English-Speaking Catholic Community

Holy Week 1-8 April 2012

Palm Sunday   Fr. Charlie Dittmeier was the presider for the Saturday Palm Sunday liturgy and Fr. Bob Wynne for the Sunday morning one. Both times Charlie forgot to get photographs.

Holy Thursday Sr. Luise Ahrens was one of the readers for the Liturgy of the Word. The Holy Thursday recalls Jesus' institution of the eucharist at the Last Supper and his example of service in washing the feet of his disciples. To commemorate the action of Jesus, Fr. Kevin Conroy washed the feet of twelve parishioners. The Holy Thursday liturgy ends in silence as the eucharist to be used for communion on Good Friday, when there is no mass, is transferred to an altar of repose, representing Jesus being arrested after the supper and taken into custody. After the service ends, those who wish are invited to remain for a period of private prayer at the special altar set up in the back of the room.

Good Friday On Good Friday there is not a celebration of the Catholic mass but rather just a service centered around the veneration of the cross on which Jesus died and the distribution of communion. Here Fr. Bob Wynne helps to direct people queuing to approach the cross. The veneration of the cross takes a few minutes with several hundred people participating. The church asks that only one cross be used for this service so as not to dilute the symbolism. Probably rightly so, the church suggests that on this special occasion taking a few more minutes to approach the one cross will not disturb people.

Holy Saturday There are four parts to the Easter Vigil service in Catholic liturgy. In the first part, Fr. Bob Wynne blessed the new fire from which is lit the paschal candle. The paschal candle then processes through the darkened church and the congregation light their candles from it to show that they share in the light and life of Christ after his resurrection. Once the paschal candle reaches its place in the sanctuary, the Easter Hymn or Exsultet is sung, celebrating Christ's victory over sin and death which the darkness symbolized.

Easter Sunday The Catholic community had a mass at 10:00 AM on Easter morning but those who attended the vigil service on Saturday night were invited to a combined Easter service organized by the four big English-speaking Christian communities in Phnom Penh at 9:30 AM. Charlie Dittmeier was the service leader for this celebration which was held at the International Christian Assembly church in Phnom Penh. Tim Paton, a minister at ICA, told an Easter story to all the children at the service. Peter Warren, the pastor of the International Christian Fellowship, was the preacher for this service.

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