NEW YORK – Holy Week is fast approaching and many New York Catholics are ready to participate in local Masses and community events taking place throughout the week.
Holy Week, which begins with Palm Sunday, includes liturgical activities on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday. This year, the religious holiday of Good Friday falls on April 7. The full Easter program is available here.
According to Britannica, Good Friday has been observed from the earliest days of Christianity as a day of sorrow, penance and fasting, a characteristic expressed in the German word “Karfreitag” (“Friday of Sorrows”). In English, the origin of the term “Good” (Good Friday) is debated: some believe that it comes from an older name, “God’s Friday”.
In the Roman Catholic Church, Mass is not celebrated on Good Friday, although a liturgy is celebrated. The liturgy of Good Friday consists of the reading of the Gospel account of the Passion, the adoration of the cross and Communion.
In New York, Catholics will have several opportunities in the boroughs to see a street procession enacting the Stations of the Cross.
To get involved in one of the local Good Friday events, here are some churches in New York that have scheduled liturgies:
St. Simon Stock Parish – St. Joseph (The Bronx)
The street procession will be at noon and the service will be at 7 p.m. The address is 2191 Valentine Ave.
Parish of San Antonio de Padua (The Bronx)
A bilingual procession will begin at 4:30 p.m. in front of the church. At 7 p.m., the church will hold its Commemoration of the Passion in Spanish. The church is located at 832 East 166th Street.
(esquina of 166th Street and Prospect Avenue).
St. Patrick’s Cathedral (Manhattan)
While the famous cathedral will not have a procession through the streets of the city center, you can still visit the Solemn Liturgy of the Passion and Death of the Lord at 3:30 p.m., which will also be broadcast live.
Our Lady of Lourdes Church (Manhattan)
Their procession will be at 1 p.m. and they will also perform a liturgy at 4 p.m. in Spanish.