Happy Easter!

Our God's not dead, He's surely alive!

Easter is absolutely, positively my favorite holiday.  It doesn't involve an insane amount of shopping or holiday stress.  Buy some candy, stuff some eggs, and hide them around the house.  Put a few treats in a basket and you're set; commercial holiday is satisfied.

But then you have the fun parts; the Easter dresses and suits.  The big, beautiful white church filled with Easter lilies, and finally getting to sing Alleluia!  It's the best service of the year.  Afterwards is full of family; dinner, mass Easter egg hunts, and desserts galore.  It's the most wonderful time of the year.

Remember to make God some part of your Easter, even if it's a small personal prayer of thanksgiving tonight before you go to bed.

Ginna and Luke

Wayne and Elsie 

Ginna and I 

 Here are some shots of my family Easter!

Ginna and Elsie 

Fr. Paul blessing the Paschal Candle 

Luke and Wayne serving at Easter Vigil 

Hope everyone had a blessed Easter Sunday!

Totus tuus,

LeAnn

Holy Week Cheat Sheet, Part II

And so the Tridiuum begins...

But we've already covered what will be going on at Holy Thursday services, so we are going to continue on down the list.  

Holy Saturday, in and of itself, is not all that spectacular.  It's what happens at midnight that makes this day a beautiful day to be a Catholic.  Easter Vigil Mass is said in the evening, or night of Holy Saturday.  Traditionally, it is to be said at midnight, but it can actually be said at any point during the evening of Holy Saturday.  

The service is divided into four parts; service of Light, Liturgy of the Word, Liturgy of Baptism, and the Liturgy of the Eucharist.  

The first service, service of Light begins with a lights off in the church, and the people outside.   The priest lights a (controlled) new fire, and from that he lights the new Paschal Candle, which had been previously marked with a cross, and the Greek symbols Alpha and Omega.  These represent Christ, today and yesterday, beginning and end, all time belongs to Him, and all ages.  

After the candle is lit, the people light their candles from it, and process into the church singing.

In the Liturgy of the Word, seven readings from the Old Testament are heard, and two from the New.  Don't let this scare you off, the readings go quickly, and make perfect sense in the order that they are read.  They are to help us meditate on the works of God since the the beginning of time. The Gloria is sung, and finally, before the Gospel, we get to sing the Alleluia again.  

The third part, Liturgy of Baptism is an opportunity for us all to renew our baptismal promises, and for new members of the Church to be baptized.  We welcome them with open arms, and move on to the final part of the Easter Vigil Mass; the Liturgy of the Eucharist.  

This is celebrated like at any other mass, with a breaking of the bread, consecration of the bread and wine.  The mass ends, and we are dismissed, and with a rousing Easter hymn, the congregation goes home and sleeps.  

Easter Sunday services are a little different.  they are very similar to Christmas Day mass and our regular high Masses.  The church is decked out in white and gold, and filled with Easter lilies.  No special extras, except for the opportunity to renew your baptismal promises.  

With that being said, I have a special reminder for you all; starting tomorrow at 3:00, pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet.  This is a Novena written by Sr. Faustina of Poland who saw and spoke with both Jesus and Mary.  I have put a link in my links page for you to learn how to pray the Chaplet, and I will fill you all in on this amazing opportunity to pray to our God.  

Have a blessed Tridiuum, and I'll fill you all in on the Divine Mercy Chaplet on Sunday along with all of my fun Easter doings!

Totus tuus,

LeAnn 

Holy Week Cheat Sheet

Grind Week - the Tridiuum 

Let's get down to business; it's Holy Week people.  For the last 34 days, we've been fasting, praying, giving alms, adding to our spiritual habits, in preparation for next Sunday.  If there was ever a week to buckle down, and give God all you've got, it would be this week.

Today at mass, we heard Luke's version of the Passion of Christ; Thursday, Friday, and Sunday we will hear the other three versions of the Last Supper, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection of Christ.  We will venerate the cross, wash feet, and perform other various acts of tradition that most of us don't fully understand.

Is anyone else confused about what all will be going on this week?  Because I remember the first time I really paid attention at Holy Week services, and I was lost.  So, I thought I would offer a friendly, comprehensive Holy Week guide.

Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday (today).  Mass begins with a processional inside, weather permitting.  We had snow where I live, so we started inside.  The priest will bless the palms the people picked up before mass began, and then the entire congregation will process into their pews, with the priest entering last, like a normal mass.  The gospel will be one of the four accounts of the Passion of Christ.

We wave palms in tradition of how Jesus was greeted upon His return to Jerusalem.

So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!"              (Jn 12:13-15)

Holy Thursday is the most important and profound service in the Catholic Church, except for the Easter Vigil Mass.  Holy Thursday celebrates, the Last Supper, otherwise known as the Institution of the Eucharist.  This is the service you remember as child, the one where the priest washed feet.  He does this in reflection and honor of our Servant-Leader, who washed the feet of His Disciples.  This action represents baptism, a forgiveness of sins, and a servile action. We listen to the second Gospel version of the Passion.  At the end of the mass, the priest strips the altar and moves the extra consecrated hosts to another tabernacle off to the side.

