The Sacred Triduum

Webmaster • March 26, 2021

Sunset on Holy Thursday to sunset on Easter Sunday is considered the most solemn part of the liturgical year. This three-day period is referred to as the Easter Triduum, also known as the Sacred Triduum, or Paschal Triduum. The word ‘triduum’ comes from the Latin word triduum, which comes from tris (‘three’) + dies (‘day’). Basically, the Sacred Triduum is one great festival recounting the last three days of Jesus’ life on earth, the events of his Passion and Resurrection, when the Lamb of God laid down his life in atonement for our sins.

“Though chronologically three days, they are liturgically one day unfolding for us the unity of Christ's Paschal Mystery.”

It is known as the ‘Paschal Mystery’ because it is the ultimate fulfilment of the ancient Jewish Passover (or Pasch), which itself was a recollection of how God brought the Jews out of their slavery in Egypt. The spotless lamb was slaughtered at the Passover meal and consumed - that same night the destroying angel ‘passed over’ the homes marked with the blood of the Passover Lamb, and those covered by the Blood were saved. This was the Old Testament prefiguring of Jesus’ work at the Last Supper - where he inserted himself as the Paschal Lamb - and Calvary, where the sacrifice was offered to save us from our slavery to sin. With the Eucharist, we consume the victim that died for our sins. The Paschal Mystery is, therefore, God’s plan of redemption for our fallen human race through the passion, death, and resurrection of the God-man Jesus Christ. It is one marvellous event stretched out over three days.

The evening Mass on Holy Thursday is referred to as The Mass of the Lord's Supper. This is where the Church re-lives the institution of the Eucharist and the Sacrifice of the Mass at the Last Supper, as well as the institution of the priesthood, which took place on the evening before Jesus was crucified. Extra hosts are consecrated at this Mass to be used on Good Friday when Mass is not celebrated.

Good Friday is a mandatory day of fasting and abstinence. This is the day of the crucifixion, the day Jesus died for the sins of the world. The Parish altar looks very different on Good Friday: it is plain and bare. There are no consecrated Hosts in the tabernacle; it was carried away on Holy Thursday night to the ‘altar of repose’ to signify Jesus’ death. The candle by the tabernacle is not lit, and the tabernacle doors are open to show that it is empty. Jesus is gone. This is quite dramatic, reminding us that Good Friday is a solemn day of mourning and prayer.

The ceremony on Good Friday is not a Mass - it is a service of Commemoration using consecrated hosts from Holy Thursday. Good Friday is the only day of the year on which Mass is not celebrated.

There is no daytime Mass on Holy Saturday. It is still a day of fasting and sorrow before the Easter Vigil begins in the evening. We recall, with Mary and the disciples, that Jesus died and was separated from them for the first time as he lay in the tomb. The faithful often continue their Good Friday fast through Holy Saturday.

In the Apostles Creed we pray ‘He descended into hell’ (translated hades, that is, the temporary abode of the dead - not the eternal lake of fire) which describes what Jesus did in the time between his burial and Resurrection. Jesus descended to the realm of the dead on Holy Saturday to save the righteous souls - the Old Testament patriarchs, for example - who died before his crucifixion.

The Catechism of the Church calls Jesus’ descent into the realm of the dead ‘the last phase of Jesus’ messianic mission,’ during which he ‘opened heaven’s gates for the just who had gone before him.’ Before Holy Saturday, there were no souls enjoying the beatific vision of God in heaven! Christ’s work on Holy Saturday is also known as the ‘Harrowing of Hell.’

An Easter Vigil Mass is held after nightfall on Holy Saturday, or before dawn on Easter Sunday, in celebration of the resurrection of Jesus. This is called the Easter Vigil: the most glorious, beautiful, and dramatic liturgy for the Church. This vigil is divided into four parts: 1) the Service of Light, 2) the Liturgy of the Word, 3) the Liturgy of Baptism, and 4) the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

This is also the Mass in which many RCIA catechumens are brought into the Catholic Church.

Cobham Foodbank

By Webmaster • September 19, 2025
OUR PARISH SUPPORTS THE COBHAM AREA FOODBANK Please can you help local people in crisis by purchasing items on the list below and placing them in the Foodbank’s collection point in the narthex when to come to Mass at the weekend? 

St Vincent de Paul . . .

