Holy Week is the most solemn and glorious week in the Christian calendar, the pinnacle of the liturgical year. This is because Holy Week commemorates the final week of Christ’s life on this earth, the very purpose for which Christmas happened. Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday (when Jesus made his final entrance into Jerusalem) and culminates with Easter Sunday. As Holy Week progresses towards its final days, the tension heightens.
‘Triduum’ is a Latin term (meaning three days) used by the Catholic Church to denote the three days from the evening of Holy Thursday to the evening of Easter Sunday. The Easter Triduum begins with the evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper and ends after evening prayers at sunset on Easter Day.
HOLY THURSDAY
Holy Thursday, also known as Maundy Thursday, opens the celebration of the Triduum which takes place at the evening Mass. This Mass celebrates the last meal Jesus shared with his twelve apostles before his death. After the homily on Holy Thursday, we imitate Jesus in the washing of feet. This ritual reminds us that our baptismal commitment means we are to be servants to each other. The Mass does not end as it usually does with the dismissal and final blessing. The evening’s celebration concludes with a “stripping of the altar” when all the decorations are removed, and the Blessed Sacrament is taken from the Tabernacle on the Main Altar and processed to an Altar of Repose outside the main body of the church. The sanctuary candle or Paschal candle is extinguished and not re-lit until the Easter Vigil.
Eucharistic Adoration is common after the Holy Thursday Mass. It reminds us of Jesus’ fearful vigil in the Garden of Gethsemane, when his first disciples could not stay awake to support him.
In Catholic Churches, images of saints are covered until the Easter Vigil and votive candles are not lit before these images.
GOOD FRIDAY
On this day, Christians ritually recall the Passion and crucifixion of Jesus. Mass is not celebrated because the sacrifice is already being re-enacted. However, Holy Communion (reserved in the Tabernacle on the Altar of Repose from the previous evening) is distributed at the Celebration of the Lord’s Passion. The celebration traditionally occurs at 3 pm to coincide with the Gospel texts that state the hour that Jesus breathed his last on the cross in Matthew 27:46, Luke 23:44.
It consists of three parts: Liturgy of the Word, Veneration of the Cross and Holy Communion. The liturgy begins with the Priest and
deacon prostrating themselves in front of the Altar.
The first part, the Liturgy of the Word, consists of the reading or chanting of Isaiah 52:13-53:12, Hebrews 4:14-16, 5:7-9, and the Passion account from the Gospel of John.
The second part of the Good Friday liturgy is the Veneration of the Cross: a cross which is solemnly processed and then displayed to the congregation, and the priest and the faithful are invited to kneel before the cross and kiss it in reverence.
The third and last part is Holy Communion. The Eucharist, consecrated at the Mass of Holy Thursday is distributed at this service. At the conclusion, the priest and people depart in silence, and the altar cloth is removed, leaving the altar bare.
HOLY SATURDAY
The Easter Vigil is held after nightfall of Holy Saturday, or before dawn on Easter Day, in anticipation of the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus. This is the most glorious, beautiful, and dramatic liturgy for the Church. As the sun rises so does the Son.
The Easter Vigil consists of four parts:
a. The Service of Light
b. The Liturgy of the Word
c. The Order of Christian Initiation and the Renewal of Baptismal Vows
d. Holy Eucharist
The Service of Light
The Vigil service begins outside the church around a large fire in the dark. This new fire symbolizes the radiance of the Risen Christ dispelling the darkness of sin and death. The Paschal candle is blessed and then lit. This Paschal candle is used throughout the season of Easter, remaining in the sanctuary of the church or near the lectern, and throughout the coming year at all baptisms and funerals, reminding us that Christ is our light and life.
Once the candle has been lit there follows the beautiful and ancient rite of the Light or Lucernarium, in which the candle is carried by a deacon through the nave of the darkened church, stopping three times to chant an acclamation such as “Christ our Light” to which the people respond “Thanks be to God.” As the candle proceeds through the church, the baptised light their candles from the flame of the Paschal candle. As this symbolic “Light of Christ” spreads throughout those gathered, the darkness is dispersed. Once the procession has reached the sanctuary of the Altar, with the church lit only by candlelight, the Exultet (Easter Proclamation) is sung.
The Liturgy of the Word
The Liturgy of the Word consists of up to seven readings from the Old Testament. Each reading is followed by a psalm and a prayer connecting what has been read in the Old Testament to the Mystery of Christ. After these readings finish, the Gloria is sung for the first time since before Lent (except for when it is sung on Holy Thursday), while the church bells and the organ, silent since that point on Holy Thursday, are sounded again – and the opening prayer is read. A reading from the Epistle to the Romans is proclaimed, followed by the chanting of Psalm 118 (A song of victory). The Alleluia is sung for the first time since the beginning of Lent. The Gospel of the Resurrection is then proclaimed.
The Order of Christian Initiation (OCIA)
During the vigil all those who have completed their formation as catechumens are received into the Church. They receive the sacraments of initiation, Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist during the Vigil, surrounded by, and sustained by, the prayers of the whole Christian Community.
Therefore Easter is not simply one feast among others, but the ‘Feast of feasts’, the ‘Solemnity of solemnities’, just as the Eucharist is the ‘Sacrament of sacraments’
Catechism of the Catholic Church – 1168 and 1169.
