Our Holy Thursday Mass was bilingual and the second language wasn't Latin! Although the Mass and service were okay, I just wish everyone would get together on what is correct for various liturgies.
Holy Thursday is one of my favorite days of Holy Week. I love the brighness that is soon dimmed with Christ being taken away by the soldiers. Most years, I've attended a Holy Thursday where a lone voice in the choir intones, "My God, my God . . . Why have You forsaken Me . . ." while the altar is stripped, the lights extinguished and the tabernacle emptied and left open and bare. For some reason, the priest extinguished the Sanctuary light BEFORE Mass even began and had already stripped the tabernacle.
After the Gloria, with the ringing of the bells, the wooden clapper was used for the Consecration to indicate we were heading for a time of sorrow. The choir? It switched from using the organ to . . . a piano!
The procession to the Adoration Chapel, after Mass, was dignified (except for the continue use of instrumentals) but the majority of the congregation was more interested in bailing out and racing to the chapel rather than getting the full impact of the event as the altar was stripped.
In spite of the 'annoyances', I do feel sorry for anyone who only goes to Mass on Easter and misses out on Holy Week. It's like missing out on the whole story!
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