Last Supper display

A section of the Last Supper exhibition in Valletta, Malta

One of the most spectacular exhibitions opens today in Malta, and even though I took these photos 4 years ago, I imagine the set up will be very much the same. It is held in a beautifully gilded Oratory at Valletta, Malta, a Dominican Priory where a horse-shoe shaped table has a large number of decorated plates, using pasta, beans, lentils, split-peas, rice, salt, semolina and other edibles forming various designs and symbols related to the apostles and other prelates. Coat-of-arms of various Bishops, Popes and prelates are meticulously crafted and exhibited as these photos can show. 

The ingredients are then given to orphanages and elderly institutes, so that nothing is actually wasted. Large doughnut-shaped loaves of bread are placed at various intervals, with a chalice, oranges, olives, wine, etc, each section with the name of an apostle. This was by far one of the biggest surprises for me during Holy Week, and I share these photos for you to enjoy and cherish.

More Palm Sunday photos

Blessing of the palms before the 10 AM Mass

The presence of two donkeys at the Palm Sunday celebration in my parish was quite a hit among both the young and old. Children, parents and grandparents gathered to take photos of the two donkeys, Poncho and Daisy who led all the 4 processions that were held before each Mass in the new church on 27th Street in Bend. 

Procession towards the church led by Poncho and Daisy, guided by Kelsea and Makenna

The service started 15 minutes earlier with the blessing of the palms and the procession towards the church. These photos show scenes from the first day of Holy Week, re-enacting the day when Jesus entered Jerusalem riding a donkey, with people waving palm branches and greeting Him with “Hosanna to the King!” My gratitude to Greg and Kathy Jansen who  provided the donkeys, and the Rossi family and Richard Doerfler who brought them over in their trailers.

A very busy day for both the donkeys and their guides

More photos at the parish blog: www.stfrancisbend.blogspot.com

Palm Sunday

Poncho and Daisy, led by Francesca and Isabella Rossi

Palm Sunday is celebrated today around the Christian world, and in St Francis of Assisi in Bend, we have two newcomers to spruce up our palm-blessing ceremony. These were Poncho and Daisy, two donkeys, courtesy of Greg and Cathy Jansen, who accompanied us during the procession to the church after the palm blessing on the grounds of the parish. 

 

I personally thank the Rossi family and Richard Doerfler who coordinated bringing the donkeys over in their trailers. Huge crowds of people attended the services, in preparation for the Holy Week celebrations being held this coming weekend, which includes the baptism of 4 new members and 4 others being also conformed at the Easter Vigil.

Children's foot-washing ceremony

6 of the 12 apostles before the foot-washing ceremony

During the school Mass on Wednesday April 9, I re-enacted the ceremony which Jesus did at the Last Supper, where he washed the apostles' feet, as a symbol of humility and a reminder that they are to serve one another. 12 school-children were chosen to have their feet washed, as they were presented one by one and a brief biography was read for each of the 12 apostles. The same ceremony will be repeated on Holy Thursday, with the addition of 12 other children from the Religious Ed program, with additional names like St Martha, St Lazarus, St Simon of Cyrene, St Mary Magdalene, St Veronica, St Dismas, St Paul,  etc
You can see more photos of this event at the parish blog at www.stfrancisbend.blogspot.com

Always Welcome Inn

Always Welcome Inn logo

I want to give credit and a great thanks today to Richard and Lynn Langrell for hosting most of the priests who traveled for the Chrism Mass at the Cathedral in Baker City. Lynn and Richard have been so graciously hosting priests for many years now, since priests travel hundreds of miles to be with their Bishop for the consecration of the Sacred Oils to be used in the parishes throughout the year. 
Since the Mass starts at 7 PM on the Thursday before Holy Thursday, and everything ends around 9:30 PM, with the distribution of the oils to all the priests, the majority of the priests cannot travel to their parishes in the middle of the night, and the Langrells have been very generous in offering hospitality at their comfortable and beautiful Always Welcome Inn Motel. In fact when I was in John Day and stayed with them overnight, they always they told me, "Don't worry, the pastor will take care of it..." I guess when I was Pastor there between 2005 and 2013, they probably told the priests "Don't worry, Father Julian will take care of it...." 

