Two years after holding Holy Week without the presence of the faithful, this weekend moved many people at the Sanctuary of Health and Peace. Thousands of people gathered to celebrate Palm Sunday. With processions, songs, and prayers, God's people met again in person to celebrate Christ's Easter.

Holy Week at the Church of Father Eustáquio began on the eve of the rites, on Saturday the 9th. Father Alexandre Campos, sscc, presided over the celebration, which began outside the church and was followed by a procession with palm branches around the church.

On Sunday at 10 am, a crowd of devotees gathered in front of the church to celebrate Jesus' entry into Jerusalem. The Palm Sunday procession and Mass brought together people who hadn't been to church in a long time. Everyone wore masks and maintained hand hygiene and other precautions to avoid contamination. Those who participated were moved to see the church full of people singing and praising God.

Those who were unable to attend in person or were far from the Sanctuary watched everything on the Padre Eustáquio Channel, both Saturday Mass and Procession (review here), as for Sunday Mass and Procession (review here). In the other masses, even those not broadcast, there was a blessing of the palms and the church was also full of worshippers.

Complete Schedule for Holy Week 2022

On Monday and Tuesday (11 and 12) the Sanctuary will have the normal masses for these days, on Wednesday (13), at 7 pm, there will be mass in the church and at the same time two processions will leave: one from Conjunto Santos Dumont (with Our Lord of the Steps) and another from Lar Dona Paula (with Our Lady of Sorrows); afterwards the meeting of the images will take place in the Church with the Sermon of the Encounter.

On Thursday the 14th, we will join you on the Padre Eustáquio Channel for the Mass of Unity, live from the Christ the King Cathedral at 9 am. In the evening, at 7 pm at the Sanctuary, there will be a celebration of the Mass of the Washing of the Feet and Institution of the Eucharist. Afterwards, a small procession will carry the Blessed Sacrament to the Community Center where the assembly will hold Adoration until midnight. On the Padre Eustáquio Channel, the Adoration will be broadcast until 10 pm.

The day begins early on Good Friday (the 15th), at 7 am the traditional Stations of the Cross will be held through the streets of the neighborhood. It will begin at the corner of Vila Rica and Pará de Minas streets. At noon there will be the Sermon of the Seven Last Words at the Padre Eustáquio Church. At 3 pm there will be a Solemn Liturgical Action with the celebration of the Passion and Death of Jesus, and at 7 pm, the youth will reenact the Passion of Christ, also inside the Church; afterwards there will be the burial procession with the image of the Dead Christ.

On Saturday the 16th, a community tradition will be revived. The Washing of the Church is scheduled for 8:30 am so that all parishioners and devotees can participate and prepare the temple for a new moment. The Easter Vigil will be held at 7 pm, beginning in the courtyard of the Padre Eustáquio Marist School. Following this, the procession with the Paschal Candle will proceed to the Church where the celebration will conclude. And, on Easter Sunday, the Sanctuary will hold all its usual celebrations: at 7 am, 8:30 am, 10 am, 5 pm and 7 pm.

Come celebrate with us and experience this moment intensely, the greatest in the liturgy of the Catholic faith, and may your Easter truly be the resurrection of Christ in your life.