Holy Week

DOWNTOWN ? Hundreds of people of different Christian denominations put aside their theological differences Sunday for the blessing of the palms and a procession originating from Incarnation Catholic Church on North Brand Boulevard. The crowd gathered in the school courtyard at Incarnation as clergy from the Roman Catholic church were joined by their counterparts at St. Mark's Episcopal Church and Salem Lutheran in Gospel readings and the singing of hymns. Holy water and incense was used to bless the hundreds of palms held by the congregants.

Holy Family Catholic Community choirs will raise their voices in song on Palm Sunday to remember the Passion of Jesus. A concert of "The Passion of St. John," by the 16th century composer William Byrd, will recount the events leading up to the Crucifixion. Made up of 50 church members, the chorale will be joined by four soloists and backed by a wind ensemble, said Christian Marcoe director of music and organist at Holy Family. "This choir has never sung a Passion," said Marcoe, a Burbank resident who earned his doctorate of musical arts in sacred music from USC. The purpose of the concert is to provide those attending with a spiritual presentation to prepare for the upcoming Holy Week, he said.

Rosette Gonzales Members of St. Mark's Episcopal Church and Incarnation Catholic Church walked with branches of palm trees down Glendale city streets Sunday, symbolizing what Jesus' entry into Jerusalem might have been like more than 2,000 years ago. This marks the first year that the two congregations initiated holy week with an ecumenical event. "We're doing it today as two communities joining together as one," said Father Paul Hruby of Incarnation Catholic Church.

The University of Notre Dame Liturgical Choir will be performing at St. Bede Catholic Chuch, 215 Foothill Blvd., on Jan. 3 at 7:30 p.m. Typically, the Choir rings in the new year by embarking on a tour to bring its ministry of music to a wider audience. According to its Web site, the University of Notre Dame Liturgical Choir, founded in 1973 as the Chapel Choir, is composed of approximately 65 singers drawn from all areas of the undergraduate and graduate student body. The Choir regularly ministers at the 10 a.m. solemn Mass at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, a French Gothic structure built in 1871 by University founder Father Edward Sorin.

Jackie Conley Holy Redeemer Church this week celebrated a new collection of Stations of the Cross plaques, which replaced ones made in the 1920s. "These 14 steps you're about to walk, you do not walk alone, I am with you," Father John K. Foley, the church's pastor, said in an opening prayer Wednesday afternoon at Holy Redeemer. The prayer marked the opening of a public ceremony commemorating the installation of the new Stations of the Cross. Each bronze plaque was hand sculpted by Lynn Kircher.

Holy week is the time of year when Marian Heintz and her students prepare for the greatest feast of the church year. Heintz, principal at Holy Family Grade School, and her 315 students gathered for a performance of the Passion play in the sanctuary of Holy Family Catholic Church Wednesday. Ofelia Ruta's seventh- and eighth-grade students performed the play, which depicted the passion and death of Jesus Christ. Heintz said Lent -- the time between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday -- is a time for Catholics to improve themselves, renew their faith, do good things for other people and receive the sacrament of reconciliation.

The News-Press has reported on some lowlife thieves over the years, but the person or persons who stole a statue of Jesus Christ from a Catholic church during Holy Week really took the cake. The $12,000 wooden statue, which depicts the crucified Christ and weighs about 90 pounds, was stolen from St. James the Less in La Crescenta just before Holy Week in early April. The thief stole the statue right off the cross on which it was mounted. No signs of forced entry were found, but church officials told police many people have keys to the building.

Jenna Bordelon GLENDALE -- Forty days of spiritual preparation begin Wednesday, and Glendale churches are ready with services for the community. For many Christians, Ash Wednesday is a time of repentance and reflection leading up to Holy Week in April, which includes Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter. The distribution of the ashes becomes a symbol of grief and penitence. It may remind people of their own mortality. The Rev. John Hodde of the Zion Lutheran Church says it teaches us that we do not always live up to God's expectations.