Readings for the Chrism Mass

First Reading – Is 61:1-3a, 6a, 8b-9

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; He has sent me to bring glad tidings to the lowly, to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners, To announce a year of favor from the LORD and a day of vindication by our God, to comfort all who mourn; To place on those who mourn in Zion a diadem instead of ashes, To give them oil of gladness in place of mourning, a glorious mantle instead of a listless spirit. You yourselves shall be named priests of the LORD, ministers of our God shall you be called. I will give them their recompense faithfully, a lasting covenant I will make with them. Their descendants shall be renowned among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples; All who see them shall acknowledge them as a race the LORD has blessed.

Responsorial Psalm – 89:21-22, 25 and 27 (R.2)

R. For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.

“I have found David, my servant;
with my holy oil I have anointed him.
That my hand may always be with him;
and that my arm may make him strong.”  R.

“My faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him;
and through my name shall his horn be exalted.
He shall say of me, ‘You are my father,
my God, the Rock, my savior!’  R.

Second Reading – Rv 1:5-8

[Grace to you and peace] from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead and ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his Blood, who has made us into a Kingdom, priests for his God and Father, to him be glory and power forever and ever. Amen. Behold, he is coming amid the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him. All the peoples of the earth will lament him. Yes. Amen. “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “the one who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Gospel – Lk 4:16-21

Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord. Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. He said to them, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Readings for the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper

First Reading – Ex 12:1-8, 11-14

The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This month shall stand at the head of your calendar; you shall reckon it the first month of the year. Tell the whole community of Israel: On the tenth of this month every one of your families must procure for itself a lamb, one apiece for each household. If a family is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join the nearest household in procuring one and shall share in the lamb in proportion to the number of persons who partake of it. The lamb must be a year-old male and without blemish. You may take it from either the sheep or the goats. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, and then, with the whole assembly of Israel present, it shall be slaughtered during the evening twilight. They shall take some of its blood and apply it to the two doorposts and the lintel of every house in which they partake of the lamb. That same night they shall eat its roasted flesh with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. “This is how you are to eat it: with your loins girt, sandals on your feet and your staff in hand, you shall eat like those who are in flight. It is the Passover of the LORD. For on this same night I will go through Egypt, striking down every firstborn of the land, both man and beast, and executing judgment on all the gods of Egypt—I, the LORD! But the blood will mark the houses where you are. Seeing the blood, I will pass over you; thus, when I strike the land of Egypt, no destructive blow will come upon you. “This day shall be a memorial feast for you, which all your generations shall celebrate with pilgrimage to the LORD, as a perpetual institution.”

Responsorial Psalm – Ps 116:12-13, 15-16bc, 17-18. (R.cf. 1 Cor 10:16)

R. Our blessing-cup is a communion with the Blood of Christ.

How shall I make a return to the LORD
for all the good He has done for me?
The cup of salvation I will take up,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD. R.

Precious in the eyes of the LORD
is the death of His faithful ones.
I am Your servant, the son of Your handmaid;
You have loosed my bonds. R.

To You will I offer sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD.
My vows to the LORD I will pay
in the presence of all His people. R.

Second Reading – 1 Cor 11:23-26

Brothers and sisters: I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread, and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.

Gospel – Jn 13:1-15

Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father. He loved his own in the world and He loved them to the end. The devil had already induced Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, to hand Him over. So, during supper, fully aware that the Father had put everything into his power and that He had come from God and was returning to God, He rose from supper and took off his outer garments. He took a towel and tied it around his waist. Then He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and dry them with the towel around his waist. He came to Simon Peter, who said to Him, “Master, are You going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will understand later.” Peter said to Him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with Me.” Simon Peter said to Him, “Master, then not only my feet, but my hands and head as well.” Jesus said to him, “Whoever has bathed has no need except to have his feet washed, for he is clean all over; so you are clean, but not all.” For He knew who would betray Him; for this reason, he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
So when He had washed their feet and put his garments back on and reclined at table again, He said to them, “Do you realize what I have done for you? You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master,’ and rightly so, for indeed I am. If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.”

Featured Saints

St. Stephen Harding, abbot (†1134). One of the founders of the Monastery of Citeaux, France, of which he was abbot and in which he received St. Bernard of Clairvaux with his thirty companions. He founded twelve monasteries.

St. Joseph Sebastian Pelczar, bishop (†1924). Founder of the Congregation of the Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, he was Bishop of Przemyśl (Poland) and a distinguished master of the spiritual life.

St. Cyril, deacon and martyr (†c. 362). He was martyred during the reign of Emperor Julian the Apostate, in Heliopolis, Lebanon.

St. Hilary, abbot (eighth century). He governed the monastery of Pelecete, situated in present-day Greece. He was persecuted for opposing the iconoclast customs.

St. Conon of Naso, monk (†1236). Son of the governor of Naso, Sicily, he became a Basilian monk. After his parents’ death, he distributed his inheritance among the poor and embraced the hermetic life.

St. Guntram, king (†593). King of the Francs, he governed wisely, founded monasteries and shared his wealth between the Church and the poor

Blessed Renée-Marie Feillatreau, martyr (†1794). Catholic laywoman guillotined during the French Revolution.

Blessed Jeanne-Marie de Maillé, widow (†1414). After her husband’s death at war, she was reduced to misery and expelled from her own home; she lived as a solitary in a cell near the Franciscan convent in Tours, France.

Image gallery

Institution of the Blessed Eucharist

1 of 6

Holy Thursday Ceremony

1 of 6

Saints of March 28

1 of 3