A very nice and comfortable Motel, off Route 84 in Baker City

And now that I have to rely once again on their hospitality and kindness, I cannot thank them enough, in the name of all the priests of the Baker Diocese. So in the future, if you're driving on Route 84 and want place to stay, make sure to contact the Langrells. They even installed a Miniature Golf Course adjacent to their Motel, which is ideal for families with young children, even though they told me their biggest fans are construction workers, who love to relax after a hard day's work by putting around their Mini-Golf course.

The Motel is located at 175 Campbell Street, Baker City, OR 97814  - with these phone numbers :  541-523-3431;   800-307-5206

In Baker City

A short entry today as I am presently in my former parish at Baker City for the annual Chrism Mass being held in the Cathedral. Yesterday I got out of my parish in Bend for the first time since I arrived there in October last year. I had my assistant with me, Fr Joseph Kunnelaya who enjoyed the 230 mile trip through Prineville, Mitchell, Dayville, John Day, Prairie City and finally Baker City.
I am looking forward to meeting all the priests, as well as many of my former parishioners whom I haven't seen in almost 6 months. My gratitude goes to Rich and Lynn Langrell, owners of the Always Welcome Inn Motel, who host us and other priests who come for this annual reunion and Chrism Mass. It's also great to look at the Elkhorn Mountains still snow-capped with plenty of healthy snow, and the nice weather should be with us for the rest of the week.

Bend Cowgirls

Even though Bend is not a ranching town like Baker City and other towns I visited in the past 11 years, however there are some ranches with cows and mostly horses, including the Bomke ranch where two enthusiastic cowgirls, Makenna and Kelsea love their horses, respectively Flicka and CJ Cha Cha. While visiting them for some photos, I admired the love the horses have for young children and the reciprocal love these girls have for their pet quarter horses. Equipped with all the equine paraphernalia, the girls brushed them gently, walked them patiently and then literally kissed them goodnight, almost tucking them in, just as their own parents would do later on in the evening. 

I hope my two donkeys coming over this Sunday for the Palm Sunday procession are as gentle and obedient.

This blog is nearing 100,000 hits - probably sometime today or tomorrow the 100,000th visitor would have clicked to visit this blog - kindly let me know who the lucky visitor is....by sending me an e-mail to frjulian@stfrancisbend.org
Also, please visit the St Francis Parish Bend blog at www.stfrancisbend.blogspot.com

Intricate Last Supper displays

Overall view of the Last Supper table in Cospicua

Here are a few more Last Supper displays from various exhibitions held in Malta during Holy Week. Remember that these plates were decorated with colored salt - they are not painted, but the salt was placed methodically by clever artists in a strategic way to 'paint' these plates on a large Last Supper table. This particular exhibition was held in the town of Cospicua. One has to remember that all the materials used in crafting these elaborate plates, pasta, salt, beans, semolina, etc are then given to orphanages and old people's homes, to be used for cooking, and so nothing is wasted. More to come during the next two weeks.

Passion Week

This is known in the liturgical calendar as Passion Week, from the Fifth Sunday of Lent to Palm Sunday. The plot is thickening and in the daily readings of the Mass Jesus makes various references to his impending death.  The focus starts to turn towards the last few days of Jesus, his trial, flogging, carrying the cross on which he is eventually crucified. Various images of the Crucifixion have come down to us throughout the centuries. This is one of the earliest representations of the moment Jesus dies, taken from a sarcophagus in the catacombs of St Domitilla, from the 4th century AD.  It shows 5 panels all related to the last few hours of Jesus with the cross in the middle, showing also the Chi Rho monogram, the first two letters of the name of Christ in Greek, Christos.

Two soldiers are seen watching the cross, while what seem to be like two crows stand on the horizontal bar of the cross. This sarcophagus was used as a grave for some wealthy unknown person, who had enough money to demand this elaborate sculpted masterpiece. Ordinary people were buried in unknown graves, also in catacombs, especially those who were Christian.

