Easter Sunday has passed but Archbishop Bernard Hebda said the Easter season and the octave of Easter remind us in a very real way to celebrate in a spiritual way. “So each day in this octave, we have the opportunity to celebrate as if it were still Easter,” he said.
The archbishop discussed Easter traditions with Patrick Conley, host of the “Practicing Catholic” radio show that airs at 9 p.m. April 9 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM.
Archbishop Bernard Hebda
Noting that each family has a unique way to celebrate Easter that is significant for them, he said “that sets us up then for 50 days of a spiritual celebration.” Archbishop Hebda, who grew up in Pittsburgh, recalled his family’s tradition of visiting St. Paul’s Cathedral on the afternoon of Easter.
With the bishop and auxiliary bishops inside, “You’d have the opportunity to greet each one of them and receive an Easter blessing and a special blessing that would extend throughout the Easter season,” he said. The bishops usually gave out a small souvenir such as a holy card, “but it was ways in which we were able then to get set for those 50 days of Easter, of celebrating in that way,” he said.
Archbishop Hebda said “we’ve tried resurrecting that a little bit here in St. Paul.” Last Easter, with churches closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Archbishop Hebda stood outside the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul to provide “drive-by blessings” to the faithful who drove up in “a huge line of cars.” He called it “a beautiful experience.”
“It’s something that even post-COVID, I certainly hope we might be able to continue because it’s a beautiful way to recognize the significance of the day.”
Archbishop Hebda and Auxiliary Bishop Andrew Cozzens continued their newest tradition this Easter Sunday, standing outside the cathedral again to greet people in their vehicles April 4.
When Conley asked the archbishop what’s going on in his heart as he offers the blessings, he replied, “It really is that sense of strengthening people, helping them to digest spiritually what it is that the Church has just celebrated, really also reminding people of the Lord’s closeness to us and his desire to be close to us.”
Having people drive to the Cathedral in their cars gives them an opportunity to express their own joy at Easter, he said, and to know that the Church and Jesus never abandon them.
During the interview, Archbishop Hebda, who lived in Rome for 18 years, described how the Italians “seriously celebrate” the Easter season. To hear him describe the Italian tradition for observing the Monday after Easter — called “Monday of the Angel” — tune in to this episode of the “Practicing Catholic” radio show. It also airs at 1 p.m. April 10 and 2 p.m. April 11 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the latest show also includes interviews with Ryan Hamilton from the Minnesota Catholic Conference, who offers insight and guidance as people in Minnesota await a verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial, and Nick Chalmers from Chesterton Academy, who discusses the role of chant in the musical experience of Catholic youth.
Listen to all of the interviews after they have aired:
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