Dear people of Grace,
The season of Lent will soon draw to a close, with the observance of Holy Week, beginning with Palm Sunday on April 14th. Holy Week marks the Passion of Christ, from the Greek paschein, to suffer. The Passion encompasses all the events leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus, his death and burial.
Below you will find a breakdown of how we mark the Passion during Holy Week, as well as the theological symbolism behind each day of observance. Take your time, over the next week or so, to read through the liturgical progression and match it to your own experience as you participate in our Holy Week services. Followed faithfully and intentionally, Holy Week can be a powerful journey of Christian discipleship.
I pray that you are each able to find time and space to observe the Passion of Christ this year.
Blessings and peace,
Father Nick
†
Palm Sunday: The Sunday of the Passion
Holy Week begins with the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. This year (Year C in our Lectionary) we will hear the account from Luke. We begin the service with great fanfare, waving our palm fronds as we proudly sing “All glory, laud and honor to thee, Redeemer, King!” But we are mistaken if we think this service is about the joy and victory of Jesus entering Jerusalem. The same people who shout “Hosanna!” on this day will be shouting “Crucify him!” on Friday. Jesus enters Jerusalem for one reason only: to die.
The Palm Sunday liturgy is the only occasion where we hear two Gospel readings in the same service. The Church recognizes that many people are unable to attend Holy Week services, so might go from the story of Jesus’ triumphant entry, straight to Easter and the Resurrection on the following Sunday, missing out on the central Christian event of Jesus’ Passion and crucifixion. Therefore, midway through the Palm Sunday liturgy, we transition abruptly to the reading of the Passion. Thereafter, all the hymns are solemn, and we depart this day in silence. It is a jarring liturgical initiation into the reality of Holy Week.
Holy Monday through Holy Wednesday
Holy Week doesn’t just pick up later in the week on Maundy Thursday. While for a smaller congregation like Grace we won’t have corporate worship services each day, we do remember key events in the lead up to the Passion. Each day in Holy Week has its own Collect (BCP, p.168/220) and the Daily Office lectionary traces the emerging story of the Passion.
On Holy Monday we are reminded of the anointing of Jesus at Bethany (John 12.9-19), where Mary prepares him for death and burial.
On Holy Tuesday we remember Jesus’ predictions of his own death. (John 12.20-26).
Although not in our lectionary, traditionally on Holy Wednesday we will recall Judas Iscariot’s preparations for the betrayal of Jesus, which he will enact the following day. For this reason it is also sometimes called Spy Wednesday. It is a day where we look deep within ourselves, to see the ways in which we still betray Jesus.
Maundy Thursday
Much happens on this Thursday. We celebrate the Last Supper, the institution by Jesus of the Holy Eucharist, where we are given the command: “Do this, in remembrance of me.” Maundy comes from the Latin, mandatum, which means commandment.
The service traditionally includes the washing of feet, in imitation of Jesus’ action at the Last Supper. Following the Eucharist on this day, we take any bread and wine that remain, what we refer to as Reserve Sacrament, and process it to the Chapel. This symbolizes the movement of Jesus from the Upper Room to the Garden of Gethsemane, where he prayed until his arrest. We also recall Jesus’ words to Peter in the garden: “could you not stay awake with me one hour?” (Matt. 26.40). This is why some people will take shifts to keep vigil in the Chapel from the end of the Maundy Thursday service, all through the night, right up to the Good Friday service at noon the following day.
The last thing we do on Thursday is the stripping of the altar. It is symbolic of Jesus’ humiliation at the hands of the Roman soldiers, being stripped of his clothing. As the Altar Guild removes all adornments and beauty from the sanctuary, we recite Psalm 22: “They star and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them…”
Maundy Thursday is the beginning of the Triduum, meaning three days: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and the Great Vigil of Easter. It corresponds to the Jewish celebration of Pascha, two days of fasting followed by a great feast. The Triduum is effectively one long worship service spread over three days, and is the central act of worship for the Christian Church.
Good Friday
The origin of the name Good Friday is unclear. It may come from the sense of the word good which means holy, or pious. Others say that Good Friday derives from “God’s Friday.” Theologically, this is a nice starting point. Although it appears that Jesus is the victim of a brutal execution, God is most certainly in charge on this day.
Just as the Maundy Thursday service is ended in silence, without procession, so the Good Friday liturgy begins in the same way, since these are parts of the same worship service, spread over three days. We use an ancient form of Prayers of the People in this service, as used by the earliest Christians, called the Solemn Collects. A deacon bids the people to pray, and after each separate bidding the celebrant concludes with a collect. Traditionally Christians have prayed on this day for the Church, Civil Government, and the sick but we especially pray on Good Friday for those of other religions and for those without faith.
The Good Friday liturgy also contains the Veneration of the Cross, an opportunity for all to pay homage at the foot of the cross. The celebrant brings in a wooden cross, which is placed at the base of the altar. Holy Eucharist is not celebrated on this day, but communion is distributed from the Reserve Sacrament. All of this Reserve must be consumed, so you may observe the altar party consuming any bread or wine that remains after the congregation has been served. Since Good Friday is the day of Jesus’ death, and with a bare altar, there must be no remaining symbol of the presence of Jesus until the moment of his resurrection on Easter.
Holy Saturday
Liturgically, this short service is perhaps the most extraordinary of the year. How do we worship a God who appears to be completely absent? There are no symbols of Jesus present on Holy Saturday – no candles or altar cross, and no Holy Eucharist. As a priest I will not even where a stole, since this is also a representation of Jesus’ ministry. The only visible symbol is the large empty wooden cross which remains from Good Friday.
Traditionally, an “ancient homily for Holy Saturday” is preached on this day. The author of this text is unknown, but it dates to the very earliest Christian Church. It explains that Jesus is far from idle on this day, but that, in the underworld, “He goes to free the prisoner Adam and his fellow-prisoner Eve from their pains, he who is God, and Adam’s son.”
Easter Vigil (to be continued…)
Christians continue the Jewish practice of beginning each liturgical day at sunset. Therefore, at the precise moment of sunset on Holy Saturday, we begin our celebration of the resurrection: Easter! This is the climax of the Christian year. As the conclusion of the Triduum, the service begins in darkness and solemnity and proceeding to a joyous burst of light and song. We proudly proclaim: “Alleluia! Christ is Risen!”
With this shift from darkness to light, from mourning to celebration, the forty-day season of Lent is concluded and the Great Fifty Days of Easter commence. But for now, I leave this here – Easter is the high point of our Christian Year, and deserves its own, separate explanation.
To be continued…