Cardinal Collins adds children’s online chat to Holy Week schedule

Cardinal Thomas Collins will participate in a live online interaction with parents and children as part of extensive Holy Week and Easter activities and services announced by the Archdiocese of Toronto.

The online event will occur at 11 a.m. on the Wednesday of Holy Week, when the cardinal will answer questions “during this period of uncertainty,” said a statement from the archdiocese.

The statement said that during this sacred time of year the 225 churches of the archdiocese would typically welcome hundreds of thousands of worshippers for Holy Week and Easter. This year, due to shutdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, all churches in the archdiocese will be closed to the public.

“With churches closed … Catholics will not be able to pray inside their local parish in person. However, an abundance of effort and creative thinking are ensuring that the faithful can still be engaged in the holiest days of the year,” said the statement.

The cardinal will preside at all Holy Week services at St. Michael’s Cathedral Basilica. Every service will be streamed live over the internet and archived for those who wish to view them later. In addition, more than 60 GTA Catholic churches will livestream services in more than 15 languages through a variety of social media channels.

For those without Internet access, services will be televised throughout the week by the National Catholic Broadcasting Council, Salt+Light and EWTN.

Here is a complete listing of Holy Week events scheduled for St. Michael’s Cathedral Basilica. All of them will be presided by Collins. All services are closed to the public but will be livestreamed via www.stmichaelscathedral.com and www.archtoronto.org.

Sunday, April 5 - 10:00 a.m. Palm Sunday Mass

Sunday, April 5 – 7:00 p.m. Lectio Divina (Divine Reading – prayer with Cardinal Collins)

Tuesday April 7 - 10:00 a.m. Chrism Mass (renewal of priestly vows, blessing of holy oils)

Wednesday, April 8 – 11:00 a.m. Cardinal Collins – Facebook Live chat with children & parents (Archdiocese of Toronto Facebook page)

Thursday April 9 - 7:00 p.m. Holy Thursday – Mass of the Lord’s Supper

Friday, April 10 -   3:00 p.m. – Good Friday Passion of the Lord

Saturday April 11 - 7:00 p.m. Holy Saturday (Easter Vigil)

Sunday April 12 -  10:00 a.m. Easter Sunday