Holy Week
Holy Week | |
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Easter Sunday | |
Date | Last week of Lent |
2023 date |
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2024 date |
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2025 date |
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2026 date |
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Frequency | Annual |
Related to | Eastertide |
Part of a series on |
Death and Resurrection of Jesus |
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Portals: Christianity Bible |
Holy Week (
Holy Week begins with the commemoration of
Christians believe that Jesus rested in death from the ninth hour (3 pm) on Good Friday until just before dawn on Sunday morning, the day of
Holy Week
History
Holy Week in the
There is some doubt about the genuineness of an ordinance attributed to Roman Emperor
Of the particular days of the "great week" the earliest to emerge into special prominence was naturally Good Friday. Next came the Sabbatum Magnum ("Great Sabbath", i.e.,
Other writings that refer to related traditions of the early Church include, most notably, The Pilgrimage of Etheria (also known as The Pilgrimage of Egeria), which details the whole observance of Holy Week at that time.[11]
Today, in the
In the
Holy Week in Western Christianity
Palm Sunday (Sixth Sunday of Lent)
Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday, complete: Palm and Passion Sunday (Latin Dominica in Palmis de Passione Domini). Traditionally, Palm Sunday commemorates the
In many liturgical denominations, to commemorate Christ's entry into Jerusalem to accomplish his paschal mystery, it is customary to have a blessing of palm leaves or other branches, for example olive branches. The blessing ceremony includes the reading of a Gospel account of Jesus humbly riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, reminiscent of a Davidic victory procession, and people placing palm and other branches on the ground before him.
Immediately following this great time of celebration over the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem, he begins his journey to the cross. The blessing is thus followed by a procession or solemn entrance into the church, with the participants holding the blessed branches in their hands. The Mass or liturgy of worship itself includes a reading of the
Before the reform of the rite by Pope Pius XII, the blessing of the palms occurred inside the church within a liturgy that followed the general outline of a Mass, with Collect, Epistle and Gospel, as far as the Sanctus. The palms were then blessed with five prayers, and a procession went out of the church and on its return included a ceremony for the reopening of the doors, which had meanwhile been shut. After this the normal Mass was celebrated.[16]
Many churches of mainstream
Holy Monday and Holy Tuesday
The days between Palm Sunday and Maundy Thursday are known as Holy Monday, Holy Tuesday (Fig Tuesday), and Holy Wednesday (Spy Wednesday). There are traditional observances held by liturgical denominations to commemorate events from the last days of Jesus Christ's life. Among them:
- On Holy Monday, events observed in the liturgy may include Jesus authority of Jesus questioned, and the anointing of Jesus at Bethany (John 12:1–11), an event that in the Gospel of John occurred before Palm Sunday as in John 12:12–19.
- On Holy Tuesday, some observe Christ's predictions of his own death, as described in John 12:20–36 and John 13:21–38. (In the Tridentine Mass the Passion according to St. Mark is read instead.)
