Assisi (PG) - Center of the whole liturgical year is the Triduum of the Lord crucified, buried and resurrected, which will culminate on Easter Sunday, April 20.
The heart of our annual journey there was so announced the day of the Epiphany when, with his eyes still fixed on the Baby Jesus in the manger, Easter seemed so far away ...
On the eve of Holy Week, the community of Friars Minor of the Portiuncula invites the faithful and pilgrims to participate again this year, with renewed enthusiasm, the celebration of the Sacred Triduum. The invitation is still very warm towards all those who have not ever participated in, or perhaps for a long time, do not participate. An invitation that assumes a tone particularly Franciscan, with a desire to see with our bodily eyes the facts of the life of the Lord, of our redemption. We did this with the Nativity and the Christ Child at Christmas: we can do it, even more, through the rich symbolism the ritual of Holy Week. Raising palm branches, or more of our own olive trees, we also greet the entrance of the Messiah who is to operate our redemption, which is actualized in every sacramental celebration. The same Palm Sunday will give us the opportunity to hear the Gospel account of the Passion of the Lord in dialogue form.
Then we enter into Holy Week, with two appointments that will make us feel clearly our being Church: Community penitential celebration, organized by the Parish Tuesday 15 to 21 hours, which is a valuable opportunity to achieve true reconciliation with God also affects the relationship with the brothers; the Chrism Mass, Wednesday 16, however, will be celebrated by the Bishop in the Cathedral of San Rufino at 16:30: this makes us feel fully immersed in the church of Assisi.
From Holy Thursday, the community of monks invites all to join in liturgical prayer of Lauds and the Office of Readings, at 7:30 am in the Basilica. This prayer, the Word of God and the song, give "the" to the days of the Triduum, which work activities permitting, enjoy worth devoting time to prayer and contemplation of the paschal mystery.
The charm of the Triduum consists mainly in near real-time to celebrate each moment lived by Jesus 'starting from' Last Supper (the Mass on the Lord's Supper, Thursday at 18:00), through the ability to watch with him in Gethsemane on the night of Thursday and Friday, in the Basilica (nocturnal adoration), up to the Passion on Good Friday (18 hours), with the singing of the Passion, the adoration of the Cross and the austere solemnity that we will introduce in the silence of Holy Saturday. In addition to the liturgical moments there will be those typical of popular piety, such as the Way of the Cross at 15 and the procession of Christ, who died at 21. We already know that the Lord is risen from the dead, almost 2000 years ago, but it would be really nice to realize thanks to the signs celebrated, how the world would be meaningless if there was Jesus, the incarnate Word of God and Redeemer. If we never made the case, we see that the Triduum is like one big day, a continuous celebration of the same paschal mystery, in its various stages and facets.
The Easter Vigil in the Resurrection of the Lord, which starts out from the Basilica on Saturday evening at 22, will mark the culmination of the celebration of wealth these days: fire, water, word, bread and wine. The simplicity of the elements, together with the sacramental beauty of God, will be deployed by the Lord, totally at the service of our salvation. The richness of the Word of God will be heard being told by a relentless God His declaration of love for us. His Body and Blood donated to us will be concrete we will hear the news again on Easter Sunday and Easter all the time: "Death and life have fought a tremendous duel. The Lord of life, that he was dead, now reigns alive. "