By Webmaster • September 19, 2025
St Vincent de Paul was born to a peasant family in the French village of Pouy on April 24, 1581. His first formal education was provided by the Franciscans. He did so well, he was hired to tutor the children of a nearby wealthy family. He used the monies he earned teaching to continue his formal studies at the University of Toulouse where he studied theology. He was ordained in 1600 and remained in Toulouse for a time. In 1605, while on a ship traveling from Marseilles to Narbone, he was captured, brought to Tunis and sold as a slave. Two years later he and his master managed to escape and both returned to France. Vincent went to Avignon and later to Rome to continue his studies. While there he became chaplain to the Count of Goigny and was placed in charge of giving money to the deserving poor. He became pastor of a small parish in Clichy for a short period of time, while also serving as a tutor and spiritual director.  From that point forward he spent his life preaching missions to and providing relief to the poor. He even established hospitals for them. This work became his passion. He later extended his concern and ministry to convicts. The need to evangelize and assist these souls was soon so great the demands were beyond his own ability to meet so Vincent founded the Ladies of Charity, a lay institute of woman, to help, as well as a religious institute of priests – the Congregation of Priests of the Mission, now known as the Vincentians.

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION OPEN MORNING

By Webmaster • September 19, 2025
Saturday 11th October, 10.00 - 13.00 at St Dunstan’s Catholic Church, Shaftesbury Road, Woking GU22 7DT.  Curious about spiritual direction? It’s not about being told what to do, but about having someone walk alongside you as you listen for God’s voice in the middle of daily life. Spiritual direction is a gentle space to grow in your relationship with God, to notice where God is already at work, and to be encouraged in faith, hope and love. The diocese has a network of trained spiritual directors so please join us for tea/coffee from 10.00, a short talk at 10.30 with time for questions, then try a 10 - 15 minute taster session with trained A&B Diocese spiritual directors. Free; all welcome.

PARISH SOCIAL EVENTS THIS AUTUMN

By Webmaster • September 19, 2025
Please make a point of entering these dates in your diary or on your fridge notice board (whatever works in your family). It would be great to see a large turnout of parish families at these annual events. Bazaar Grand Draw Tickets will be distributed for parishioners to sell from the weekend of 27/8 Sept.

A puzzling parable . . ..(25th Sunday Ordinary Year C)

By Webmaster • September 19, 2025
The first reading from the prophet Amos sounds a clear conviction against those who purposefully cheat, extort, and take advantage of the poor, seemingly without remorse. Sadly, that kind of injustice was common back then, as it still is today. Old Testament prophets like Amos regularly named economic injustice when they saw it. In the Gospel reading today, Jesus picks up on the prophetic tradition, preaching about appropriate and inappropriate uses of money. In Luke, more than any other Gospel, Jesus continually hammers home warnings about the seductive power of money. The first section of today’s Gospel, the parable about the dishonest steward, is a hard one to swallow if taken at face value. Biblical scholars still debate Jesus’ meaning since it seems unlikely he would have commended the unsavoury behaviour of the steward who so blatantly cheats his master. (Although it is quite possible the master was extorting his debtors in the first place by charging extremely high interest rates-a common practice even though Jewish law forbid charging interest.) The most common interpretation is that Jesus is calling for his followers to act as decisively as the steward did in a time of crisis, not calling them to dishonesty. His call for prudence points out that disciples need to stretch themselves by showing greater dedication and commitment to the life of discipleship than the “children of this world” who invest themselves in making money and pursuing security in any manner possible.  If we let go of puzzling over this strange parable that seems to be so contradictory to Jesus’ other parables and step back to look at the over all content of Jesus’ message about wealth, we can summarize it with the last line. “You cannot serve both God and mammon.” Time after time, Jesus, like the prophets before him, shows how money can too easily get in the way of people doing God’s work. Questions of the week  Share an example of someone proving him/ herself trustworthy in small matters and graduating to being trustworthy in greater ones.  How have you seen money/ wealth corrupt someone who originally had good intentions?

