Our Parishes

March 26, 2021 | catholicnewsherald.com

Bishop’s Holy Week, Easter liturgies to be livestreamed

CHARLOTTE — Join Bishop Peter Jugis this Holy Week and Easter in special liturgies streamed live from St. Patrick Cathedral.

Beginning with Palm Sunday, March 28, the liturgies at the cathedral commemorating Jesus’ Passion, death and resurrection will be streamed on the Diocese of Charlotte’s YouTube channel.

Seating inside the cathedral for each liturgy is being strictly limited to 150 people to ensure safe distancing, and the annual Chrism Mass – when the bishop blesses the sacramental oils used in all the diocese’s churches for the coming year – will be celebrated privately due to lack of adequate seating for others besides clergy. People are instead encouraged to participate by watching online; subscribe to the YouTube channel to get an email notification when each livestream begins.

The livestream schedule is:

n Palm Sunday, March 28: 11 a.m. Mass n Tuesday, March 30: 10 a.m. Chrism Mass n Holy Thursday, April 1: 7 p.m. Mass of the Lord’s Supper n Good Friday, April 2: 3 p.m. Veneration of the Cross n Saturday, April 3: 8 p.m. Easter Vigil

A complete schedule of Holy Week and Octave of Easter worship services is on the cathedral’s website, www.stpatricks.org.

At the cathedral and all other parishes throughout the diocese, public health protocols remain in place to reduce the risk of virus spread, and the Sunday obligation to attend Mass remains waived by the bishop. The faithful are encouraged to wear face coverings, maintain safe distancing between household groups, and wash or sanitize their hands frequently.

Capacities at indoor services may be restricted to ensure safe distancing, so parishioners should check their parish’s website for details on sign-ups and other details.

According to guidance issued by the Vatican, public processions for Palm Sunday and the Easter Vigil are permitted, but participants should observe safe distancing between household groups. The footwashing rite is to be omitted during the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday. On Good Friday, everyone except the celebrant should venerate the cross by bowing or genuflecting.

For Good Friday, the Vatican also suggests parishes add the two solemn intercessions which it introduced for Good Friday last year to pray for an end to the pandemic:

XI: Let us pray also, dear friends, to Our Almighty Father for those who are stricken ill by the coronavirus, that he may wipe the face of the earth from disease, give hope to the sick, comfort to families, and strengthen doctors and nurses with courage.

(Prayer in silence. Then the priest says:) Almighty God, creator of all that is good, who sent Your Son as the Divine Physician, cast out disease and the current attack against us, comfort those who suffer, and bring close to yourself all who are in danger of death. Through Christ our Lord.

XII: Let us pray, dearly beloved, for all those who have died as a result of infection, that God may not look upon the sins of the departed, but see in their sufferings the face of his own suffering Son and have mercy on their souls.

(Prayer in silence. Then the priest says:)

Almighty and merciful Father, hear our cry for those who have died and are dying from this virus, and send your angels to minister to their souls, for we know it belongs to your boundless mercy to be ever kind and look upon one’s faith and righteousness.

Through Christ our Lord.

Our parishes CATHOLIC NEWS HERALDI 3

Adoration and Open House for patronal feast and anniversary

MOUNT HOLLY — St. Joseph College Seminary opened its doors for a community open house March 20 in honor of its patronal feast day and fifth anniversary of the program’s founding. More than 300 people toured the college seminary’s new building, home to 27 young men discerning a vocation to the priesthood for the Diocese of Charlotte while attending classes at nearby Belmont Abbey College. On the Solemnity of St. Joseph March 19, the college seminarians, their formators and supporters participated in Eucharistic Adoration in the college seminary chapel. St. Joseph College Seminary was canonically erected by Bishop Peter Jugis on March 19, 2016, and moved into its permanent location in Mount Holly last summer. Placed under the patronage of St. Joseph, foster father of Our Lord, the name also reflects the heritage of the diocese, which was first shepherded by Bishop Michael Joseph Begley when it was carved out of the Diocese of Raleigh in 1972.

PHOTOS PROVIDED BY FREDRIK AKERBLOM

At www.stjcs.org: Learn more about St. Joseph College Seminary and subscribe to their newsletter

Planting for the future

PHOTOS PROVIDED BY ST. JOSEPH COLLEGE SEMINARY