Abp. Aymond: All Holy Week liturgies likely to be 'private'

 By Peter Finney Jr.

Archbishop Gregory Aymond said Friday that Catholic liturgical services during Holy Week (April 5-12) in the Archdiocese of New Orleans likely will be conducted in the same “private” fashion as has been the case since Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards placed prohibitions March 19 on large public gatherings in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

In a telephone interview with WWL radio from his residence, where he remains in self-quarantine while recovering from the virus, Archbishop Aymond called the private celebrations of Mass during Holy Week – Palm Sunday through Easter Sunday – “unprecedented” in the archdiocese’s history.

The archbishop noted that all churches, including St. Louis Cathedral, would celebrate Masses on Palm Sunday and Holy Thursday along with the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday, as well as the Liturgy of the Passion of the Lord on Good Friday.

Those liturgies, however, are expected to have a bare minimum of people present, most of them clergy or other individuals with specific ministry roles. 

On Palm Sunday, palms will be blessed and left inside churches for people to pick up on their own.

One of the highlighted rituals of Holy Thursday’s Mass of the Last Supper – the re-enactment of Jesus’ washing of the feet of his disciples – will be omitted as a precaution against spreading germs, the archbishop said.

Good Friday’s Liturgy of the Passion of the Lord normally includes the opportunity for the congregation to venerate a large crucifix by kissing it, but in this case, the crucifix will be held up near the altar, and a special prayer will be said without anyone coming forward for a kiss.

All of these measures are being taken in the interest of public health, the archbishop said.

“There will be no congregation, or if there are a few people there, it will be for specific reasons,” Archbishop Aymond said. “It’s very important that we honor the fact that we don’t want to spread the virus. From what I hear, we’re still dealing with an uptick in cases, so we certainly don’t want to in any way be responsible for a greater number of people being sick.”

The archbishop said he was heartened that so many pastors are using social media tools such as Facebook Live to livestream their private Masses during the week and on Sunday.

“I’ve been really impressed with our priests and with the number of parishes that have the ability to do livestreaming,” he said. “The difficulty is people are not able to receive Communion, and a lot of people have expressed to me their disappointment in that. But we do have what we call ‘Spiritual Communion.’”

He explained that Catholics who do not have a chance to receive the Eucharist can offer a prayer of yearning to God for the Eucharist and ask “the Lord Jesus to come to me.”

The archbishop acknowledged how difficult it will be for Catholics to not have personal access to the Mass during Holy Week.

“At no time in my life – and certainly not in recent history – have we ever had a Holy Week where we didn’t have public Masses,” Archbishop Aymond said. “This is an unprecedented time. For those of us who have the disease, COVID-19, it’s not just an inconvenience just to the people who are sick. In a different way, we all have the coronavirus. The Holy Father called for a day of prayer and fasting, and we can unite with those who are suffering, those who are involved and also for the people in the medical profession who giving of themselves and for our civic leaders.

“This is unprecedented for those who are really in love with the liturgy of the church and really see God’s presence in all of this. This is a great sacrifice. We want to bear that sacrifice for our own sufferings but more importantly for the sufferings of others. There are over 2,000 people in Louisiana who are suffering. We have to be united with them.”

The archbishop said those who cannot make it personally to a priest for confession can “go before the Lord” and confess their sins, express their deep sorrow and their commitment to a changed heart, ask the Lord for forgiveness and “allow the Lord to truly forgive” them.

“Then, the next time you have the opportunity to go to confession – whenever that happens to be – go to confession,” he said.

The archbishop said he did not know of any weddings being scheduled during the virus shutdown because they have been postponed to later dates.

As for funerals, the archbishop suggested that a graveside blessing be done with a very small number of the immediate family, with a Memorial Mass being celebrated after the virus prohibitions on large crowds are lifted.

“To do that (funeral Mass) right now is a bit risky,” he said.
The archbishop said no one can predict when normal life will return – for society or for the archdiocese.

“I really think we have to wait and see,” the archbishop said. “All of us would like to be optimistic and say, ‘This has to end.’ I’ve been thinking of the Lord’s Prayer when we say, ‘Give us this day our daily bread.’ I think it’s a real challenge for us to live in the present and not look beyond a a week or two weeks or two days.

“It’s really a surrender to God, knowing that as we place ourselves in God’s hands, he will never abandon us. He always walks with us. He will always be available to us.”

Peter Finney Jr. can be reached at [email protected].