Holy Week has come and gone. It’s been so long since I was part of the congregation (and not the choir director) that I almost feel like I want to take one Triduum off and just enjoy the Three Days without feeling the pressure of being there with the music—no, as I think more about it, that would only work if I actually attended the Triduum at at another church. I would even be more nervous at my church if I was there and not leading the music!
It has been the tradition at my church to create a worship aid for the Triduum and extend it on into the whole of the Easter season. It has also been our tradition to acquire beautiful artwork to use for the worship aid cover. This has served us well in the past, but as the price to use copyrighted art work goes up, I have taken to using artist in my own parish. The worship aid cover in this post is actually from our 2006 Triduum. It was created by Ted Sanders who has been in our choir for over 30 years. Ted is a teacher, an accomplished artist and a fine tenor. He also is a percussionist in our choir. When I first saw this piece of art work, I fell in love with it. I don’t really know that much about art, but it is one of those paintings (I believe it was done in chalk) that I can just get lost in—lost in prayer.
Back to this years Triduum — What really stands out in my mind? What memories will I cherish the most? I think the most beautiful moment was the dressing of the altar at the Easter Vigil. I believe this liturgical movement was brought back from the Religious Education Congress in Los Angeles. I have a friend who was taking pictures during the liturgy, so hopefully I’ll be able to eventually post a picture of the table. For now I’ll just describe it—at the “Presentation of Gifts” we sang We Come To Your Feast by Fr. Michael Joncas (GIA Publications, Inc.)
Verse 1 from “We Come To Your Feast”
We place upon your table a gleaming cloth of white.
The weaving of our stories, the fabric of our lives;
the dreams of those before us, the ancient hopeful cries,
the promise of our future: our needing and our nurture
lie here before our eyes.
As we sang the hymn, two people dressed in native clothing from their country of birth processed to the altar with a small altar cloth made from their home country. There were altar cloths from the Philippines, Guam, Vietnam, Mexico and Africa. As they processed, they held up the cloth for all to see—and as each pair came up, they laid their cloth on the altar. The last pair that came up laid the white altar cloth on top, but you could still see the brilliant fabric from the other cloths hanging down in front of the altar. It really choked me up. So many rich cultures coming together as one to pray and sing and celebrate our risen Lord.
Verse 2 from “We Come To Your Feast”
We place upon your table a humble loaf of bread:
The gift of field and hillside, the grain by which we’re fed;
We come to taste the presence of him on whom we feed,
to strengthen and connect us, to challenge and correct us
to love and word and deed.
The Catholic Liturgical Musician 