Bishop William E. Koenig and former Bishop Francis Malooly will celebrate Holy Week and Easter Masses. Photo from Pixabay
The Diocese of Wilmington has announced where Bishop William E. Koenig will hold services and participate in other events during Holy Week and Easter.
All masses and services are open to the public. Events at St. Peter’s Cathedral will be streamed live on the Wilmington Diocese YouTube channel.
Retired Bishop, Msgr. W. Francis Malooly, will also celebrate the events of Holy Week and Easter. He retired last year.
Koenig will spend all day Saturday April 9 with the annual diocesan youth pilgrimage. He will walk with hundreds of youth and adult volunteers from across Delaware and the Eastern Shore of Maryland as they carry a wooden cross through the streets of Wilmington.
This year’s theme is “We walk by faith”. The event includes a concert, prayer, visit to Saint Francis Hospital, the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession), Stations of the Cross and Eucharistic Adoration, during stops at five Wilmington Catholic churches.
The Bishop will conclude the pilgrimage by celebrating Palm Sunday Vigil Mass at 5 p.m. at St. Elizabeth’s Church, Cedar and Clayton Streets in Wilmington.
On Sunday, April 10, Koenig will celebrate Palm Sunday Mass at historic St. Peter’s Cathedral, Sixth Street and West Street in Wilmington, beginning at 9:30 a.m.
Koenig, along with priests from across the diocese, will hear confessions during the reconciliation on Monday. Catholic residents of Delaware and the eastern seaboard of Maryland are invited to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation at one of the 56 parish churches in the diocese, from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Reconciliation Monday is designed to make it easier for Catholics to receive the sacrament at the end of Lent and the beginning of Holy Week, in preparation for the celebration of Easter.
On Tuesday, April 12, Koenig will join priests from across the diocese for the annual Chrism Mass to be held at Holy Cross Church on South State Street in Dover, Delaware.
During the service, which begins at 7 p.m., the Bishop will consecrate the fragrant oil known as sacred chrism, for use throughout the diocese for baptisms, confirmations and ordinations along with other oils used in the ministry of catechumens, those entering the Church and to the sick.
The priests of the diocese will renew their priestly promises during this mass.
On Maundy Thursday, April 14, the Bishop will preside over one of the most poignant ceremonies of the liturgical year: the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, which will be held at 7 p.m. in Saint Peter’s Cathedral.
The celebrant often washes the feet of 12 people, recreating what Jesus did to his apostles as recorded in the 13and chapter of the Gospel of Saint John.
At 3 p.m., Koenig will preside over the Celebration of the Lord’s Passion at St. Peter’s Cathedral in Wilmington. Both solemn services commemorate the suffering and death of Jesus Christ.
The Mass of the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday April 16 will include the blessing of fire, water and the Paschal candle. Koenig will preside at 8 p.m. at St. Peter’s Cathedral in Wilmington.
In many Catholic churches, the Easter Vigil also includes Baptism, Confirmation, and First Holy Communion for those joining the Catholic Church.
On April 17 at Easter, Koenig will celebrate the resurrection of Christ with a mass at 9:30 a.m. at St. Peter’s Cathedral.
All masses and services are open to the public and all are cordially invited. Events at St. Peter’s Cathedral will be streamed live on the Wilmington Diocese YouTube channel – //YouTube.com/DioceseofWilm.
Malooly will celebrate Palm Sunday Mass at St. Elizabeth’s Church in Wilmington on April 10 at 9 a.m., Maundy Thursday Mass at St. Mary Magdalene in Wilmington on April 14 at 7 p.m., Good Friday Passion of the Lord at the Jeanne Jugan Residence of the Little Sisters of the Poor in Newark, Delaware on April 15 at 3 p.m. and Easter Sunday Mass on April 17 at 10:30 a.m. at Saint Mary Magdalen.
