‘Be Humble, Love One Another!’
The ‘Holy Thursday’ Mass was held to commemorate the last meal with his disciples that our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave his greatest command to his disciples by saying, “Love One Another As I Love You,” while walking towards death on the Cross.
The Catholic Community, which entered the “Holy” Week after the Feast of the Olive Branches, performed the Holy Thursday services with a simple and sad ceremony. The Eucharist at the Iskenderun Annunciation Latin Catholic Church was also held with the limited participation of the congregation.
The Father of the Church, Dariusz Dogondke (Daryuş Dogonke), conducted the special Mass that commemorates the last supper that Christ ate with his Apostles and the washing of his apostles’ feet like a servant during this meal. After reading from the Bible about the meaning of the day, Father Dogondke washed the feet of 12 of the congregation members and dried them with a towel, according to traditional rituals.
Speaking after the Foot Washing ritual, Father Dogondke, at the last dinner that Jesus Christ had with his apostles; He stated that besides the Eucharist, his humility stood out. Dogondke; “Tonight we are called to give thanks to the Lord Jesus, who is with us with the blessed bread and wine. For we find it in the Eucharist. Our Savior, Jesus Christ, wanted to wash the feet of his disciples to teach us a lesson in humility, and he commanded us to serve one another. We beseech our Lord Christ to cleanse our hearts of all taint of sin and help us so that we may always love and help one another as he loves us. We wish this with all our hearts.”
Father Dogondke then took the Holy Eucharist and brought it to the chapel of the church. Here, kneeling with his entourage and praying, the Father left the Eucharist in its place and continued his prayer in silence for a while with the members of the congregation.
After this Holy Night in the Iskenderun Latin Catholic Church, the ‘Good Friday’ Mass will be held with the limited participation of the congregation, and the Easter Mass will be held on Saturday evening. (SAT-7 TURK/İlyas Edip TERBİYELİ/İskenderun)
