Follow Your Passion: A Seamless Tumblr Journey
Holy Week - Blog Posts
Whatever you are facing right now, remember the empty tomb: “Jesus is alive, and because of that, we win in the end!”
— Sheila Walsh, 5 Minutes with Jesus
He has risen and is and will always be with me in times of darkness, trials and adversities. He is my Saviour and my King!
“To be sure, it was not Easter Sunday but Holy Saturday, but, the more I reflect on it, the more this seems to be fitting for the nature of our human life: we are still awaiting Easter; we are not yet standing in the full light but walking toward it full of trust.”
— Pope Benedict XVI
On Black Saturday, we fervently hope, wait, and trust that the light of Easter Sunday will come and shine upon us, eventhough we are unworthy of it.
Dear Friends, ‘It wasn’t the nails that held Jesus to the Cross – it was love’.
— Rev. David Williams
This is the purest kind of love that has ever existed in this world.
May we find it in our hearts to love the way Christ loves — to die for the sinners and the wretched.
“Unless there is a Good Friday in your life, there can be no Easter Sunday.”
— Fulton J. Sheen
We must go through “death” (by this word I mean —pain, suffering, betrayal, agony) in order to resurrect.
‘The washing of the feet and the sacrament of the Eucharist: two expressions of one and the same mystery of love entrusted to the disciples, so that, Jesus says, “as I have done… so also must you do.’” (Jn 13: 15)
— Pope John Paul II
Jesus suffered a lot before he ressurected. And just like him, behind all my sufferings, victory awaits. I just have to love unconditionally and follow His lead.
“He will provide the way and the means, such as you could never have imagined. Leave it all to Him, let go of yourself. Lose yourself on the Cross, and you will find yourself entirely.”
— St. Catherine of Siena
God is a great provider, so do not fret. The right path is laid for those who believe in Him and who are ready to lose everything in order to follow His lead.
“Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him” (Luke 4:8). “Jesus knows what that means. It means lowliness, abuse, persecution. It means remaining misunderstood. It means hate, death, the cross. And he chooses this way from the beginning. It is the way of obedience and the way of freedom, for it is the way of God. And therefore it is also the way of love for human beings.”
— Dietrich Bonhoeffer (God Is on the Cross: Reflections on Lent and Easter)
The path we choose towards God is not all sunshine and daisies. It is rough and bumpy. But our destination is clear. It holds the promise of love, happiness and everlasting life.
"I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever!"
—Revelation 1:17–18.
Happy Easter everybody ♱
In the spirit of holy week ♱, I've decided to drop this, if this post doesn't resonate with you, feel free to skip....
Holy Saturday’s vigil was lovely, even as I was visiting my in-laws and I didn’t have my altar cabinet or a church nearby who offered the service.
My paschal candle was prepared with my pocket knife with the Cross, Alpha and Omega and the year’s numbers, blessed with holy water and the ashes from the cut up bits of palm frond. I read from the Old Testament and the Gospel of Luke 24:1-12 (since in 2025, we are in Year C of the Lectionnary), read out the Litany of Saints, and played the Excelsis Deo with the ringing bells at around midnight. It was a simple and moving rite, and one that I love to take, since it has a section in the scripts used to undertake a renewal of baptism and vows.
My mom went to a church in St. Ambroise, in Saguenay for her vigil. She brought back a vigil candle, and Lillie was intrigued!
A Happy Easter to all the faithful, and I hope your day is filled with joy and love among your families and friends!
A drive along the coasts of Cape Breton, in Main-de-Dieu, Louisbourg, and Sydney. Various graveyards, with time-worn statues, and an abandoned church. The first photo of Christ has the Fortress of Louisbourg in the background.
Spending Holy Saturday exploring these lonely, holy places really brought me joy!
Holy Week – La Semaine Sainte
Holy Week (April 13-April 19th 2025) – movable festivities
My favourite week when it comes to spirituality and activities to do!
I started observing Holy Week in earnest in 2020, during our lockdowns. I remember my first observance as being one of anxiety, and a need to feel comfort. My practice helped me get through it, and I’m happy to share this special week with all of you this year.
“Alleluia, Alleluia, L’carême s’en va, Il reviendra, À Mardi gras.”
