PALM SUNDAY
Today we do what the Jews did. The Palm Sunday procession is formed of Christians who, in "the fulness of Faith," make their own the gesture of the Jews and endow it with its full significance. Following the jews' example we proclaim Christ as Victor: "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He Who comes in the Name of the Lord." But, By our faith we know, as they refused to believe, all that his triumph stands for He is the Messias, the Son of David, and the Son of God. He is the sign of contradiction, acclaimed by some and reviled by others. Sent into this world to free us from sin and the power of Satan. He underwent His Passion, the punishment for our sins, but comes forth triumphant from the tomb, the Victor over death, making our peace with God and taking us with Him into the Kingdom of His Father in heaven.
Before our Savior's triumph must come His "humiliation unto death, even to the death of the Cross." St. Paul emphasizes this voluntary humiliation, which forms the necessary condition of Christ's triumph and of our Redemption. Together with this reminder of what we owe to our Savior's sufferings, the Church puts them before us as an example; we must share in His sufferings, in order to be inculded in His Resurrection. During the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass today, the Passion of Christ is sung or read.
Maundy Thursday is the commemoration of the Lord's Supper.
Just when our Savior's death was being plotted, He instituted the means
of perpetuating His Sacrifice and of immortalizing His presence among us.
In memory of the Lord's supper, the Church celebrates the Holy Sacrifice with great joy; the Crucifix is veiled with white cloth, ministers wear festive vestments, and during the singing of the Gloria, all the bells are rung. There is only one Mass celebrated on Holy Thursday; it is a reminder, on the anniversary of it's institution, that there is but one Priesthood, entrusted by Christ Himself with the perpetual renewal of His Sacrifice. The Prayers of the Canon of the Mass, at the Communicantes and at the Consecration, the Church commemorates our Lord's institution of the Eucharist on the day before He suffered.
Good Friday
The solemn liturgy of Good Friday, when the Church commemorates the Redemption of the world, is considered the holiest day of the year to Catholics.
On this day, the solenm singing of the Passion, the Collects in which the Church prays with confidence for the salvation of all men, the veneration of the Cross and the singing of the reproaches are very moving rites; they form the prayer and thanksgiving of all the redeemed who, together, acknowledge in God's presence what the mystery of the Cross means to men.
"We adore Thee of Christ, and we praise Thee, because by Thy Holy Cross, Thou hast redeemed the world."