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Holy Week is almost a season within a season. Beginning with Palm Sunday and ending with Easter Vigil in the evening on Holy Saturday or early on Easter Sunday morning, it is the final stage of the long pilgrimmage of Lent. Because it was the earliest of the church's seasons and has the longest history, it also has the most complex and varied customs.
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- Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday begins the observance of Holy Week, and commemorates the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. In almost all places, branches of palm are distributed to the congregation. In some churches, the service begins somewhere other than the church, where the Blessing of the Palms is conducted. The Blessing of the Palms is a short ceremony: a salutation is said; the gospel passage describing the entry into Jerusalem is read; a blessing is said over the palms; and the congregation, choir and clergy form a procession into the church.
During the service, instead of an ordinary gospel reading, there is a dramatic reading of the Passion Gospel from Matthew, Mark or Luke (this rotates on a three-year cycle). Different ministers and members of the congregation take the parts of a Narrator, Pilate, Jesus, Peter, Judas, and other individuals. The whole assembly reads the parts marked "crowd," which include the cries of "Crucify him!"
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- Monday of Holy Week
There is no specific liturgy for this day, aside from a custom in many churches of observing each day of Holy Week with a celebration of the Eucharist. The lectionary reading for this day's Eucharist is the story of the woman who anointed Jesus with oil of pure nard, and it has become a church custom that on this day all the leftover consecrated oil from the past year is burned, in preparation for the new oil to be consecrated.
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- Tuesday of Holy Week
There is no specific liturgy for this day, in most churches. In cathedrals, there is a Eucharist at which the bishop consecrates new oils of chrism and unction for the coming year. These are then taken back to the churches in preparation for baptisms coming on Holy Saturday. The lectionary reading for this day is the story of the cleansing of the temple, when Jesus drove out the money-changers.
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- Wednesday of Holy Week
There is no specific liturgy for this day, in most churches, aside from a daily Eucharist if that is local custom. The lectionary reading for this day is the story of Judas' betrayal of Jesus. This is the pivot point, the day on which the shadows begin to darken significantly. In some churches, a service of Tenebrae is conducted, either on this night or one of the nights of Holy Week. In some places, this service is used on Maundy Thursday or Good Friday, in place of the liturgies described below.
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All of Holy Week is a liturgical drama, building to the climax of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter. These three days, from the beginning of the Maundy Thursday service on Thursday evening until the close of the Eucharist on Sunday morning, is one liturgical action. Because of the significance of these observances in the church, and because of the wealth of liturgy that goes on during them, the Latin term "triduum" meaning "three days" was applied to them. Many people refer to them as the Great Three Days.
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- Maundy Thursday
The word "Maundy" is a corruption of the Latin word "mandatum," because
at the Last Supper, Jesus gives the disciples a new mandate or
commandment, to love one another as he has loved them. The focus of
this day is on the Last Supper for two reasons: the institution of the
Eucharist in the synoptic gospels, and the footwashing described in
the gospel of John.
The service is usually held in the evening. It begins as usual, but
includes early in the service a ceremony of footwashing, in which the
priest of the parish washes the feet of those who come forward. This
is in commemoration of Jesus washing the disciples' feet, teaching them
(and us) that those who would lead must be willing to serve.
The service then continues much as usual, until communion is finished.
The end of the service, however, is dramatically different.
During communion, enough bread and wine are consecrated for two days.
After the post-communion prayer, this reserved sacrament is carried
in procession to some resting place, usually somewhere outside the church
proper (such as a side chapel). This place represents the garden of
Gethsemane, and is usually decorated with flowers. The priest and the
rest of the procession (which sometimes includes the whole congregation)
return to the church.
At this point, the stripping of the altar begins. This represents the
betrayal and arrest of Jesus, and the stripping of his clothes by the
soldiers. Every possible portable decoration is carried out of the sanctuary:
altar linens and hangings, kneelers, cushions, tables, chairs. During
this process, a psalm is recited by the congregation; usually this is
Psalm 22 or Psalm 69.
When the stripping of the altar is complete, the congregation, ministers
and choir leave in silence. There are is no hymn, no dismissal, no blessing.
One reason is that this is truly considered all part of one liturgical
action, sweeping through from Maundy Thursday to Easter Sunday. It also
serves to emphasize the gravity of what has happened, and what will
happen next.
In many churches, a vigil is kept in the chapel where the reserved sacrament
rests; usually this ends at midnight. In some places, vigil is kept
throughout the night until morning prayer or Matins on Good Friday.
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- Good Friday
The Solemn Liturgy for Good Friday in the Episcopal prayer book is one
possible observance for this day. It includes readings from the old
and new testaments, a gospel reading (usually the Passion Gospel from
John) which may be done dramatically in the same way as on Palm Sunday,
a sermon, the Solemn Collects in place of the usual prayers of the people,
and a very simple communion using the reserved sacrament from Thursday
evening. It also allows for the custom of veneration of the cross, in
which a wooden cross or crucifix is brought into the church and centrally
placed.
In most churches other than the Catholic church, that is as far as the
veneration goes. In some churches, parishioners may come forward to
kiss the cross.
Many other customs may end up being substituted for this liturgy, however.
In some parishes, the noon service includes the Stations of the Cross,
a devotion that grew out of the same commemorative tradition that gave
rise to the Holy Week observances themselves. In my home parish, the
noon service on Good Friday is an ecumenical preaching service; twelve
clergy of varying denominations offer sermons on the theme "Beneath
the Cross of Jesus," with hymns between each sermon.
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- Holy Saturday
There really is no liturgy for this day, in most churches. No communion
is celebrated; in parishes, this is usually the day of frantic preparation
for Easter. In Easter Orthodox tradition, this is the day during which
Jesus descends into Hell, while his body rests in the tomb. In some
places, this is commemorated with sepulchres people build in their yards.
Many parishes celebrate the Great Vigil of Easter on this day, in the
evening. If this is to be done, it is most effective if the service
does not start until after dark, since the first action of the Great
Vigil is the lighting of the new fire and kindling of the Paschal
Candle.
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Note: This site is going to be rather large when finished;
unfortunately there was not time to flesh out all of the details before
submitting the web design test for grading. However, I have ensured
that all present links work, including links to the Glossary of Terms
and to this page; this page is not part of the test. It is here to demonstrate
additional linking, and to make sure there is a link to every named
anchor in the test pages.
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