Holy Wednesday (Spy Wednesday)
On Holy Wednesday, the story of Judas arranging his betrayal of Jesus with the chief priests is remembered; he was a spy among the disciples of Jesus (Matthew 26:14–25).[18] For this reason, the day is sometimes called "Spy Wednesday".[5] (In the Tridentine Mass the Passion according to St. Luke is read instead.) Other events connected with this date include events at the house of Simon the Leper, especially the anointing of Jesus by Mary of Bethany, which directly preceded the betrayal of Jesus by Judas to the Sanhedrin.[citation needed]
Maundy Thursday
Maundy Thursday (also known as Holy Thursday) commemorates the Last Supper, where Christ lays out the model for the Eucharist or Holy Communion. During the meal, Jesus predicted the events that would immediately follow, including his betrayal, the Denial of Peter, and his death and resurrection. Events of the Last Supper play varying roles in commemoration liturgies depending on denomination.[citation needed] The liturgical celebration of the Last Supper on Maundy Thursday marks the beginning of the Paschal Triduum. Catholic and Lutheran parishes traditionally practice the foot washing (Maundy) ceremony on Maundy Thursday, a practice also kept in other denominations.[23]
In the Catholic Church, on this day the private celebration of
The Mass of the Lord's Supper commemorates the
In the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churches of Evangelical Catholic churchmanship, and in Anglican churches of an Anglo-Catholic churchmanship, a sufficient number of
In Lutheran, Anglican and Methodist churches, the altar has black paraments or the altar cloths are removed altogether.[30][31] At the conclusion of the Maundy Thursday liturgy in Lutheran Churches, the "lectern and pulpit are [also] left bare until Easter to symbolize the humiliation and barrenness of the cross."[32] Methodist custom holds that apart from depictions of the Stations of the Cross, other images (such as the altar cross) continue the Lenten habitude of being veiled.[33] In the Catholic Church, the altars of the church (except the one used as the altar of repose) are later stripped quite bare and, as much as possible, crosses are removed from the church (or veiled in the pre-Vatican II rite), crucifixes and statues are covered with violet covers during Passiontide, but the crucifix covers can be white instead of violet on Maundy Thursday).[34]
Good Friday
Good Friday commemorates the
The evening liturgical celebration on Holy Thursday begins the first of three days in the Easter Triduum, which continues in an atmosphere of liturgical mourning throughout the next day, in spite of the name "Good" given in English to the day.[citation needed]
For Catholic, Methodist, Lutheran, Reformed and Anglican Christians, Good Friday is widely observed as a fast day.[35] A Handbook for the Discipline of Lent recommends the Lutheran guideline to "fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday with only one simple meal during the day, usually without meat".[36] Western Catholic Church practice is to have only one full meal with, if needed, two small snacks that together do not make a full meal. The Anglican Communion defines fasting more generically as: "The amount of food eaten is reduced."[37]
In some countries, such as Malta, Philippines, Italy, and Spain processions with statues representing the Passion of Christ are held.
- The church mourns for Christ's death, reveres the cross, and marvels at his life for his obedience until death.
- In the Catholic Church, the only sacraments celebrated are Penanceand Anointing of the Sick. While there is no celebration of the Eucharist, Holy Communion is distributed to the faithful only in the Celebration of the Lord's Passion, but can be taken at any hour to the sick who are unable to attend this liturgy.
- Outside the afternoon liturgical celebration, the altar remains completely bare in Catholic churches, without altar cloth, candlesticks, or cross. In Lutheran and Methodist churches, the altar is usually draped in black.
- It is customary to empty the holy water fonts in preparation for the blessing of the water at the Easter Vigil.[38]
- The Celebration of the Passion of the Lord takes place in the afternoon, ideally at three o'clock, but for pastoral reasons a later hour may be chosen.
- In the Catholic Church the colour of the vestments is red. The Lutheran Church, Methodist Church, and Presbyterian Church continue to use black, as was the practice of the Catholic Church until 1970. If a bishop celebrates, he wears a plain mitre.
- The Roman Rite liturgy consists of three parts: the Liturgy of the Word, the Veneration of the Cross, and Holy Communion.
- Liturgy of the Word
- Prostration of the celebrant before the altar.
- The readings from Isaiah 53 (about the Suffering Servant) and the Epistle to the Hebrews are read.
- The Passion narrative of the Gospel of John is sung or read, often divided between more than one singer or reader.
- General Intercessions: The congregation prays for the Church, the Pope, the Jews, non-Christians, unbelievers and others.
- Veneration of the Cross: A crucifix is solemnly unveiled before the congregation. The people venerate it on their knees. During this part, the "Reproaches" are often sung.
- Distribution of Holy Communion: Hosts consecrated at the Mass of the previous day are distributed to the people. (Before the reform of Pope Pius XII, only the priest received Communion in the framework of what was called the "Mass of the Presanctified", which included the usual Offertory prayers, with the placing of wine in the chalice, but which omitted the Canon of the Mass.[16]) The Good Friday liturgy is not a Mass, and in fact, celebration of Catholic Mass on Good Friday is forbidden. It is the Eucharist consecrated the evening before (Holy Thursday) that is distributed.
