Naperville’s St. Thomas the Apostle offers Holy Week, Easter services
All are welcome to attend Holy Week and Easter liturgies at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church, 1500 Brookdale Road, Naperville.
Holy Week services begin with Palm Sunday Masses April 12-13, and culminate with the glorious celebration of Easter, Sunday, April 20.
Several liturgies will be livestreamed and all will be held in the church unless otherwise noted. Note: no morning Mass on April 17-19.
The following schedule for all services:
• Saturday, April 12: Mass of Anticipation at 4:30 p.m.
• Palm Sunday, April 13: Masses at 7:30, 9:30 and 11:30 a.m., and 6 p.m. The 9:30 a.m. Mass will be livestreamed.
• Monday to Wednesday, April 14-16: 8:30 a.m. Mass in the chapel.
• Holy Thursday, April 17: Mass of the Lord’s Supper at 7 p.m. It will be livestreamed. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament will follow Mass, ending with Night Prayer at midnight.
• Good Friday, April 18: Living Stations of the Cross at 3 p.m. It will be livestreamed. The youth of St. Thomas the Apostle will prayerfully depict the stations in tableaux format in a service that will help appreciate a deeper understanding of the gift of Christ’s ultimate sacrifice for humanity. The Celebration of the Passion of the Lord at 7 p.m. will be livestreamed. This liturgy includes communal adoration of the Holy Cross and distribution of the Eucharist.
• Holy Saturday, April 19: Blessing of Easter food baskets at noon. In a custom native to several European countries, foods that will be enjoyed Easter morning are blessed on Holy Saturday. This blessing will be held outdoors at the entrance to the gathering area. (This entrance is the second one to the church on the right when using the main entrance to the parking lot near St. Thomas’ statue.)
The Easter Vigil in the Holy Night will be at 7 p.m. It will be livestreamed. There will be no 3:30 p.m. reconciliation or 4:30 p.m. Mass.
• Easter Sunday, April 20: Masses at 7:30, 9:30 and 11:30 a.m. (The 9:30 a.m. Mass will be celebrated in both the church and the gym in the church building.) The 9:30 a.m. Mass celebrated in the church will be livestreamed.
St. Thomas will resume its usual schedule of Masses on Monday, April 21. Daily Mass is celebrated at 8:30 a.m. Monday through Saturday in the chapel where a Communion service also is held at 6:30 a.m. on Wednesdays. Saturday’s Mass of Anticipation is celebrated at 4:30 p.m. and Sunday Masses are scheduled at 8:00, 9:30 and 11:15 a.m., and 6 p.m.
For more information, consult the St. Thomas website at www.stapostle.org, contact the church office at (630) 355-8980, or contact Scott Knisley, director of liturgy and music, at (630) 355-8980, ext. 111 or sknisley@stapostle.org.