This Easter, Be Your Parish's Welcome Committee

Jesus- Vanquisher of Death

Troparion

By raising Lazarus from the dead before Thy passion, 

Thou didst confirm the universal resurrection, O Christ God. 

Like the children with the palms of victory, 

We cry out to Thee, O Vanquisher of death, 

Hosanna in the highest! 

Blessed is He that comes in the Name of the Lord.

this is why today is "good"

Troparion

When Thy glorious Disciples were enlightened at the supper by the feet washing, 

then the impious Judas was darkened with the disease of avarice, 

and he delivered Thee, the Just Judge, to the lawless judges. 

See, O lover of money, this man through money came to hang himself. 

Flee the insatiable desire which dared to do such things to the Master. 

O Lord, Who art good towards all, glory to Thee.

Kontakion

Having taken bread in his hand, the traitor secretly stretches it out, 

and takes a price for Him Who with His own hands made man. 

And Judas remained an incorrigible slave and liar.

Troparion

Thou hast redeemed us from the curse of the Law by Thy precious Blood. 

By being nailed to the Cross and pierced with the Spear, 

Thou hast poured immortality on mankind. 

O our Saviour, glory to Thee.

Kontakion

Come, let us all praise Him Who was crucified for us. 

For Him it was Whom Mary beheld on the Tree, and said: 

Even though Thou endurest the cross, Thou art my Son and my God.

A PrettyHappyFunnyRealHoly Thursday

Jesus Washing St. Peter's Feet by Ford Madox Brown

Pretty- Today is a commemoration of the institution of the Most Holy Eucharist. here is the audio of one version of the liturgical portion of "Accept me today as a partaker of Your Mystical Supper."

Happy- I wish we sung like this - O Joyful Light- but I am happy to use as much as I can of this fabulous website.

Funny- He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!” John 13:7-9 

Real- Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean. When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them.“You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. John 13:11-17

Holy Thursday

We sinners also cry out with these blessed powers, O loving and kind Master,

and say:  Holy are you; truly, all-holy.
Immeasurable is the majesty of your holiness.
You are revered in all your works;
for with righteousness and just judgment you have ordered all things for us.
Taking clay from the earth, you formed man
and honored him with your own image, O God.
You placed him in a delightful paradise
and promised him immortal life and the enjoyment of eternal blessings
through the observance of  your commandments.
But man disobeyed you, the true God who created him;
he was led astray by the deceit of the Serpent,
and by his own transgressions was subjected to death.
In your righteous judgment, O God, you banished him from paradise
and returned him to the earth from which he had been taken,
but provided for him the salvation of rebirth in your Christ.


For you did not turn away from your creature forever, O Good One,
nor forget the work of your hands;
rather, you intervened in various ways because of your merciful loving-kindness.
You sent prophets and performed mighty deeds through your holy ones
who have pleased you in every generation.
You spoke to us through the mouth of your servants, the prophets, 
who foretold the salvation which was to come.
You gave the Law as an aid, and appointed angels as guardians.
When the fullness of time had come, you spoke to us through your own Son,
the very one through whom you created the ages.
Although he is the reflection of your glory and the express image of your person,
sustaining all things by his powerful word,
He did not deem equality with you, God and Father, something to be grasped;
rather, while remaining everlasting God,
he appeared on earth and lived among men.
In becoming incarnate from the holy Virgin, he emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
conforming himself to the lowliness of our body,
that he might conform us to the image of his glory.


For since, through a man, sin entered the world,
and through sin, death,
so it pleased your only-begotten Son,
who is in your bosom, God and Father,
to be born of a woman, the holy Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary,
to be born under the Law,
to condemn sin in his flesh
so that those who are dead in Adam
might be brought to life in him, your Christ.
Living in this world, he gave us precepts for salvation,
turned us away from the deceit of idols,
and brought us to know you, true God and Father.
He purchased us for himself as a chosen people, a royal priesthood, 
and a holy nation,
cleansing us with water and sanctifying us with the Holy Spirit.


He surrendered himself as a ransom to Death
by which we were held captive,
sold into slavery under sin.
Descending by the cross into Hades
to fulfill all things in himself,
he freed us from Death’s despair,
and rose on the third day,
preparing the way for the resurrection of all flesh from the dead.
Since Corruption could not keep the Author of Life in its clutches,
he became the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep,
the first-born of the dead,
that in all things he might have pre-eminence over all.

A portion of the Holy Thursday services 

Our Convert Family's Journey Home- A Guest Post

"This is a page out of the Archdiocesan Catholic Women's Conference Book for 2004.  I was the Church Commission Chair for five years. This post is to thank God for his mercy and guidance through many experiences.  On the anniversary of my family's entrance into the Church, this is the condensed version of our experience on Our Journey."

 The Convert

After one moment when I bowed my head
And the whole world turned over and came upright,
And I came out where the old road shone white,
I walked the ways and heard what all men said,
Forests of tongues, like autumn leaves unshed,
Being not unlovable but strange and light;
Old riddles and new creeds, not in despite
But softly, as men smile about the dead.

The sages have a hundred maps to give
That trace their crawling cosmos like a tree,
They rattle reason out through many a sieve
That stores the sand and lets the gold go free:
And all these things are less than dust to me
Because my name is Lazarus and I live.

--GK Chesterton

epilogue to the convert's story- there are now more than twenty Catholic grandchildren! 

Priest's Wife here: May I recommend Jen Fulwiler's recent post 5 Pitfalls for New Converts