Archdiocese of Newark Celebrates Holy Week 2023

NEWARK, N.J. – The Archdiocese of Newark observed Holy Week, the Catholic Church’s most sacred time of year, with several liturgies celebrated by Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., Archbishop of Newark, in commemoration of Jesus’ Crucifixion and Resurrection.

This year’s Holy Week began with an April 2 Palm Sunday Mass at Ridgewood’s Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, during which attendees received blessed palm fronds representing the palm branches crowds scattered in front of Christ as he rode into Jerusalem. A day later, on April 3 at Newark’s Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Cardinal Tobin led a Chrism Mass at which holy oils were blessed and distributed to attending priests for use in their parishes throughout the year. The priests also renewed their ordination vows.

During the April 6 Holy Thursday Mass, Cardinal Tobin washed the feet of 12 people inside the Cathedral Basilica in imitation of Christ’s humility at the Last Supper. Then, at the April 7 Good Friday liturgy, hundreds gathered at the Cathedral Basilica following the Stations of the Cross to commemorate Jesus’ suffering through a Passion account, the Great Intercessions, and the Adoration of the Cross.

Finally, the Easter Vigil on the evening of Holy Saturday, April 8, celebrated Christ’s Resurrection by holding the festival of light within a darkened Cathedral Basilica and praising the “Alleluia” for the first time since Lent. Afterward, new members of the Catholic Church — the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) Catechumens — were welcomed into the faith by receiving the sacraments of Baptism, Eucharist, and Confirmation.

For more information on Holy Week in the Archdiocese of Newark, visit https://www.rcan.org/offices-and-ministries/divine-worship.