Holy Week celebrations were faith-filled despite empty pews caused by pandemic

Friday, Apr. 17, 2020

UTAH — The Easter Triduum – from the evening of Holy Thursday through Holy Saturday and continuing until the evening of Easter Sunday – is the summit of the Catholic Church’s liturgical year. “Though chronologically three days, they are liturgically one day unfolding for us the unity of Christ’s Paschal Mystery,” states the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The celebrations of the Triduum include the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, the Friday of Passion of the Lord and the Mass of the Resurrection of the Lord. Usually during these celebrations, Catholic churches are filled with parishioners, but this year, due to the restrictions on public gatherings caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, empty pews were the reality. Not only that, but many of the rituals were forsaken – there was no washing of the feet, no reverencing of the cross, no lighting of the Easter fire, no Rites of Initiation.

For local priests, the changes were disheartening, but the hope of the resurrected Christ took away the sadness.

Fr. Michael Sciumbato, pastor of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Ogden, said the effects of the required social distancing started before the Triduum. 

“I missed celebrating Passion Sunday with the parishioners and walking with palms in procession, singing hymns of praise,” he said. “I missed washing the feet on Holy Thursday – this ritual really brings home to me the call to service, which is the priesthood. I missed not being able to reverence the Cross with you, the symbol of our salvation, on Good Friday. I missed not baptizing our Elect on Holy Saturday.” 

Fr. Sciumbato said he also missed the Easter ham and biting the heads off chocolate Easter bunnies, “but in the midst of all this sadness and loss, there is one thing that gives me hope: the Resurrection of Christ and what it means for us.”

Two elements of the Holy Saturday liturgy have been always very special for him.

“The first is a line from the Exsultet, that magnificent hymn which proclaims the Resurrection,” he said. “Think of it: slaves to sin though we are, God gave his Son away to death for us! How profound and unfathomable is the love of God for us (even in the midst of stay-at-home directives and social distancing).” 

Then, he said, “in the Gospel for Holy Saturday, as the two Marys step into the empty tomb, they encounter an angel whose appearance is like lightning and his clothing white as snow. And he speaks to them those ancient words of hope: ‘Do not be afraid!’” 

Those passages always bring tears to his eyes, he said.

“If only we completely, totally, wholeheartedly and honestly believed those words, the sadness and fear we are experiencing would vanish, for we would know that Christ will save us, just as he did on that first Easter 2,000 years ago,” Fr. Sciumbato said.

Despite the uncertainty of when the pandemic will come to an end, Fr. Sciumbato hopes that people can keep their minds fixed on the fact that “God gave away his Son to death, to ransom us from the slavery of sin. Therefore, no power, no virus, not even death itself, can scare us. To be afraid is useless. God is with us and will bring us through this. Jesus is risen! He is risen indeed!”

Similarly, for Father Jorge Roldan, pastor of St. Bridget Parish and the missions of St. Bosco, Holy Family and our Lady of Light in central Utah, celebrating Holy Week without the physical presence of parishioners was a new and different opportunity to keep the Catholic faith alive and strong.

“As it was for everyone, for me it was something that we have to learn how to do. ... We are used to talking to the people, to preaching to the people face to face,” he said.

Watching Pope Francis walk by himself through St. Peter’s Square on Good Friday inspired Fr. Roldan; “if our Holy Father can do it, we [as priests] can do it, too,” he said.

Learning to use technology to communicate remotely with his community has been a challenge, he said. For example, he had to learn how to hold the phone for a transmission, and how to avoid having outside sounds interfere with the broadcast of the liturgy. 

However, seeing how people have responded through social media has been very enrichening, he said, especially because members of his community, being in a remote part of the state, usually do not rely on social media to communicate.

“One of my parishioners called me to say that she never had a Facebook page ... but now she does, because she wanted to see the Masses,” said Fr. Roldan adding that “in the midst of hard times, God is always inviting us to be with him more, and if it’s through new experiences, we just have to learn how.”

Priests are used to being physically away from their family members, Fr. Roldan said, “but we have never been taught [how to deal with] experiences like this. ... I don’t see this as tragic, as it might be seen; I see this as a new opportunity for the pastoral life of the Church, because it has taught us to confront new challenges.”

Seeing how priests all over the world have taken advantage of available resources to continue their ministry has been very rewarding, he said. 

“We have done it and I think we are doing it well,” said Fr. Roldan, adding that the people of God “have to keep on going. If our pope can walk by himself, we all can do it.”

At St. Peter Catholic Parish in American Fork, Fr. Ariel Durian, pastor, had a couple of reasons to be thankful even amid the disappointment of not being able to have the traditional gatherings for the Holy Week celebrations.

“Luckily, we have a parishioner who took the initiative to record the celebrations, so the members of our parish community could participate in the observance of the Holy Week celebrations,” Fr. Durian said.

“It was a bit disappointing because when Holy Week comes it’s a time of lots of preparation; people prepare for the wonderful occasion to celebrate the Passion of Christ,” he added. 

With the social restrictions in place because of the pandemic, no one was able to be at the church, so the Holy Week celebrations without parishioners present was new and unexpected, he said.

“The church is a place not only to congregate, but also to be united as one community, to pray and to reflect deeply on the Passion experience of Jesus,” Fr. Durian said.

However, seeing people reach out and participate remotely in the services was a very happy moment, he said.

Still, “I am looking forward to the time that we will celebrate our faith together,” he said.