The strangest Maundy Thursday...

...as a Church in lockdown sought to  honour these sacred days...

Caring for a very sick relative keeps one busy.

At 6.30pm, I tuned in, if that's the expression, to the on-line Mass at the Church of the Most Precious Blood. It was somehow reassuring - the church was the same as ever, and one could even hear the trains rumbled past as they always do. The great crucifix above the high altar was of course draped in its Passiontide cloth.

As Mass began, the feeling changed...it was somehow just like being there...the Mass was real, and I was praying with it.

A powerful moment: usually, at the Chrism Mass, all the priests of the diocese reaffirm their ordination promises, and a great roar of men's voices fills the packed Cathedral. This Holy Week, none of that was possible. Each priest was asked to reaffirm his promises at the Holy Thursday Mass.  So there was this one, clear, firm voice, in the empty church, stating his name and making those solemn promises with conviction and clarity, and it was extraordinarily moving.