[Question:]{.underline} Could you please explain the discrepancies in the ceremonies for Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday that I see in different traditional chapels?
[Answer:]{.underline} The key to understanding the minor differences that a traditional Catholic sometimes sees is the Restoration of the ceremonies of Holy Week. This was done by Pope Pius XII in two stages, the restoration of the Easter Vigil being decreed in 1951, and of Holy Thursday and Good Friday in November 1955. The changes were not great. The most obvious is the returning of the ceremonies to the original times, that corresponded with the events that were celebrated. The reason given in the decree of November 30, 1955 Maxima redemptionis nostrae mysteria is to promote the assistance of the faithful, whose customary absence from these ceremonies was a cause of great regret, given not only the extraordinary dignity of these ceremonies, but also their special sacramental power and efficacy to nourish the Christian life.
Consequently, it was decided that the Mass of the Lord’s Supper (In Coena Domini) for Maundy Thursday would be celebrated henceforth in the evening, starting not before 5:00 p.m. nor after 8:00 p.m., this coinciding with the time of the Last Supper. To the Mass was added the optional ceremony of the washing of the feet (previous celebrated separately), symbolizing thereby the charity of Christ towards his disciples that inspired Him to give them His body and blood. The evening procession to the altar of repose is symbolic of the apostles accompanying Our Divine Lord into the garden of Gethsemane.
The time of the ceremony for Good Friday was also changed to the afternoon, after the time of Our Lord’s death on the cross, namely from 3:00 until 6:00 p.m. The ceremony has barely changed except that the last part is no longer called the “Mass of the Presanctified”, but simply a Holy Communion service.
The Holy Saturday Vigil was restored to the original time of a Vigil, such that the Mass begins around midnight. The ceremonies were somewhat simplified, notably by reducing the number of lessons from 12 to 4, in order to make the ceremony more accessible for the faithful. The above mentioned decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites explains the symbolism of this change:
“First of all it is imperative that the faithful should be instructed about the unique liturgical character of Holy Saturday. This is the day of the most intense sorrow, the day on which the Church tarries at the Lord’s tomb, meditating about His Passion and death. While the altar remains stripped, the Church abstains from the sacrifice of the Mass until, after the solemn vigil or the nocturnal wait for the Resurrection, there come the Easter joys, the abundance of which carries over to the days that follow.
The intention and purpose of the vigil is to point out and to recall in the liturgical service how our life and grace have flowed from the Lord’s death. And so, Our Lord Himself is shown under the sign of the paschal candle as ‘the light of the world’ (Jn 8:12) who has put the darkness of our sins to flight by the grace of His light.”
The experience of the Church has proven the wisdom of this restoration of the primitive custom, of these minor changes, that help us to truly share with Our Lord the sacred moments of Holy Week. These restored Holy Week ceremonies will be seen in all the churches of the Society of Saint Pius X. However, there remain some traditional priests who confuse this authentic restoration with the post-conciliar revolution of the New Mass, and who refuse to accept these well balanced and duly authorized rubrical changes. These are in general sedevacantists, who maintain that there has been no Pope since Pius XII, and that Pius XII was no longer able to govern during the last years of his Papacy. It is true that during the 50s Fr. Bugnini and the liturgical movement were gathering speed for the liturgical revolution of the new Mass. However, the examination of the text and reasons given for these changes puts the lie to the accusations that they are impregnated with modernism, and that Pope Pius XII who wrote in 1947 a magnificent encyclical, Mediator Dei, condemning the abuses of the liturgical movement, had lost control.
Answered by Father Peter Scott, SSPX.