All of this is to symbolize a cleansing of the Church, which is how Holy Thursday received it's other name, Maundy Thursday, taken from the word Mandatum, meaning cleansed.

In the Cathedrals around the world, another special mass takes place; the Chrism Mass, which is attended by as many priests as possible.  This mass represents the the institution of the priesthood. The bishop of the diocese washes the feet of twelve priests, and blesses the chrism oil that will be used for Confirmation and Baptism throughout the following year.

Good Friday is the only day of the year that there is no mass.  Anywhere. At anytime.  No mass.

"But wait, I remember receiving Communion at Good Friday services," you're thinking.

Right you are, you did receive Communion.  But it wasn't consecrated in front of you; it was consecrated on Holy Thursday.  Remember the extra hosts I mentioned?  Those are the ones we receive on Good Friday.  We don't have a Eucharistic celebration out of honor for the Passion of our Lord.  Instead, we venerate the Cross.

venerate: to regard with great respect; revere

The Church is bare after Holy Thursday services, we have no musical instruments and will not sing again until Easter Vigil.  All of the congregation's focus is on the Cross. Veneration of the Cross started in the fourth century, after St. Helena discovered the True Cross. The priest would unveil the relic, and announce to the people, "Behold, the Wood of the Cross".

The same is done today, although very few us will get to venerate the True Cross.  Rather, we will give our adoration to the representation of the cross; the Passion of Christ.  You may either kiss, touch, or simply gaze upon the cross.  All that matters is the sincerity with which you approach it.  That cross represents our salvation, the great suffering that Christ went through, and God's great Love for us.

After Veneration, the people will listen to the third Gospel version of the Passion, receive Communion, and quietly, solemnly process out.

Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday need their own special cheat sheet, which I will put up on Holy Thursday before services begin; but this should be more than enough to get you through the first two days of the Tridiuum.

The most important thing to remember is to be reverent  we don't have to understand every single thing we do as Catholics, what is important is to understand that we do it out of love and respect for our Lord, and what He did for us.

Have a blessed Holy Week,

Totus tuus,

LeAnn


Did I miss anything?  Want more details?  I put up all of my sources under the Links page, so that you can investigate for yourselves!  The sites I used had great tips, resources, and explanations for everything going on this week.  

Being Productive

Happy Spring Break!  Happy St. Patrick's Day! 

I love my breaks as much as the next college student, but one of the things I struggle with over break is the need to be productive.  Lazy is all well and good, but I also like that feeling of accomplishment.  I can only watch so much Grey's Anatomy before I need to do something.

And I do have things to do! Practice, start researching for a paper, do my Spanish homework.
But the importance and prevalence of those things seem to slip away when I'm at home with what seems like plenty of time.

Don't let that happen!  Somehow every time you think you have more than enough time, you're still going to be working up until your last possible second.  It's better to just bite the bullet and get things done!  Set yourself a goal to do at least three productive things a day.  It doesn't even have to be classwork.  What did I do today?

1.) I went to Mass with my family, and had a great breakfast served by the Knights of Columbus
2.) My sister and I walked about a mile and half at the YMCA, swam, and did an ab workout
3.) I made my family some pretty fantastic copycat Thin Mints

See!  No schoolwork involved, but just the same, I accomplished things!  By all means, enjoy your break, but don't let yourself complete lose all forward motion and all motivation.  Get something done each day, even if it's just taking a shower and mopping the floors.

Totus tuus,

LeAnn

Perspective

This last week...

Oh buddy.  This last week has just been the pinnacle of my semester.  Not to be a "Debbie-Downer", but oh goodness, it's been a grueling past couple of weeks and this one just really stuck it to me.

Temptations were flying at me Friday night; the standard broke college kid fare of cheap alcohol and thrill of not being responsible for your poor decision-making the next morning.  But at the beginning of the semester, I signed a contract with parents that agreed to not partaking in drugs or alcohol illegally; so instead of getting hammered, I hightailed it home.

I'm lucky that I go to school only an hour and fifteen minutes from home; because as much as I would like it to be, Pittsburg KS is not my home.  The moment I turned on highway 37, I could feel so much tension fall off my body.  I could catch my favorite radio station, I knew these roads like the back of my hand.  There is a high amount of security in the area that you grew up in; and it was exactly what I needed.

Home was exactly what I needed to help me find what I had lost over the last few weeks; my perspective.  Perspective on what really matters; on my goals and my decisions.

That when it's all said and done, am I really going to remember the idiot who lied to me?  Is he worth letting my grades and other, more important personal relationships take a hit?

Absolutely not.

Because when it's all said and done, this is not my end goal.  I don't want to get married within the next two years, I definitely don't want to stay here indefinitely.  What needs to matter most is my future, my goals and plans, and how I'm going to get there.  I don't need a boyfriend; I need friends and family.  I don't need drama; I need to be able to focus.

By Sunday afternoon, at 3:30, I had pulled the sense of peace and security that I found at home into my heart and head, and I was ready to head back to Pittsburg.  And although PSU campus is not my home, McCray Hall, my friends, Twin, future is here, and that's enough perspective for me to be incredibly thankful for all I have.

So let me tell you; this next week is going to be much better.

Totus tuus,

LeAnn