-cantique acadienne du Samedi Saint. (Halleluiah, Halleluiah, Lent is leaving, only coming back on Shrove Tuesday)
Palm Sunday (picture above: my front door's palm frond set up)
The week begins with Palm Sunday! I have memories of visiting my grandmother in Saguenay and she’d bring back palm fronds for us to weave. We usually wove them up in little beehive shapes and pinned them to our front doors for protection all year long, since they were blessed with Holy Water at the church service. Most churches have a basket where you can deposit the palm fronds of last year. These are burned and provide the ashes for the next Ash Wednesday. The fresh palm fronds can be used to weave little baskets, little beehives, or they can be cut to the proper length for a bookmark for your devotional books or Bibles. You can paint on them too!
(features Acadian dialect terms for plants) Historically, Acadian communities like Chéticamp didn’t receive palms, it being troublesome to export to this isolated community in the Cape Breton Highlands. So, the faithful would bring cedar branches (thuya), club-moss (sévigny), juniper (chenave) or pine twigs (pruce) from the Highland mountains nearby. After being blessed at church, these tokens would be placed at the entrances of all buildings or assets on the property (fishing boats, cars, barns, and all rooms within the family home, even the cellar) for protection all year-round (1). If you want, feel free to find those plants responsibly and use them in your practice instead of palm fronds!
Holy Monday, Holy Tuesday and Holy Wednesday: usually has church services relating specific stories from the Gospel. I don’t tend to do much on those days. Honestly, I usually use those days to do some spring cleaning, prepare myself for the coming day’s rituals and festivities, and take some quiet time for myself to read passages, or bake for the coming holiday.
Maundy Thursday (picture above, my own Holy Oils)
The beginning of the Paschal Triduum (begins on this evening, into Holy Saturday’s Vigil). This day commemorates the Last Supper. The Chrism Mass is celebrated on this day, where the Holy Oils are blessed for the surrounding parishes. While this Mass is celebrated privately by the clergy in the Catholic Church, I like to celebrate in my own way. In the way that this celebration brings together all twelve apostles, as a Christian witch, I spend time with my meal that day, pondering on the apostles’ gifts they each possess, I contemplate what that Last Supper must have been like, and I bless my own oils for my folk magic purposes. Holy Oils: the Oil of the Sick, the Oil of the Catechumens, and the Holy Chrism Oil. The Oil of the Sick is pure olive oil and is used to anoint a sick or elderly person on the forehead and hands with a cross, paired with special prayers. They can be administered in any time and place. This can have a powerful impact on the placebo effect of faith on healing and bring courage and strength to the ailing person. The Oil of the Catechumens, also olive oil, is used for many things. It is used to anoint those about to undergo the Sacrament of Baptism, both infant and adults. This is to allow to receiver to be prepared to receive the wisdom and strength to learn Christian lessons during their religious quest. It is also used as a protection oil to ward off evil spirits on a baptism initiate. The Holy Chrism Oil is olive oil mixed with balsam. This oil represents strength, and the balsam is known as ‘the aroma of Christ’ (2 Corinthians 2:15). This oil is meant to give the receiver the gift of the Holy Spirit, and to devote something to God’s service. This oil is also used to anoint the altar and vessels used during Mass, as well as during the ordination of a priest. Already, these oils can have many uses within an individual folk practitioner’s spiritual habits, such as dedicating oneself to a path, blessing the altar, the working tools for rituals, and yourself when you need to reset your faith. During Holy Week on Holy Thursday, otherwise known as ‘The Chrism Mass’, the local bishop blesses enough new oils for every parish for later distribution. To bless these oils, the bishop does them in order as listed above, says a prayer to bless them individually. To bless the Chrism Oil, the bishop mixes oil from the balsam plant with the olive oil, breathes on the mixed oil to signify the presence of the Holy Spirit, and then says a prayer to consecrate it. For the individual practitioner, if you want officially blessed oils from the church, many Christian shops sell amounts of them, but if you want to individualize your practice, feel free to bless them yourself for a day where you’re feeling sick, need extra protection, or need to bless your space once more.
Good Friday
On this day, we commemorate Jesus’s crucifixion and death on the cross. It’s a day of sorrow and reflection. For my part, I like attending Good Friday services in my area, and I wear all black on that day.
It is tradition to remain silent from noon till 3pm, to commemorate Jesus’s last moments of life, as he is noted to have died at 3 o’clock in the afternoon. Families with young children would encourage the kids to pray or to go to bed for a nap, to ensure they remained quiet. My great-grandmother has memories of going through that silent vigil with impatience! For myself, I like to take time to light a candle at 3pm, while doing my best to remain quiet without distractions from noon until that time. In church, the priest would ensure the Sanctuary where the Tabernacle resides is empty of the Host, and the candle extinguished. The altar is laid bare of décor. I do the same. I empty my Tabernacle lantern of the Host and make sure I don’t light candles near it. I take off my altar cloth and décor, and lay a black pall over the entire cabinet.