- Even if music is used in the Liturgy, it is not used to open and close the Liturgy, nor is there a formal recessional (closing procession).
- The solemnity and somberness of the occasion has encouraged the persistence over the centuries of liturgical forms without substantial modification.
- It was once customary in some countries, especially England, to place a veiled Blessed Sacrament or a cross in a Holy Sepulchre.[39]
- If crucifixes were covered starting with the next to last Sunday in Lent, they are unveiled without ceremony after the Good Friday liturgy.
In some parishes of the Anglican Church, Catholic Church, Lutheran Church, and Methodist Church, the "
Another pious exercise carried out on Good Friday is that of the Stations of the Cross, either within the church or outside. The celebration at the Colosseum with participation by the Pope has become a traditional fixture widely covered by television.[citation needed]
The Novena to the Divine Mercy begins on that day and lasts until the Saturday before the Feast of Mercy.[42][43]
Holy Saturday (Black Saturday)
Holy Saturday is the day between the crucifixion of Jesus and his resurrection. As the
In the Catholic tradition, Mass is not celebrated on what is liturgically Holy Saturday. The celebration of Easter begins after sundown on what, though still Saturday in the civil calendar, is liturgically Easter Sunday.[citation needed]
On Holy Saturday the Church waits at the Lord's tomb in prayer and fasting, meditating on his Passion and Death and on his Descent into Hell, and awaiting his Resurrection.
The Church abstains from the Sacrifice of the Mass, with the sacred table left bare, until after the solemn Vigil, that is, the anticipation by night of the Resurrection, when the time comes for paschal joys, the abundance of which overflows to occupy fifty days.[45]
In some Anglican churches, including the
The tabernacle is left empty and open. The lamp or candle usually situated next to the tabernacle denoting the Presence of Christ is put out, and the remaining Eucharistic Hosts consecrated on Holy Thursday are kept elsewhere, usually the sacristy, with a lamp or candle burning before it, so that, in cases of the danger of death, they may be given as viaticum.[citation needed]
The name of the Easter Vigil, even if the vigil is held on what on the civil calendar is still Saturday, indicates that liturgically it is already Easter, no longer part of Holy Week, but still part of the Easter Triduum.[citation needed]
In the Anglican, Lutheran, Catholic, Methodist, and Presbyterian traditions, the Easter Vigil, one of the longest and most solemn of liturgical liturgies, lasts up to three or four hours, consists of four parts:[12][46]
- The Service of Light
- The Liturgy of the Word
- The Liturgy of Baptism: The sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation for new members of the Church and the Renewal of Baptismal Promises by the entire congregation.
- Holy Eucharist
The Liturgy begins after sundown on Holy Saturday as the crowd gathers inside the unlit church. In the darkness (often in a side chapel of the church building or, preferably, outside the church), a new fire is kindled and blessed by the priest. This new fire symbolizes the light of salvation and hope that God brought into the world through Christ's Resurrection, dispelling the darkness of sin and death. From this fire is lit the Paschal candle, symbolizing the Light of Christ. This Paschal candle will be used throughout the season of Easter, remaining in the sanctuary of the Church or near the lectern, and throughout the coming year at baptisms and funerals, reminding all that Christ is "light and life."[citation needed]
The candles of those present are lit from the Paschal candle. As this symbolic "Light of Christ" spreads throughout those gathered, the darkness is decreased. A deacon, or the priest if there is no deacon, carries the Paschal Candle at the head of the entrance procession and, at three points, stops and chants the proclamation "The Light of Christ" (until Easter 2011, the official English text was "Christ our Light"), to which the people respond "Thanks be to God." Once the procession concludes with the singing of the third proclamation, the lights throughout the church are lit, except for the altar candles. Then the deacon or a cantor chants the
The Liturgy of the Word includes between three and seven readings from the Old Testament, followed by two from the New (an Epistle and a Gospel). The Old Testament readings must include the account in Exodus 14 of the crossing of the Red Sea, seen as an antitype of baptism and Christian salvation. Each Old Testament reading is followed by a psalm or canticle (such as Exodus 15:1–18 and a prayer relating what has been read to the Mystery of Christ. After the Old Testament readings conclude, the Gloria in excelsis Deo, which has been suspended during Lent, is intoned and bells are rung.[citation needed]
A reading from the Epistle to the Romans is proclaimed. The Alleluia is sung for the first time since the beginning of Lent. The Gospel of the Resurrection then follows, along with a homily.[citation needed]
After the conclusion of the Liturgy of the Word, the water of the
After the Liturgy of Baptism, the Liturgy of the Eucharist continues as usual. This is the first Mass of Easter Day. During the Eucharist, the newly baptised receive Holy Communion for the first time. According to the rubrics of the Missal, the Eucharist should finish before dawn.[citation needed]
Easter Day
Easter Day, which immediately follows Holy Week and begins with the Easter Vigil, is the great feast day and apogee of the Christian liturgical year: on this day the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is celebrated. It is the first day of the new season of the Great Fifty Days, or Eastertide, which runs from Easter Day to Pentecost Sunday. The Resurrection of Christ on Easter Day is the main reason why Christians keep every Sunday as the primary day of religious observance.