The Missing Ring

Lt Ed Walsh's family in Boston funeral

Thousands of firefighters from around the world were in Watertown, Massachusetts, this past Wednesday for the funeral of Lt. Ed Walsh, a Boston firefighter who was killed when he was trapped in a basement in a nine-alarm fire. Another firefighter named Michael Kennedy also died. Lt. Walsh was 43. He was married and had 3 children. His wife, Kristen, told those who served with her husband in the Boylston Street firehouse that she would like to have her husband's wedding ring. But it had come off while he tried to fight the fire.

St Patrick's church with thousands of firefighters saluting

District Chief Richard Magee, whose own father had worked in that same firehouse and died fighting a fire 42 years ago, assigned a team to search for that ring. They knelt in burnt, sodden ruins and sifted through wet ashes with their fingers. Just before 6 p.m., as Lt. Walsh's wake began at St. Patrick's Church, a firefighter named Patty Donovan cried, "I've got it!"
The Boston firefighters formed a convoy and rushed to St. Patrick's. They found Kristen Walsh in the front pew of the church, just a few feet from the casket that held her husband. And, as people said prayers for Ed Walsh, the firefighters who risked their lives alongside his gave Kristen Walsh the wedding ring she had once placed on his finger.

"She slipped it on her finger and she started crying," Patty Donovan says. "We all gave her big hugs and that was it." A truly touching story!

Miniature Statues - part 2

Veronica with the image of Jesus on the cloth

Here is another set of miniature statues from the collection of photos I tookin Malta during Holy Week in 2010. These were hand made by Christopher Micallef from St. Julian's. They are all miniature replicas of the statues that will be carried through the streets of many parishes on Good Friday evening. Click on each image to enlarge.

The Crucifixion

Our Lady of Sorrows

The Burial of Jesus, also known as the Holy Sepulcher

RIP - Fr Joseph Busuttil

Funeral Mass of Msgr Joseph Busuttil

Yet another of my childhood priests just passed away in my home parish of St Julian’s, Malta. He is Msgr Joseph Busuttil, ordained with a large number of priests in 1962, 52 years ago. He spent most of his years as a priest serving at his parish church while working at different places, amongst them the University of Malta in the Classical Languages Department, and more recently as an archivist at the Chancery in Floriana, a vocation which he did with immaculate precision and utmost dedication, even though his work was not seen much in the public. His funeral was held yesterday, with the presence of a nice number of priests including some of his classmates, amongst them Msgr John Galea, my former parish priest. 

Msgr Joseph Busuttil - Rest In Peace

Fr Joseph’s family was totally dedicated to parish work, and his sisters were very devoted to the Legion of Mary and much pastoral work. Their father was a medical doctor, Dr Antonio, and he was the one who taught me how to serve Mass in Latin back in 1958, when I was only 6 years old. Rest in peace Dun Guzepp. May the Lord reward you for your years of service to Him and to his church.

Miniature Statues (part 1)

The Agony in the Garden

Many young artists, sculptors and all-around enthusiasts showcase their work during the last part of Lent and especially during Holy Week. One such enthusiasts is a friend of mine from my home-town St Julian's, Chris Micallef. He has been creating these statues and other displays for quite a few years now, and these statues were displayed at his house, photographed during my visit in 2010. These first 5 show the progression of the passion of Christ, with 4 more to be shown tomorrow. I am sure they will be displayed for visitors and tourists in the coming days too. Chris's house is on Lapsi Street, a few doors up from the old Lapsi church.

The Betrayal of Judas

The Flogging at the Pillar

The Crowning with Thorns

Jesus carrying the Cross

Paintings on derelict wood

One of the fascinating projects I discovered during Holy Week in Malta in 2010 is an exhibition of paintings done on derelict and abandoned wood. Many of these paintings were done by Daniel Schranz on broken doors, old windows and simply planks of wood that appeared to be of no use to the ordinary person. 

One can see in these samples of paintings even hinges, door knobs and key holes still embedded in the wood. Of course all the subjects were religious themes. (Click on each photo to enlarge)

Miniature procession (part 2)

Altar-servers, monsignori and the Sorrowful Mother statue

More photos today of the miniature procession displayed during Holy Week in Malta, 2010. Please do click on each photo to see a larger, detailed image.