CHARLOTTE — The holy days leading up to Easter promise to be a time of prayer and community-building as people gather at churches and missions across western North Carolina to commemorate the Lord’s passion, death and resurrection.
Holy Week and Easter liturgies this year will be unhindered by the restrictions imposed the past two years during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bishop Peter J. Jugis will participate in the following liturgies at St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte during Holy Week:
Palm Sunday Mass: 11 a.m. Sunday, April 10 (palm blessing and procession at 10:50 a.m.)
Chrism Mass: 10 a.m. Tuesday, April 12 (streamed live on the diocese’s YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/eE60_blRHEU. Follow along here.)
Mass of the Lord’s Supper: 7 p.m. Thursday, April 14
Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion: 3 p.m. April 15
Easter Vigil Mass: 8:30 p.m. Saturday, April 16
Outdoor Living Stations of the Cross (Español) are planned at several parishes in the diocese, including:
- Charlotte: Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, noon and 3 p.m., 6212 Tuckaseegee Road
- Concord: St. James the Greater Church, 6 p.m., 139 Manor Ave. S.W.
- Mooresville: St. Therese Church,
4:30 p.m., 217 Brawley School Road - Swannanoa: 5:30 p.m. Friday, April 15, in Grovement Park across from St. Margaret Mary Church, 102 Andrews Place
In addition to the regular liturgies of Holy Week that nearly every church will host, other Holy Week events around the diocese include:
- Byzantine Vespers, Procession and Burial of the Lord’s Shroud: 6 p.m. Friday, April 15, at St. Basil the Great Eastern Catholic Church, on the campus of St. Thomas Aquinas Church, 1400 Suther Road in Charlotte
- Lenten Pilgrimage of Christ’s Passion: 7 p.m. Friday, April 15, at St. Matthew Church, 8015 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy. in Charlotte. Christ’s Passion brought to life through music and prayer.
- Tenebrae Service: 8 p.m. Friday, April 15, at St. Thomas Aquinas Church, 1400 Suther Road in Charlotte
Easter basket blessings planned for Saturday, April 16, include:
- St. Lawrence Basilica, 10:30 a.m., 97 Haywood St., Asheville
- St. Matthew Church, noon, 8015 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy., Charlotte
- St. Philip the Apostle Church, noon, 525 Camden Dr., Statesville
- St. Pius X Church, 9 a.m., 2210 N. Elm St., Greensboro, along with an Easter egg hunt in the SPX Cloister
- Polish and English blessing of Easter food baskets (“Swieconka” in Polish) at St. Thomas Aquinas Church, 1 p.m., 1400 Suther Road, Charlotte.
Of course, there’s a lot more going on than can be listed here, so be sure to check your parish’s website or bulletin. For a list of churches near you, go to www.charlottediocese.org.
— Catholic News Herald