Plenary indulgence
In the Roman Catholic Church, plenary
- Adoration of the Blessed Sacramentfor at least one half hour;
- The pious exercise of the Way of the Cross;
- Recitation of the Marian Akathistos, in church or an oratory; or in a family, a religious community, or a sodality of the faithful or, in general, when several of the faithful are gathered for any good purpose;
- The devout reading or listening to the Sacred Scriptures for at least a half an hour.
Holy Week observances
Liturgical seasons |
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Cities famous for their Holy Week processions include:[citation needed]
Country | City |
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Colombia | Pamplona
|
Costa Rica | San José Heredia San Rafael de Oreamuno |
India | Mumbai Delhi Chennai Kolkata Vasai-Virar |
Guatemala | Holy Week processions in Guatemala Antigua Guatemala Guatemala City |
Honduras | Comayagua Tegucigalpa |
Ecuador | Quito |
El Salvador | Sonsonate |
Indonesia | Larantuka |
Mexico | Holy Week in Mexico Iztapalapa |
Nicaragua | Managua Granada León |
Philippines | List
|
Peru | Ayacucho Cusco Huaraz Tarma |
Spain | List
|
Venezuela | Tacarigua de Mamporal Guatire Caracas Villa de Cura |
Vietnam | Tuần Thánh |
Brazil
Holy Week has developed into one of Brazil's main symbols of community identity, more specifically in the southern town of Campanha. The Campanha Holy Week begins on the Monday evening with the Procession of the Deposit. The figure of Our Lord of the Stations, representing the blood-stained Jesus carrying the cross, is brought from the church in a large black box and displayed in the main square. Then it is solemnly taken to the church following a band and a procession of people.[48][49]
Outside the church, a sermon is delivered on the Easter story of Jesus Christ's death and resurrection. After the sermon, a choir inside the open doors of the church sings the Miserere by Manoel Dias de Oliveria, while the black box is brought inside the church, and people come in to kiss the human-sized figure of Christ. Processions on Tuesday and Wednesday stop at different chapels at each of which a large painting portrays episodes of the Way of the Cross and a related hymn is sung at each. On Thursday morning the Chrism Mass is celebrated, with a blessing of the oils.[48][49]
Good Friday afternoon ceremonies are followed by the week's main spectacle of the Taking Down from the Cross in front of the cathedral followed by the Funeral Procession of Our Dead Lord. The drama shows Christ being taken from the cross and placed in a coffin, which is then taken around to the accompaniment of the "Song of Veronica". On Saturday morning a drama is performed by the youth.[48][49]
The following night, the Paschal Vigil is celebrated, and the streets are transformed into a beautiful array of intricate, colorful carpets to prepare for the following day. Easter Sunday begins before sunrise with the singing of the choir and band performances to celebrate the resurrection of Christ. Bells and fireworks are followed by a Mass that ends with the "Hallelujah Chorus".[48][49]
Guatemala
Holy Week in Guatemala incorporates processions with images of saints carried on huge wooden platforms. The heavy andas are held by the locals, both men and women, who are frequently in purple robes. The procession is led by a man holding a container of incense accompanied by a small horn and flute band. Intricate carpets (alfombras) line the streets during the week's celebration. Easter processions begin at sunrise and everyone comes to join the festivities.[citation needed]
In Amatenango, the figure of Judas, who betrayed Christ has been the main point of focus during the Mayan Holy Week. The priest calls Judas the "killer of Christ". The figure used to be beaten after the Crucifixion performance on Good Friday, but is now treated more calmly.[50][51]
Honduras
The hollyday is celebrated in
