Mar 27, 2026

Greetings,

This week as we celebrate Palm Sunday, we enter Holy Week and prepare ourselves for the celebration of the Resurrection of Our Lord.  Here are some notes for this week: 

CHRISM MASS:  On Holy Tuesday we welcome the Most Reverend Edward C. Malesic as well as his Auxiliary Bishop, the Most Reverend Michael G. Woost, as St. Sebastian Parish hosts the Chrism Mass for the Diocese of Cleveland.  Invited are all of the priests and deacons of the diocese, our full compliment of seminarians, and religious and faithful lay people from the eight counties of our diocese.  Welcome to you all.

For those of the parish who might want to attend, please consider carpooling.  If you live close by, it would be helpful if you walked to the parish.  Also, we have been told that it will be broadcasted simultaneously on the diocesan website as well as the St. Sebastian Youtube Channel.  This Mass generally fills the Cathedral, which seats a few hundred more people than our church can hold. So expect close quarters and parking challenges.  

This Mass marks the Church’s unity with the priests of the dioceses renewing their priestly promises.  This is also the Mass at which Bishop Malesic will bless all of the oils used in the diocese throughout the next year.  I am grateful that we have been entrusted with the responsibility of hosting this Mass during this time that the parking deck at our Cathedral is being repaired.  

TENEBRAE:  On Wednesday of Holy Week (April 1) at 7pm, we will have a Tenebrae Service with our music ministry and clergy.  Tenebrae is Latin for “shadows” or “darkness.”  It is not intended to be an uplifting, pleasant evening, but a focus on Christ’s Passion and Death.  As the service progresses, candles on a stand called a hearse are gradually extinguished and the church grows darker until the final strepitus, which is a loud noise that symbolizes the rattling of the elements at Christ’s death. 

HOLY WEEK SCHEDULE:  Please note the times of the Masses and Services, as many change during Holy Week.

• MONDAY  March 30
  • Mass  8am
• TUESDAY  March 31
  • Mass  8am  **N. B. Due to the Chrism Mass there is neither adoration nor confession this day. 
  • Chrism Mass   5pm
• WEDNESDAY April 1
  • Mass 8am
  • Tenebrae 7pm
• MAUNDY THURSDAY April 2
  • Mass of the Lord's Supper 7pm (Adoration follows)
    • Eucharistic Adoration Until 11pm
    • Compline 10:45pm
• GOOD FRIDAY
  • Family Stations NOON
  • The Lord's PAssion 3 pm
  • No Confessions
• HOLY SATURDAY 
  • No Confessions
  • Blessing of the Foods 1pm
  • Easter Vigil 9pm
• EASTER SUNDAY
  • Mass 9am
  • Mass 11 am

BLESSING OF FOODS:  You are invited to the Easter Blessing of Foods at 1:00pm on Holy Saturday.  This is a time when households bring baskets of food, typically of the first meals on Easter Day, to the church to be blessed.  They are used to mark the end of Lenten fasting, celebrating Christ’s Resurrection and God’s abundant blessings.  How to prepare for this very short service is easily found online.  

God bless, Fr. Valencheck