Many Lenten traditions are celebrated in Salt Lake diocese

Intermountain Catholic

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IC photo/Marie Mischel

The parish communities in the Diocese of Salt Lake City represent a variety of world cultures, many of which have unique Lenten traditions. The Stations of the Cross and Benediction are universal, but other traditions vary. For example, the Vietnamese  congregation at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Kearns participates in a Lenten meditation in which they chant the story of Christ’s Passion (shown.) In the past, the Indian custom of processing around the church on Good Friday with a life-sized corpus, then placing the corpus inside the church for veneration, has been led by Father Lourduraj Gally Gregory, pastor of Saint Patrick Parish in Salt Lake City. In India on Good Friday, another custom is to give rice, vegetables and other food to the poor; anyone who comes to the parish can receive the food, Fr. Gally said. In the Maronite tradition, during Lent all parishioners are encouraged to pray each morning and evening the Prayer of the Faithful, and to fast every Friday, said Monsignor Joubran BouMerhi, pastor of Saint Jude Maronite Parish in Murray. Another Maronite tradition is similar to the Indian custom; on Good Friday in addition to Stations of the Cross, Benediction, and the Mass of the Pre-sanctified, in evening a special service called “The Burial of Our Lord” is conducted, in which the corpus is carried in procession around the church three times, Msgr. BouMerhi said.