Church Mouse Update 21st September 2025

By Webmaster • September 19, 2025
The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past seven days . . . . Once again a busy time around The Presbytery this week, as Fr D had several meetings to attend catechetical and about the new bigger form of parishes for the future . . . . . . Saturday morning saw the first meeting including candidates for First Reconciliation and Eucharist programmes. Parents and candidates met with Fr D and talked (very animatedly!) about their baptism when they were babies and how this first made them ‘friends of Jesus’ and so brought them to get ready for Reconciliation now. On Monday Fr D had a proper day off and went up to the Oval in London to watch Surrey playing cricket against Nottingham. This has become an annual outing over the years but this time a whole days cricket was possible despite very dark clouds for most of the day. After celebrating Morning Prayer, Mass, and Exposition on Tuesday Fr D was off to the diocesan offices in Crawley once more to continue work in the Tribunal. This week he was ‘writing up’ a sentence from a judgement he made last Friday. When he got back in the evening he was with the parents of this years First Reconciliation/Eucharist candidates to take them through what they will, in turn, be teaching their sons and daughters this Saturday. Very different from how things used to be done but the children love spending this ‘quality time’ with their parents learning about their friendship with God (and Fr D is always there in case one comes up with a difficult question he had not covered with the parents on the Tuesday evening before!). On Wednesday, having celebrated Morning Prayer and Mass, Fr D was chasing up with telephone calls and emails several little bits of work that need to be moved on. He also managed to get a little further ahead on newsletters for whilst he goes away on holiday. At lunchtime he met with Fr Ruslan (Walton-on-Thames) for their monthly get together. In the evening Fr D was over in Banstead (St Anne’s) where the Deanery clergy were meeting with some of their parishioners to continue work on the Bishop’s Pastoral Plan for our area.  On Thursday Fr D was not able to celebrate Morning Prayer due to an early doctor’s appointment but was back in time to celebrate Mass before shooting off to the Tribunal again. In the late afternoon he had the first trustee meeting for the new academic year of the Bosco Catholic Education Trust . . . . .

Church Mouse Update 7th September 2025

By Webmaster • September 5, 2025
The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past seven days . . . . As expected, with the schools recommencing their Autumn Term, a very busy week around The Presbytery . . . . . . Lot has happened over the summer holidays, in terms of maintenance works - the removal of conifer hedging ready for new fencing; replacing rotten sections of wood, preparing and painting the tower of the church; preparing and painting all the church gutters and down-pipes; removing several bucket loads of cement mortar from rainwater gullies (some replacement will be required when the weather is suitable); and, a ‘deep clean’ of the Parish Centre. Fr D is particularly pleased that all the outstanding high-level maintenance on the roof is now completed. At our Saturday Vigil Mass last weekend we celebrated the Confirmation of a young man from the Parish who is presently away at university. This meant that he was not able to take part in the normal Confirmation Programme that we have in the Parish each year and had to prepare, at a later age, in a different way. Fr Daryl was delegated by Bishop Richard to celebrate the sacrament for the young man. On Monday Fr D went over to the Notre Dame School to celebrate Mass for the staff who were beginning two staff training days before the beginning of the new term. After celebrating Morning Prayer, Mass, and Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament on Tuesday Fr D was off down to the diocesan offices in Crawley, where he had a interview with one of his new annulment applicants. By the time he got back in the evening he was shattered, the interview taking nearly four hours! Preparations are now also underway by our singers and musicians for our annual Parish Carol Service (21st December this year). On Wednesday, following Morning Prayer and Mass Fr D was trying to make inroads into the newsletters that will be required whilst he is away on holiday - he has to undertake this carefully otherwise he gets confused as to which week is which!  After Morning Prayer and Mass on Thursday Fr D was once more at Notre Dame School to celebrate Mass for the senior school at the beginning of their new academic year. In the late afternoon Fr D was able to help the sisters to get their phone and broadband back once their provider had sent some replacement kit . . . . .

