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      The Lord Takes Our Burden: Passion Matins at the Philadelphia Cathedral

      On the evening of April 17, Holy Thursday, the Matins of the Passion with the reading of the Twelve Gospels took place at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Philadelphia. Metropolitan Borys Gudziak presided over the service, which was accompanied in song by the seminarian quartet Fratelli.

      The Passion Matins is a special service celebrated on the evening of Holy Thursday or the morning of Good Friday. At the heart of the service is the reading of the Twelve Gospels—passages from all four Gospels that recount the final hours of Jesus’ earthly life: the Last Supper, the prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, Judas’ betrayal, the trial, the suffering, the crucifixion, and death on the cross.

      Reflecting on this mystery, Archbishop Borys said in his homily:
      “The tumult in the world, aggression and division in America, the scores of wars, the war against Ukraine—for every open observer, for every person who sees and thinks—manifests the deep flaws in human nature. We know our weaknesses.”

      He continued:
      “In the readings we have just heard, our Lord, our Creator, the Son of God takes upon all of this mess and sin out of great love for us. Let us go away from this service in a freedom of the Children of God knowing how much God loves us—you and me. Loves us. Not rewards us for something we supposedly earned but gives to us. The Lord takes our burden. Let us be light. Let us be free.”