]Holy Week is also widely celebrated in Tegucigalpa following similar traditions of Comayagua, mostly in the historic center of the city, Similar to Guatemala, the Honduran Holy Week incorporates processions with images of saints carried on huge wooden platforms. In other communities as Gracias Lempira and different towns is still widely celebrated.[citation needed]
Italy
Holy Weeks worthy of note in Italy are also the
The rites of the Holy Week in Ruvo di Puglia are the main event that takes place in the Apulian town. Folklore and sacred or profane traditions, typical of the ruvestine tradition, represent a great attraction for tourists from neighboring cities and the rest of Italy and Europe,[55] and have been included by the I.D.E.A. among the events of the intangible heritage of Italy. The proof of the existence of the first Ruvestines confraternities can be found in the polyptych, a Byzantine work signed Z. T., depicting the Madonna with Child and confreres in which the inscription "Hoc opus fieri fec(e)runt, confratres san(c)ti Cleti, anno salut(i)s 1537" and preserved in the church of Purgatory, in the left aisle, the one dedicated to Saint Anacletus.[56]
Malta
The Holy Week commemorations reach their paramount on Good Friday as the Catholic Church celebrates the passion of Jesus. Solemn celebrations take place in all churches together with processions in different villages around
]Mexico and United States: Yaqui Indians
Yaqui Holy Week is both ritualistic and dramaturgic in its celebrations. The rituals date back to the early seventeenth century, at the time of pioneering
Children in white robes with blue painted faces and a dark hooded figure, symbolizing the betrayer of Christ, join the Thursday morning procession to the church. There they promise to serve God for the next three or five years, until their eyes start to bleed just like Christ's would. That night, there is a symbolic search for Jesus when the "Pharisees" visit various crosses in the streets and capture the "old man" (symbolic Jesus). On Friday a member of the church who volunteers to represent Jesus is beaten and buried for two days. On Saturday, an image of Jesus Christ's betrayer, Judas Iscariot, and takes place an apotropaic battle destroying the evil which has been accumulated in the town during the next year. Sunday celebrates Christ's resurrection filled with beautiful flowers and fireworks, while the volunteer rises from where he was buried. A dance drama is performed enacting evil being defeated by good.[58][59]
Philippines
In the predominantly Catholic Philippines, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday are national holidays; work is suspended in government offices and private businesses. Most stores are closed and most people in the cities return to their home provinces to commemorate Holy Week in their home town.[60]
Holy Week is commemorated with street processions featuring wheeled carrozas or floats carrying various icons, the
At
One of the most important Holy Week traditions in the Philippines is the Visita Iglesia (Spanish for "church visit").[63] On Maundy Thursday, the faithful visit seven churches to pray the Stations of the Cross, and in the evenings, pray in front of each church's Altar of Repose.[64]
The last Mass before
Easter Day is marked with joyous celebration, the first being the dawn Salubong rite, wherein statues of Jesus and Mary are brought in procession together to meet, imagining the first reunion of Jesus and his mother Mary after the Resurrection. This is followed by the joyous Easter Mass. Most Catholic communities across the Philippines practice this, though it is more popularly celebrated in the provinces.[65] The rite, originally called the encuentro, was introduced by Spanish priests during the colonial era.[66]
Spain
