The Ordo for
Thursday 25 March 2027
March 2027
| Psalter: Week 2 |
| Mar 25 Thursday | Lunar day: 17 |
| violet | Thursday in Holy Week. | |
| The Chrism Mass may be celebrated in the morning, or on another day earlier this week. White vestments are worn. It is especially fitting that priests concelebrate with the bishop. Priests may communicate under both species, even if not concelebrating. | ||
| Apart from the Chrism Mass and the Mass of the Last Supper, all Masses are prohibited, unless the Ordinary permits a second Mass, exclusively for those unable to participate in the Evening Mass. Funerals can only be celebrated without Mass. | ||
| Hours of the day. At Office of Readings, the psalms and antiphons of Friday, Week III, may be used. | ||
| OP | Today or on another day of this week, some communal penitential celebration or "rite of reconciliation" may be held, whether it be sacramental or non-sacramental (according to the spirit of the Rite of Penance, nn.36-37). However, this celebration may not immediately precede Mass. | |
| EASTER TRIDUUM |
| OP |
The Easter Triduum of the passion and resurrection of Christ is the culmination of the entire liturgical year. (RC, n.18) The Easter Triduum begins with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, reaches its high point in the Easter Vigil, and closes with Evening Prayer on Easter Sunday. (RC, n.19) During these days it is desirable that brothers and sisters "who experience the mystery of suffering" should share in and be participants in the liturgical celebrations of the community, especially if they are in the hospital, "that they may be helped to know the meaning of this reality which they live in union with the paschal mystery of Christ." Therefore, keeping in mind their varying conditions and different circumstances, everything should be so arranged that in the most suitable manner the sick may have the possibility of receiving Communion and, if possible, participating in the veneration of the Cross on Good Friday. The various faculties found in the Ritual should be freely used. Indeed our concern which is manifested through our care and prayer furnishes the strongest testimony to all that such concern flows from the gospel, our faith in God, and the power of the resurrection. Throughout the Triduum, the major prelate presides at the principal hours of the Office and at Mass. The principal hours of the Office begin on the right side of choir. | |
| white | Holy Thursday (evening) | Triduum |
| Roman Stational Church: St John Lateran | ||
| Mass of the Lord’s Supper. Gloria, creed, Preface of Eucharist I, special Communicantes, Hanc Igitur and Qui pridie in Eucharistic Prayer I. | ||
| Readings: Exod 12:1-8, 11-14; Ps 116:12-13, 15-16, 17-18; 1 Cor 11:23-26; John 13:1-15 | ||
| Today the reading of the Martyrology is omitted. | ||
| The tabernacle should be completely empty before the celebration. Enough hosts for the communion of the faithful for tonight and tomorrow should be consecrated during that celebration.
For the reservation of the Blessed Sacrament, a place should be prepared and adorned. When the tabernacle is in a chapel separated from the central part of the church, it is appropriate to prepare the place of repose and adoration there. [PS 49] Candles should be provided for the concelebrants and brethren to carry in the procession. All priests may concelebrate the Mass. Bells may be rung during the Gloria, and are silent thereafter. | ||
| OP | The mandatum - the washing of the feet of the brethren [or laity] - may take place before or after the homily. Gifts for the poor, especially those collected during Lent as the fruit of penance, may be presented in the offertory procession while the people sing Ubi caritas. [PS 52] | |
| OP | After the Prayer After Communion, the greeting, blessing and dismissal are omitted. The celebrant incenses the Blessed Sacrament three times, receives the humeral veil and the procession follows as in the Missal. The cross-bearer goes first, [PS 54], then the [laity and] brethren carrying candles, and the Blessed Sacrament accompanied by torches and incense. The brethren and faithful are encouraged, after the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, to spend a suitable period of time during the night in the church in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament that has been solemnly reserved. Solemn adoration ends at midnight; the Blessed Sacrament remains at the Place of Repose until the Liturgical Action of Good Friday. | |
| Today and tomorrow after Night Prayer, the blessing is not given, the antiphon Salve Regina is omitted, and holy water is not used. | ||
| The Sermo Dominicus (Jn. 13-17) may be used at table or as the last celebration of the day. In this case it is read in place of Night Prayer with the community gathered before the Blessed Sacrament. [cf. PS 56] | ||
Variables for the Current Year
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Sunday Readings
Since 1969, in order to open a richer selection of the Holy Scriptures to the faithful, the Sunday readings have been arranged in a three-year cycle. St Matthew’s Gospel is read in Year A, St Mark’s in Year B, and St Luke’s in Year C. St John’s Gospel is read in all years, in Lent and Eastertide principally.
- Cycle B
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Weekday Readings
Since 1969, in order to open a richer selection of the Holy Scriptures to the faithful, the weekday readings have been arranged in a two-year cycle.
- Cycle I
-
Dominical Letter
The Dominical Letter enables one to determine easily which days of the year are Sundays.
- c
-
Golden Number
The Golden Number indicates the current year in the metonic or nineteen-year cycle of the moon. It is used in determining the date of Easter.
- 14
-
Epact
The epact indicates the ‘age’ of the moon at the start of the solar year. For example, an epact of xi (that is, eleven) means that 1 January will be the twelfth day of the lunar month. If the epact is an asterisk (*), 1 January is an ecclesiastical new moon.
- 22
-
Solar Cycle
The solar cycle lasts twenty-eight years, because in the Julian calendar, in any year the days fall on the same day of the week as they did 28 years ago.
- 20
-
Letter of the Martyrology
The letter of the Martyrology is used in conjunction with a table at the head of each day’s reading in that book, indicating the correct day of the lunar month to be announced.
- C
-
Roman Year of Indiction
The Roman emperor Diocletian (284–305) established the practice of taking a census for taxation purposes every fifteen years, a period that became known as the cycle of indiction. In the early middle ages these cycles were taken to have begun with the accession of Constantine in 312, and were widely used to date correspondence, charters and other documents. (To find the year of indiction, add 3 to the year AD, then divide by 15. A zero remainder indicates year 15.)
- 5
-
Julian Period
Invented by Joseph Justus Scaliger (1540–1609), the Julian period combines the solar, metonic and indiction cycles in a period of 7,980 years, beginning on 1 January 4713 BC.
- Year 6740
-
Years since the confirmation of the Order
The Order was confirmed by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216.
- 811
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Years since the passing of our Holy Father Dominic
Holy Father Dominic died in the Lord in Bologna on 6 August 1221. His feast day is kept on 3 August in Australia and New Zealand, and on 8 August in the General Roman Calendar.
- 806