. It ends Lent or Passiontide, which culminates in Holy Week (from Old High German “kara” = lamentation) or Silent Week, in which Christians commemorate the death of Jesus and his resurrection.
All over the world – including in all 37 parishes of our Dresden-Meißen diocese in Saxony and East Thuringia – Catholics remember the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem (palm sunday), to the Last Supper (Maundy Thursday), of the crucifixion and death of Jesus (Good Friday) as well as in his resurrection (Easter). Around 137,000 Catholics are currently at home in the Dresden-Meißen diocese.
Palm Sunday: Palm bushes for the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem – April 2nd
Palm Sunday, April 2 this year, opens Holy Week. The focus of this day for Christians is the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem on a donkey. The people cheered Jesus as the Messiah with hosannas. They are the same ones who demanded his death a few days later.
On the eve of Palm Sunday, Saturday April 1st will be invited to a pontifical vesper at 4 p.m. at the beginning of Holy Week in Dresden Cathedral. Under the direction of Domkapellmeister Christian Bonath, the Dresdner Kapellknaben sing works by Heinrich Schütz and Joseph Ahrens, among others.
The Holy Mass begins on Palm Sunday with the blessing of the palm branch bushes, which in this country mostly consist of boxwood and pussy willow branches. With these, the worshipers then go in a solemn procession into the church. While the gospel of the suffering and death of Jesus is read in the service, the believers experience the tension of this day between rejoicing and “Crucify him!” after. The worshipers take the blessed palm branches home with them and use them to decorate the crosses in their homes.
Bishop Heinrich Timmerevers celebrates a pontifical mass on Palm Sunday on April 2 at 10 a.m in the Dresden Cathedral. The service begins with the consecration of palms in front of the church and a subsequent procession into the cathedral. The cathedral choir will provide the music with the Matthew Passion SWV 479 by Heinrich Schütz.
Incidentally, as in previous years, such an animal, led by cathedral priest Norbert Büchner, will accompany the procession in the Dresden Cathedral to the delight of all children, in memory of the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem on a donkey.
The Consecration of the Sacred Oils – April 3rd
Holy Week also includes the consecration of the Holy Oils. These oils are used throughout the year in the administration of various sacraments: baptism, confirmation and anointing of the sick, priestly, bishop, church and altar ordinations. “Missa chrismatis – Chrism Mass” is the name of the solemn service during which the holy oils are consecrated by the bishop. All priests of the Diocese of Dresden-Meissen are there Monday, April 3rd at 10am invited to the cathedral in Dresden. Bishop Tomáš Holub from the neighboring diocese of Pilsen is also expected as a guest on this day.
The service is musically designed with the 2nd choral mass, “Missa de Angelis” and “O redemptor” (Gregorian chant). After the solemn Holy Mass, the priests spend a day together in the neighboring house of the cathedral and finally take the consecrated oils to their communities.
Maundy Thursday: Commemoration of the Last Supper – April 6th
Maundy Thursday (probably from the Old High German “grainen” = to cry) commemorates the last supper that Jesus celebrated with his closest confidants, the disciples, before his imprisonment. This common meal is considered the origin of the Eucharistic celebration and the basis of the priesthood.
During the Maundy Thursday service, the pastor washes the feet of twelve parishioners and thus makes it possible to experience the example of Jesus, who also washed the feet of his disciples at the Last Supper. It is a symbol that Christians should serve one another. At the beginning of the Maundy Thursday service, the organ, altar bells and church bells sounded for the last time. They don’t sound again until the Easter Vigil, when the “Gloria” song is sung.
In many congregations, a vigil follows the service on Maundy Thursday. The faithful commemorate the night when Jesus was betrayed by Judas – one of the disciples – and arrested by soldiers.
Bishop Timmerevers celebrates the solemn Holy Mass of the Last Supper in the Cathedral Maundy Thursday, April 6, at 8 p.m. The service will be musically arranged by the Dresden Boys’ Choir under the direction of Domkapellmeister Christian Bonath.
Good Friday: Jesus is crucified – April 7th
Good Friday (from Old High German “kara” = lamentation) commemorates the crucifixion and death of Jesus. A funeral mass with Gregorian chant Good Friday, April 7th, he sings on the day of the Choral School of the Holy Trinity at 8 o’clock in the Cathedral.
In all Catholic parishes worldwide, the hour of Jesus’ death is at 3pm, a Liturgy of the Word celebrated. Bishop Timmerevers celebrates the Good Friday liturgy in Dresden Cathedral. This service is characterized by the reading of the passion of Jesus, the adoration of the cross and intercessions for the church and the world. In the Catholic Church, Good Friday is a strict day of fasting.
The music will be provided by the Dresdner Kapellknaben, the Choralschola Sanctissimae Trinitatis and cantor singing. You can hear the St. John Passion and “Also hat Gott die Welt” by Heinrich Schütz, “Popule meus” by Tomás Luis de Victoria, “Komm, sweeter Tod” by Knut Nysted, and “De profundis” by Joseph Ahrens.
Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday: Celebration of the Resurrection of Christ – 8th/9th April
Also on Holy Saturday, April 8, at 8 a.m., a funeral mass will be held in the cathedral with Gregorian chant sung by the Choralschola Sanctissimae Trinitatis.
The celebration of the Easter Vigil – it is celebrated on the evening before Easter Sunday or early Easter morning – usually begins outside the church at a bonfire, the Easter bonfire. The Easter candle, symbol of the risen Christ, is lit and carried into the dark church with the words “Lumen Christi” (Latin for: Light of Christ). The faithful take over the flame of the Easter candle for their own candles, so that the church interior is increasingly illuminated by the light, the symbol of the resurrection.
The festive liturgy that follows celebrates the resurrection of Jesus as the victory of life over death. This also includes the consecration of the baptismal water. People have been baptized at the Easter Vigil since the early days of the Church. Even today, adults who have decided to follow the Christian faith are preferably baptized during the Easter Vigil. The Christians present remember their own baptism.
The celebration of the Easter Vigil in Dresden Cathedral with Bishop Heinrich Timmerevers takes place on Saturday April 8 at 9 p.m instead of. The Dresden Boys’ Choir will sing “Jauchzet dem Herr alle Welt” by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, “Since by man came death” from Messiah by Georg Friedrich Handel and “Pascha nostrum immolatus est christus” by Domkapellmeister Christian Bonath.
The festive Easter service with Bishop Timmerevers will take place on Easter Sunday, April 9, at 10:30 a.m celebrated. The Coronation Mass KV 317 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as well as “Messiah, Glory to God” and “The trumpet shall shout” by Georg Friedrich Handel will be heard. The Dresden Kapellknaben, the Dresden Cathedral Choir and members of the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden as well as cathedral organist Sebastian Freitag are involved. The musical director is Domkapellmeister Christian Bonath.
Broadcasts in live stream
The major services of Holy Week in Dresden Cathedral from Palm Sunday to Easter are also broadcast live on the diocese’s YouTube channel:
We wish blessed Kar and Easter days!
MB