In Málaga, the lifelike wooden or plaster sculptures are called "tronos" and they are carried through the streets by "costaleros" ( Translated literally as "sack men", because of the costal, a sack-like cloth that they wear over their neck, to soften the burden). These pasos and tronos are physically carried on their necks or "braceros" (this name is popular in León). The paso can weigh up to five metric tonnes. In front of them walk the penitentes, dressed in long purple robes, often with pointed hats, followed by women in black carrying candles for up to 11 hours. The pasos are set up and maintained by hermandades and cofradías, religious brotherhoods, common to a specific area of the city, who precede the paso dressed in Roman military costumes or penitential robes.[citation needed]
Those members who wish to do so wear these penitential robes with conical hats, or
Music
Music for the Holy Week includes
Holy Week in Eastern Christianity
Eastern Orthodoxy
In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the forty days of Great Lent end on the Friday before Palm Sunday. The two days that follow, Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday, form a transition to Holy Week, neither in Lent nor in Holy Week themselves, but in combination with Holy Week containing the continuing observances in preparation for Pascha (Easter), during which the faithful continue to fast.[citation needed]
Lazarus Saturday commemorates Jesus
Holy Week is referred to as "Great and Holy Week", or "Passion Week".[68] Since the Orthodox liturgical day starts at sunset (as it has from antiquity), Holy Monday liturgies begin Sunday evening, at the normal timing for Monday Vespers (Vespers is the first liturgy of the day). However, during Holy Week, in most parishes, many liturgy times are advanced from six to twelve hours in time and celebrated in anticipation, which permits more of the faithful to attend the most prominent liturgies. Thus, it is the matins liturgy of Great Monday that is on "Palm Sunday" evening in parish churches and often vespers is in the morning.[citation needed]
Great and Holy Monday through Wednesday
A new liturgical day beginning at sunset, the first liturgy of each day is vespers at which stichera are chanted elaborating the theme of the new day.[citation needed]
These days' Orthros liturgies (which in parishes is performed the previous night) are often referred to as the "Bridegroom Prayer", because of their theme of Christ as the Bridegroom of the Church, a theme expressed in the
The same theme is repeated in the exapostilarion, a hymn which occurs near the end of the liturgy. These liturgies follow much the same pattern as liturgies on weekdays of Great Lent. The liturgies are so laid out that the entire Psalter (with the exception of Kathisma XVII) is chanted on the first three days of Holy Week. The canon that is chanted on these days is a "Triode", i.e., composed of three odes instead of the usual nine, as is in other weekday liturgies in the Triodion.[citation needed]
Towards the end of the Tuesday evening Bridegroom liturgy (Orthros for Great and Holy Wednesday), the Hymn of Kassiani is sung. The hymn (written in the 9th century by Kassia) tells of the woman who washed Christ's feet in the house of Simon the Pharisee (Luke 7:36–50). Much of the hymn is written from the perspective of the sinful woman:
O Lord, the woman who had fallen into many sins, sensing Your Divinity, takes upon herself the duty of a myrrh-bearer. With lamentations she brings you myrrh in anticipation of your entombment. "Woe to me!" she cries, "for me night has become a frenzy of licentiousness, a dark and moonless love of sin. Receive the fountain of my tears, O You who gathers into clouds the waters of the sea. Incline unto me, unto the sighings of my heart, O You who bowed the heavens by your ineffable condescension. I will wash your immaculate feet with kisses and dry them again with the tresses of my hair; those very feet at whose sound Eve hid herself from in fear when she heard You walking in Paradise in the twilight of the day. As for the multitude of my sins and the depths of Your judgements, who can search them out, O Savior of souls, my Savior? Do not disdain me Your handmaiden, O You who are boundless in mercy."