Church Mouse Update 24th August 2025

By Webmaster • August 22, 2025
The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past fortnight . . . . A very busy time around The Presbytery over the past two weeks as a lot of high level maintenance was completed . . . . . . . Fr D was delighted that with the arrival of an articulated cherry picker long awaited works at high level on the church building could be commenced. Following the last quin-quennial buildings survey we knew that there was a reasonable amount of ‘at height’ work to be done in order to keep up with the necessary maintenance on the church. Earlier in the year spot-work on the roof tiles was completed (not to fix leaks but to help ensure that leaks do not develop due to tile movement and breakages). It was decided that the most cost effective way to undertake the maintenance of the tower, various wooden features, and high level guttering/downpipes, would not be to use scaffolding (very expensive to erect and take down and then, in between, has to be rented!) but to use a cherry picker. When the workmen got up to the tower it was not a moment too soon as several isolated sections of rot were discovered which would not have lasted much longer before spreading throughout the structure. Matters were caught just in time and the offending sections were removed and new wood sections made and fitted in before painting (the workmen commented that the wood was just drinking up the undercoat layer!). Working around the building the cast iron gutters were wire brushed to remove flaking paintwork before being sanded down and repainted with specialist paint; afterwards the same routine was used on the downpipes. When the workmen came to the metal cross above the entrance to the church it was originally assumed to be black but, on rubbing down, it was discovered that it was originally gold in colour, so this was restored. Whilst we had the equipment on site time was taken to make sure that the various gullies between expanses of tiles were functioning properly - several of them needed to be cleared of old sections of cement which had fallen out and new cement inserted where gaps had formed over the years. It is hoped that all these works will mean that no major works will be necessary again until between ten and fifteen years time - Fr D certainly hopes that he will never have to face roof works on the church whilst he is still here! At the time of writing we are waiting for the cherry picker to be collected and returned, giving us back the whole of the car park . . . . . . . .

Bad or good news? . . . .(19th Sunday Ordinary Year C)

By Webmaster • August 9, 2025
Luke’s Gospel, more than any others, has an emphasis on money, possessions, and wealth. Luke includes parables about riches (such as last week’s parable about the rich man who built bigger barns) that are not found in Matthew, Mark, or John. The Gospel also states several times that Jesus directed his disciples to go out and continue his ministry without taking any personal belongings along with them. It’s a challenge that is hard for most of us to hear, and we can quickly go to rationalizations about why we may not be called to do the same thing. Of course it would have been just as hard for Jesus’ disciples to hear too. But instead of reacting to what sounds like bad news to us (“sell your belongings and give alms”) can we instead listen for the good news in the directive? After all, Jesus didn’t come to make our lives more difficult, or impoverished. He said that he came so that we may have life, and have life in it’s fullness. So if he is asking us to sell our possessions, he must have good reason.  The good news is that in letting go of physical possessions, we get an “inexhaustible treasure” in return that no thief can reach, nor corruption can touch. “Where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.” When we come to our last moments on this earth, where do we want our treasure to be? In our material belongings? Or in the store of love we have given and received amidst our relationships? Questions of the week  What might you be invited to let go of (“sell”) so that you can have more freedom in following Jesus?  What does it mean to you that “where your treasure is, there al so will your heart be”? Where is your treasure at this time in your life?

Church Mouse Update 10th August 2025

By Webmaster • August 9, 2025
The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past seven days . . . . Around The Presbytery it has still been busier than usual for the summer holiday time . . . . . As he had no families to be working with on Saturday morning Fr D had a young couple wishing to marry next year. Most of the paperwork that is required has now been completed and we are awaiting confirmation of the dates of the Deanery Marriage Preparation Day which normally takes place in the New Year. After Morning Prayer, Mass, and Exposition on Tuesday morning Fr D was looking at the progress of the landscapers who were removing the hedging from around the car park. Sarah had ‘coned-off’ part of the area on Monday so the men could begin without any cars ‘in situ’ when they arrived at 08.30. By the time Fr D looked in, great progress had been made on the project (which made him think that the estimate of three days would be achieved). When he looked again at the end of the afternoon three quarters of one side had been completed and a very different scene was exposed (a view of the Leg of Mutton field)! Having celebrated Morning Prayer and Mass on Wednesday Fr D set about work on the newsletter, very different this time as it was to be a ‘double issue’ whilst Sarah has a well-earned rest. In order to do this Fr D needed to amend the template and cope with a Holy Day (Assumption) during the first week as well - it was quite a challenge. The landscapers continued their work in the car park, turning the corner, removing the remaining greenery to leave half a length of trunks by the end of the day. Thursday morning, having celebrated Morning Prayer and Mass, Fr D checked in with the landscapers who said that they would be finish by mid-afternoon. After this he was off in the car down to the diocesan offices at Crawley where he pursued work on another of his marriage cases that he hopes to bring to judgement early in September. He also had a list of queries to respond to that had built up in his ‘in-tray’ since he was last in at the office. When he arrived home in the evening and looked at the car park it was very different. He has now told the fencing contractors that all is prepared for the new fence to be erected which will probably begin in late August/early September.  Following Morning Prayer and Mass on Friday Fr D heard that the workmen will be coming next Tuesday to start work on the spire – it’s all go . . . . .