Holy Week & Easter
Palm Sunday is the beginning of Holy Week. The Liturgy begins at 4pm outside the church building with the Liturgy of the Palms, where we process into the church carrying palm branches, singing the joyful song of the crowd as they welcomed Christ into Jerusalem: “Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” But the same crowd who welcomed him on Sunday only days later cried, “Crucify him!” And so it is with the Church on Palm Sunday, as we follow the Liturgy of the Palms with a dramatic Gospel Reading, where the different parts are read by many different people in the congregation. With this, Holy Week begins as we proclaim that Christ is the Promised King with full awareness that his blood is on our hands. The palms that we waved going into the church are saved and burned to make the ashes for next years’s Ash Wednesday. The liturgy will conclude around 5:15pm, to be followed by our
For many, Maundy Thursday is the favorite liturgy of the year. The word “Maundy” comes from the Latin mandatum, meaning “commandment”. Mirroring this last night the disciples spent together, the evening begins with a simple dinner, then moving to a Liturgy that focuses on the command of Christ to love one another, which He gave His disciples at the Last Supper. Just as it was in the Upper Room, Holy Communion is celebrated with great beauty and intimacy, preceded by the washing of feet, as the clergy wash the feet of the people. Then, as Christ was betrayed and abandoned in the Garden of Gethsemane, the Liturgy shifts to the Stripping of the Altar, where all the beauty of the Cross is removed. The congregation sits in darkness and silence, remembering that they, too, would have fled and denied Him who just washed their feet. All leave in silence, and are encouraged to keep a “Great Silence” for the rest of the night. The liturgy will conclude at 7:00pm.
Good Friday is a day full of devotion. Christians fast on this day, most observing a total fast until the evening. From 12-3pm, the hours that Jesus spent on the Cross, the Church is encouraged to set aside time to meditate on the last seven words of the Jesus on the Cross (e.g. “I thirst.”) At 6pm, the Church will gather for a special liturgy consisting of prayers, a short homily, and the “reproaches”, a responsive reading from Lamentations. After this the congregation leaves in silence. The liturgy will last around 45 minutes.
Holy Saturday is when Christ’s body was in the grave, but His spirit went to the place of the dead. At 7:00pm, around sunset, the Church gathers for the Easter Vigil, which is officially the first service of Easter Day. This ancient liturgy, originally composed by St. Ambrose of Milan (c. 339 – c. 397), features “the Exultet” (a chant recounting the great works of Christ in the Atonement), the New Fire, and several readings relating the Exodus to the Resurrection. The liturgy ends with the loud ringing of bells, shouts of “Alleluia!”, and then proceeds to a champagne and cake party. Those attending the Vigil are invited to bring a favorite party food, drink, or dessert. Though this is a late-night service, parents with kids are encouraged to embrace this as the most important feast of our year as Christians. Please RSVP for this!
Christ is risen! Alleluia! Easter Sunday is the happy end to a full week. While the Easter Vigil is the climax of Holy Week, Easter Sunday continues the celebration. The Liturgy begins at 4:00pm with Holy Communion. Given that the Vigil can be difficult for children, we make the time after the Easter Sunday liturgy to be especially engaging for children with an Easter Egg hunt set up on the playground behind the church building.