The commencement of Holy Week marked the ending of the Lenten season, and the Catholic Diocese of Brownsville has announced its plans to observe the Triduum.
The Triduum, which is Latin for “three days,” is the Church’s way of observing Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday. The three days mark the transition from the end of Lent to the start of Easter.
“The last three days of Holy Week are essentially one unified celebration of Christ’s death and resurrection broken into three parts,” Brenda Nettles Riojas, a spokeswoman for the Diocese of Brownsville, wrote in an email. “Traditionally, they are known as ‘the Triduum,’ meaning the Three Days.”
Holy Thursday commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus Christ and the washing of the feet of his disciples.
Bishop Daniel E. Flores will begin the observance of Triduum with a Mass of the Last Supper at Immaculate Conception Cathedral, located at 1218 E. Jefferson St. in Brownsville, at 7 p.m. Thursday.
There will also be a Mass of the Lord’s Supper at the Basilica Of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle, located at 400 Virgen de San Juan Blvd. in San Juan. The bilingual Mass will have washing of the feet, the distribution of the blessed bread and the adoration of the blessed sacrament.
On Friday, Flores will lead the Stations of the Cross at the Basilica beginning at noon. There will also be a bilingual liturgy of the Word and Veneration of the Cross at 3 p.m., and a bilingual Pésame a la Virgen at 5 p.m.
There will also be a bilingual Pésame a la Virgen on Saturday morning, and an Easter Vigil Mass at 8:30 p.m. at the Basilica. Flores will then lead an Easter Vigil on the Holy Night of Easter at Immaculate Conception Cathedral on Saturday at 9 p.m.
The Bishop will hold The Resurrection of the Lord Mass at 9 a.m. Sunday at the Basilica. The Basilica will have Easter Sunday Masses scheduled for 7 a.m. in Spanish; a bilingual Mass at 10:30 a.m.; Masses in Spanish at 12 p.m. and 1:30 p.m.; and English Mass at 3 p.m.; and a 7 p.m. Mass in Spanish.
