Holy Week and Easter Weekend, 2021

UPDATED TRIDUUM and OCTAVE ARRANGEMENTS

ALL TRIDUUM SERVICES NOW FULLY BOOKED TO PERMITTED CAPACITY.

OTHER BOOKINGS: PLEASE NOTE UPDATES IN GREEN

General notes, including from the Bishop’s Conference

The obligation to attend Sunday Masses continues to be suspended. Do not worry if you currently prefer not to attend Mass in church at all during these strange times as permission is still granted for Spiritual Communion via live streaming, details of which can be found at the Catholic Bishop’s Conference website:https://www.cbcew.org.uk/home/our-work/health-social-care/coronavirus-guidelines/online-mass-directory/ This directory aims to provide links to Live Catholic Masses online. Alternatively for Masses across UK and Ireland, visit https://www.churchservices.tv/timetable/ or https://www.CatholicDirectory.org
If you wish instead to live stream Bishop David saying Mass, he will be doing this in our Cathedral https://northamptondiocese.org/live/ where he will preside at the following celebrations only:

Palm Sunday – 11am
Holy Thursday – 7pm
Good Friday – 3pm
Holy Saturday – 7pm
Easter Sunday – 11am

For parishioners who choose not to attend in person, as an additional way of uniting in prayer with the universal Church, you might like to try our Stations of the Cross privately http://www.stedwardskettering.org.uk/stations-introduction/where you will find the 14 station prayers with images from St. Edward’s Station plaques.
All services are to be held in Cathedrals and main Parish Churches only. All the current requirements for public worship during the pandemic will remain in place and extra attention will be given to this (eg: increased ventilation) as the numbers attending are greater than heretofore. Stewards have a more important role over Easter given that new attendees may not be as aware of the restrictions as applied to churches and may need extra support.
The arrangements for each Mass and how to book these is given below. Remember that we could not hold Easter services at all last year as we were told to close churches, so more detailed information is provided here for people who have not ventured back to church until now so that they know what has been put into place for their safety. Please note that processions are not permitted, and this includes the Good Friday Walk of Witness. All services will be shorter and simpler than usual with no singing or extension activities.
PLEASE CONTINUE TO BOOK YOUR PLACES AT MASS. Although we do our best to accommodate anyone who arrives at church without booking, we have recently had to turn a few of these people away as our maximum capacity under current restrictions had been reached. We are really unhappy to have to do this, so we ask that everyone books their place, whether for Mass, Stations or Confession.

BOOKING ARRANGEMENTS FOR HOLY WEEK

Call the dedicated phone number – 0739 6606 881 Monday or Wednesday 9.30am-12 noon or Thursday evening 6-8pm only. Please do not call outside of these times and don’t call the presbytery in order to book your Mass. Please do not text your booking requirements as these cannot be confirmed. Text facility can only be used to notify CANCELLATION of your booking. Please do this if you no longer require your booking as we have a waiting list for each Mass over Easter.
Only one Mass can now be booked in any one weekend and bookings can be taken to cover two weeks only. If the Mass is full you will be offered the next available Mass.
To reserve your seat, you will be asked for your name, phone number and the number of people in your household for whom you are booking. This is for NHS Track & Trace and also enables us to contact you if we have advance warning of a Mass having to be cancelled.
Please give your booking as quickly as possible, to free up the busy booking line!

CONFESSIONS before Easter. During Stations of the Cross on Good Friday, Father Gregory will be available to hear confessions in the Lady Chapel. There are still plenty of booking slots available for Stations.

Confessions are also available on Divine Mercy Sunday – see details below for both of these.

Monday – No public Mass
Tuesday – NOTE: No public Mass
Wednesday – No public Mass

HOLY THURSDAY:

CHRISM MASS at Cathedral: The Government lockdown rules covering Holy Week state: “When visiting a place of worship you should stay local and avoid travelling outside your local area, meaning your village or town”. The Cathedral will therefore be closed to the public but the Mass will be live streamed at 11am. on https://northamptondiocese.org/live/

MASS of THE LORD’s SUPPER Fully booked

The Holy Oils will be received more simply
The washing of the feet is omitted
Holy Communion is given under one kind in the hand only
There is no procession at the end of mass, and no Altar of Repose.
There will be no Watching as there is no Altar of Repose.

GOOD FRIDAY at 3pm Fully booked

The Liturgy of the Passion is celebrated according to the missal with the following alterations:

The Passion according to John will be read but the people are not permitted to proclaim the crowd parts.
The Cross is shown to the people three times, and they respond by genuflecting or bowing at each showing. Only the celebrant venerates the cross by kissing it.
I will then hold the cross up for a brief period of silent veneration by the assembly, for which the people kneel or bow.
The practice of individuals venerating [kissing] a cross they have brought with them [including a cross on their rosary cross] could be included as long as the cross is not shared with others.
Holy Communion is given under one kind from the Reserved Sacrament into the hand only, and any Hosts remaining are to be returned to the tabernacle.

Good Friday Stations of the Cross at 7.00pm There are still plenty of booking slots available

Please remain seated during the meditations; prayers for each Station (shorter than normal with no singing) will be led from the lectern. If you would like to pray the Stations of the Cross privately online at home, visit our website http://www.stedwardskettering.org.uk/stations-introduction/ where you will find the 14 station prayers with images from St. Edward’s Station plaques.

SATURDAY EASTER VIGIL at 8pm Fully booked

there can be no fire gathering outside
the people do not hold or share candles
the Paschal Candle is prepared and lit in its holder in the sanctuary
The Litany is omitted as there is no baptism
The Baptismal Water is blessed but not sprinkled
The renewal of Baptismal Promises takes place
Holy Communion is given under one kind into the hand from the newly consecrated Sacrament.

EASTER DAY All fully booked

Masses at: 8.00am; 9.30am; 11.00am. Mass includes the Renewal of Baptismal Promises, but without any sprinkling, or vigil candles.

Tuesday and Friday Masses after Easter weekend are as normal