Mass to Pray for Pope Francis

We will have a special mass to pray for Pope Francis, as is customary after the death of the pope, on Thursday evening this week at 6:00 pm. It’s not a Memorial Mass, or even one in commemoration of him, because such masses are not allowed during the Octave of Easter. A little explanation is probably necessary here. At both Christmas and Easter, we celebrate an ‘Octave.’ This means that the week following both are considered an extension of the day – Christmas or Easter. We get this, as most all things we do, from our Jewish ancestors. They celebrated Passover for a full week. So, in essence, the week after Easter is considered to be one long Easter day. Since nothing trumps Easter (not even the Pope), we will celebrate mass for Thursday within the Octave of Easter. Pope Francis will be included in the homily however, and we as Catholics will join together to offer our prayers for him.