I hope all of you had a blessed and joyous Easter! I know I did. If I had to name this season I’d call it the “Year of the Giggles” because it certainly was, at least for me. I was giggling or “awww”ing or seeing soemthing precious at every Mass…I’m sure my fellow choir members were thinking I’d gone ’round the bend, or something.
Some examples:
Holy Thursday : The Washing of the Feet is always interesting, just to see who gets picked, and there were a lot of little kids (or littler people) this year…RCIC kids, some of the 8th graders who are going to be confirmed. That was nice to see, as opposed to most of the adults. My parents were both up there, too, so the usual humor/pride mix that results when your family members are involved in Mass was there, too. There were so many kids, at all the Triduum Masses, and that made me happy. But kids love Holy Thursday because it’s not that much longer than a normal Mass, but it’s got all this awesome stuff–the feet washing, the Transfer of the Host, etc. (for those of you not in the loop: The Transfer of the Host occurs at the end of Holy Thursday Mass. The priest dons a cope (like a little cape thing) and carries the ciborium holding enough consecrated hosts for Good Friday service, since it’s not a Mass. His hands are wrapped in the cope so he’s not directly touching it. There’s a procession with candles and beaucoup de incense, which the older adults seem to always grumble about but the kids like. So they watch the procession go around the church with everyong singing Tantum Ergo Sacramentum , which is only sung once a year…their eyes look like saucers. I love it. )
Good Friday : OK, no giggling at Good Friday because it’s, well Good Friday. But it was a great service (FYI, it is the only time you can actually call a Catholic Mass a “Service”, because it’s not a Mass due to the fact that there’s no consecration of the Eucharist). I love Good Friday, although it’s my personal opinion that every lector who reads the First Reading (Isaiah 52-53) should have to watch Sir Lawrence Olivier deliver those lines in Jesus of Nazareth because he is just The Man.
Holy Saturday : Had about 15 people come into the Church, so that was nice. One was a family, which is also nice. One little girl, who I was near, watched her father come into the Church, and after he was confirmed she ran up to him and gave him a big hug, which of course made me go ‘awww’. It was really cute. The “Hallelujah Chorus” went swimmingly, thank you. 
So all in all a good triduum. I always love those Masses, even more than Christmas, and I always feel kind of relieved/bummed when it’s over (relieved b/c I don’t have to sing that much for the rest of the year, bummed because it’s over). But I’m sure next year will come soon enough…
