By Paula Day

An unprecedented ecumenical Palm Sunday procession in downtown Atlanta near the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and an alteration in traditional Holy Thursday celebrations at the Cathedral of Christ the King are among the unique aspects of Holy Week services this year.

Because of the absence of an archbishop, the Chrism Mass normally celebrated on Holy Thursday morning at the cathedral will be instead a Mass of Recommitment for priests of the archdiocese. Chrism and oil used in the sacraments of baptism, the anointing of the sick and confirmation, will be consecrated and blessed by Bishop Ernest Unterkoefler of Charleston, S.C. earlier in Holy Week and distributed to priests following the Mass of Recommitment. The public is invited as usual to the 10:30 a.m. Mass at which Monsignor John McDonough, archdiocesan administrator, will be the principal celebrant.

On Palm Sunday, four city blocks that bustle with activity during the work week will be the scene of a joint procession by Catholics, Presbyterians and Methodists prior to their individual worship services.

Priests and parishioners of the Shrine will join pastors and congregations of Central Presbyterian and Trinity United Methodist churches in the procession beginning at 10:30 a.m. Participants will gather in Georgia Plaza Park directly behind the Shrine and across from City Hall, walking from the City Hall area to Central Avenue and Trinity Street where members of Trinity’s congregation will enter their church for Palm Sunday services.

The procession will turn north on Washington Street, passing government buildings and the Capitol. At the corner of Washington and Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive, Central Presbyterian participants will depart for their church. The procession will end at the Shrine.

The three churches will also collaborate on special Holy Week services at Central Presbyterian Church from 12:15 to 12:45 p.m. Monday through Friday of Holy Week. The usual 12:15 Mass at the Shrine will begin at 11:55 a.m. to accommodate the week’s special services.

Another downtown Atlanta church, Sacred Heart at 353 Peachtree St., will hold its traditional Palm Sunday procession complete with the donkey, “St. George,” bearing the palms in baskets on his back. The palm blessing and procession will precede the 10 a.m. Mass. Parishioners and guests are invited to gather at the side of the church where children from the religious education classes will hold palms and form an arch through which the congregation will process. Pastor, Father Daniel O’Connor, will be the main celebrant at the concelebrated Mass.

At the reading of the Passion during the Mass, readers will narrate the story, each from a different location in the cathedral, including the choir loft. Two distinct musical styles have been chosen including the “Crucifixus” from Bach’s B Minor Mass and a choral arrangement of the spiritual, “Were You There.”

The Mass of Recommitment, during which the priests of the archdiocese will rededicate themselves to priestly service in the Church, will begin at 10:30 a.m., Holy Thursday.

The Cathedral Choir will sing “How Beautiful Are the Feet of Those Who Preach the Gospel of Christ” from the St. Paul Oratorio by Mendelssohn during the Mass. Persons who receive Communion at this liturgy may also receive at the evening celebration of the Lord’s Supper.

Cathedral administrator, Father Richard Kieran, will be the principal celebrant of the Solemn Liturgy of the Lord’s Supper at 7 p.m. on Holy Thursday. The Modern Liturgical Choir, informally known at the folk group, will sing at this liturgy.

On Good Friday, Three Hour devotions will begin at 12 noon. Meditations on the Seven Last Words spoken by Jesus on the cross will be interspersed with appropriate congregational singing and solos by the choir. A group from Athens, Ga., directed by Dr. John Burke, will end the service with a dramatic reading by Henri Gheon based on the Stations of the Cross.

Good Friday’s Solemn Liturgy, which includes the Veneration of the Cross and a Communion service, will begin at 7 p.m. During the Veneration of the Cross, the Cathedral Choir will sing “O Crux Ave,” a four-part motet by Spanish Renaissance composer, Vittoria, based on Gregorian chant. Father Edward Hennessey, parochial vicar at Christ the King, will officiate at the Good Friday services.

The Modern Liturgical Choir and men of the Cathedral Choir will provide the music for the Easter vigil Mass at 9 p.m. on Holy Saturday. Father James Schillinger, Cathedral parochial vicar, will celebrate this Eucharist.

The Easter Sunday 9 and 10:30 a.m. Masses will be accompanied by music performed by the Atlanta Symphony’s Brass Ensemble and the Cathedral Choir. The folk choir will sing at the 5:30 p.m. Mass.

Catholics who may be “taking to the hills” for a spring break will have the opportunity to participate in Holy Week services at Christ the Redeemer Catholic Mission in Dawsonville for the first time this year. Father Silas Oleksinski, O.F.M., visiting from Cincinnati, will officiate at liturgies beginning at 8 p.m. Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday. The services will be held in Dawsonville’s United Methodist church on Maple Avenue in the center of town.

Prince of Peace parish in Buford is another parish planning to use a donkey in its Palm Sunday processions.

In his search for a suitable animal, Monaghan learned that only certain donkeys, off-white in color with a distinctive black cross across their shoulders, according to legend, qualify as the authentic Christ-carrying breed of the Gospel story. He found such a donkey at a Stone Mountain petting village. The animal, named Buford, wasn’t turning into the docile, obedient pet the parish needed for wearing robes and carrying baskets loaded with palms. Father Morrow suggested he be renamed “Christopher” and “for the first time the donkey was more docile,” Father Morrow claims.

Christopher will be part of the Palm Sunday processions at Prince of Peace at the 6:30 p.m. Saturday Vigil Mass and the 10 a.m. Sunday Mass.