In some Acadian communities, if bad weather prevented the family from traveling to church, the family would set up a white cloth on the kitchen table, place the crucifix on it, and each family member needs to kiss it. Afterwards, the head of the family would recite from the Roman Missal. They also read their Way of the Cross (chemin de la croix) at home or in church. (2) It was also imperative to avoid butchering farm animals or go out hunting wild game on this day. Fishermen out at sea would do their Passiontide readings and note the direction from which the wind came from, for they knew that if they did so, the wind’s direction would remain faithful for the remaining year.
Holy Saturday
My all-time favourite spiritual and religious experience of the calendar year! I love it because I don’t think there’s any other day in the liturgical calendar where parishioners are expected to participate in as much as this day. It is meant to take the believer from the times of Genesis with the creation of all that exists in this world, to the first fire and the first waters, and translate that into the renewal of baptisms, the lighting of a new Easter fire, and the gradual lighting of all candles in the chapel to symbolise the growing victory of light in the face of so much darkness and death. All lights and church candles were extinguished since Thursday, and the only candle that will be lit is the Paschal candle, inscribed with this year’s date. I like to attend the University of King’s College Chapel services in Halifax, Nova Scotia, for this ritual, given the intimate chapel venue, the vibes of the clergy, and how lively it gets. We bring the Paschal candle outside and bless it with the fire from the Holy Spirit. We bless the baptismal font and the Holy Water inside, and a series of litanies and chants are done, as everyone holds a little candle in their hands, lit from that Paschal pillar. Once it hits midnight, the entire chapel lights up again, and all the bells chime loudly, announcing Christ’s resurrection. The choir bursts into joyful song, and it really is the most lively and impactful service. Partying ensues until dawn for us, with a feast of lamb and an array of dishes brought in from a multicultural scene.
In Acadian communities, Holy Saturday celebrate their first midnight mass of the year (the other one being Christmas eve). From a small fire at the church entrance, parishioners light their own candles. Hymns of Halleluiah and joyful rhythms take the choir and congregation in song. I definitely want to see how these services are done in French, and one day, if I’m lucky, I’ll attend.
Easter Sunday (photo above: the Saguenay River)
On Easter morning, before the sun comes up, many faithful in communities in Québec and some in Acadie would wake up and head over to the nearest brook to collect “l’eau de Pâques” (Easter Water). This coveted water would be known to heal certain ailments and protect against lightning. Often, it was noted as having the same virtues as Holy Water provided by a priest. It needed to be collected against the current of the brook, before sunrise. To do this journey was known to “voir danser le soleil de Pâques et aller au ruisseau quérir de l’eau de Pâques.” (to go see the Easter sun dance, and go seek out the Easter Water.) It was told that on Easter morning, the sun performs a dance as it rises, and that everyone should witness it at least once in their lifetime. (3) The sun is reputed to be brightest on that sunrise than any other time of year. In the south-west of Nova-Scotia, a formula needed to be recited while collecting this special water, “Bénie soit cette eau, qui guérit tous les maux.” (Made holy may this water be, to heal all ails.). This tradition still is practiced in the north-west of New Brunswick today. In regions of Québec and Acadie, it is paramount that parishioners and believers take at least one Eucharist mass between Ash Wednesday and la Quasimodo (the 2nd Sunday of Eastertide). It is known in those regions as “Faire ses Pâques” (Attend your Easters). Otherwise, you’d run the risk of becoming a loup-garou or have a damned soul if you skip seven years in a row.
Feasts for Easter in Acadian communities ranged from a breakfast of as many eggs as one could eat if they were available, right down to home-grown chicken, wild game or salt meat. After a long March of dwindling cellar stores and not much meat left, families often made due with the remains of their provisions. (4)
Sources:
Père Anselme Chiasson. Chéticamp, Histoire et Traditions Acadiennes. Éditions les Aboiteaux. 1972. p.214
Jean-Claude Dupont. Héritage d’Acadie. Éditions Leméac. 1977. p.77
Ibid.,308
Jude Avery. Joie de Vivre – Love of Life: Isolated Acadians celebrate their culture through traditions and folklore. New World Publishing, 2021. P.28
Holy Week coinciding with the anniversary of POTO's closing on Broadway is a very dark combination when you think about it.