Indoor Palm Sunday, online masses, priest-less confessions: Holy Week in the time of COVID-19

Photo courtesy of CBCP News Facebook page

For the large Filipino Catholic population, Holy Week is a very important time of the year in their practice of faith. However, because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent implementation of enhanced community quarantine, many are finding different ways to still observe it without the usual mass gathering.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) recently issued a circular following a Vatican order containing recommendations for Holy Week celebrations.

“[These measures] should help us find the balance between the worthy celebration of the liturgy of the Rites of Holy Week and the call of our health and civil authorities to help stem the rapid transmission of the Coronavirus Disease,” said CBCP in a statement.

[READ: The mass will be televised: Where to stream church service online amid the COVID-19 outbreak]

Recommendations include avoiding concelebrations during the Holy Week and instead be made available through live coverage on radio, television and social media.

Palm Sunday

In the absence of the usual congregation during Palm Sunday, the Vatican Guidelines says “the faithful [should] follow this through radio, television and social media, the blessing of their palms or any leaf branches is imparted by the Scriptural Reading and Prayer of Blessing during the celebration. In their homes there is no need for holy water for the blessing of their palm branches.”

Likewise, other Paschal Triduum celebrations from Maundy Thursday until Easter Sunday like Chrism mass, the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper, Passion of the Lord and Easter Vigil are to be observed without crowds.

Personal confessions

Both religious organizations acknowledge the difficulty of celebrating the Sacrament of Confession, an essential act encouraged during Holy Week, amid the COVID-19 crisis. To assuage concerns from Catholics, Pope Francis suggests that in the absence of a priest speak to God. “He’s your Father. Tell Him the truth: ‘Lord. I did this and this and this. Pardon me.’ Ask His forgiveness with all your heart with an act of contrition, and promise Him, ‘afterward I will go to confession.”

Maintaining the solemnity of Holy Mass online

Archdiocese of Manila administrator Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo advices that since all masses will be held and streamed online, proper churchgoing decorum should still be observed. Among these is reading the excerpted scripture before the mass and as being 100 percent present even if that means letting go of that cup of morning coffee.

The archdiocese added that in their respective ecclesiastical jurisdictions, church bells will be tolled at 12 p.m. and at 8 p.m. for the praying of the Oratio Imperata and the Angelus at noon and rosary in the evening.

[READ: Return of the oratio imperata—what it is and why it’s back]

They also released a guide on how to celebrate Holy Week with the family at home here:

Online mass and celebration schedules

The same CBCP circular orders churches to publicize online mass schedules prior to the date of celebration, so here are a few from major churches in Metro Manila that you can bookmark and tune into for Holy Week.