On vespers at the end of Monday through Wednesday is a reading from the Gospel which sets forth the new day's theme and then the
The Byzantine musical composition expresses the poetry so strongly that it leaves many people in a state of prayerful tears. The Hymn can last upwards of 25 minutes and is liturgically and musically a highpoint of the entire year.[citation needed]
Great and Holy Thursday
In many churches, especially Greek Orthodox, a liturgy of
Orthros of Great and Holy Thursday does not follow the format of Great Lent (with the singular exception of chanting
Divine Liturgy of the
Great and Holy Thursday is the only day during Holy Week when those observing the strict tradition will eat a cooked meal, though they will not do so until after the dismissal of the Liturgy. At this meal wine and oil are permitted, but the faithful still abstain from meat and dairy products.[citation needed]
Great and Holy Friday
Matins of Great and Holy Friday is celebrated on the evening of Holy Thursday. During this liturgy, twelve Matins Gospels are chanted, from which this liturgy derives its name of "Matins of the Twelve Gospels". These Gospel lessons recount in chronological order the events from the Last Supper through the Crucifixion and burial of Jesus. At one point, when we reach the first Gospel which speaks of the Crucifixion, there is a custom for the priest to bring out a large cross with an icon of the crucified Christ attached to it, and places it in the center of the nave for all the faithful to venerate. This cross will remain in the center of the church until the bringing out of the epitaphios the next evening.[citation needed]
On Great and Holy Friday morning the Royal Hours are served. These are a solemn celebration of the Little Hours with added hymns and readings.[citation needed]
Vespers of Great and Holy Friday (Vespers of the
Great and Holy Saturday
Matins of Great and Holy Saturday is, in parish practice, held on Friday evening. The liturgy is known as the "Orthros of Lamentations at the Tomb", because the majority of the liturgy is composed of the clergy and faithful gathered around the tomb, chanting the "Lamentations" interspersed between the verses of Kathisma XVII (Psalm 118). At a certain point the priest sprinkles the tomb with rose petals and rose water. Near the end of the liturgy, the Epitaphios is carried in a candlelit procession around the outside of the church as the faithful sing the Trisagion.[citation needed]
If there are
On Saturday night, the
A procession then circles around the outside of the church, recreating the journey of the
One of the highpoints is the sharing of the
On the afternoon of Easter Day, a joyful liturgy called "Agape Vespers" is celebrated. During this liturgy, the Great Prokeimenon is chanted and a lesson from the Gospel (John 20:19–25) is read in as many different languages as possible, accompanied by the joyful ringing of bells.[citation needed]
Coptic Orthodox Church
The Coptic Orthodox Christians fast the Lent for 55 days including the Holy Week which they call Holy Paschal Week.[69]
The Friday before Palm Sunday is called "The Concluding Friday of Great Lent". On this day a special liturgy called "The Unction of the Sick" is conducted. It consists of seven prayers and at the conclusion of the prayers, the priest anoints each member of the congregation with the holy oil.[citation needed]
The following day – the last Saturday before Holy Week – is called "Lazarus Saturday". On this day the Coptic Church commemorates the Raising of Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary of Bethany. This day is related to the events of Holy Week in that John 12 tells of a visit of Jesus to Lazarus immediately before recounting the events of Palm Sunday.[citation needed]
Since the liturgical day starts from the evening before a calendar day, the prayers of Palm Sunday begin on the evening of Lazarus' Saturday.[citation needed]
Throughout Holy Week, a paschal liturgy is conducted each evening, starting on Sunday night (the eve of Monday), and every morning, up until Easter. These paschal liturgies take place in the middle of the church, not on the altar, because Jesus suffered and was crucified on Golgotha, outside of Jerusalem. The altar is bared of all its coverings and relics.[citation needed]
Each day liturgy is divided into 5 "hours"; The First Hour, The Third Hour, The Sixth Hour, The Ninth Hour, and The Eleventh Hour. Likewise, each night liturgy is also divided into the same five hours. However, Good Friday has an extra hour added to it, that of The Twelfth Hour. During each hour, one or a few prophecies are read at the beginning, a hymn ("Thine is the Power") is chanted twelve times, a psalm is sung in a sad tune, one passage from a gospel is read, and an exposition concludes the hour. On Good Friday Eve and Good Friday, all four gospel accounts of the day's events are read,[70] and more prophecies are read as well. From Tuesday night onward, the people do not greet each other nor the priests, and do not even kiss the icons of saints in the church, because it was with a kiss that Judas betrayed Jesus.[citation needed]
On Thursday of Holy Week, also called Covenant Thursday, a liturgy is prayed and communion is given to symbolize the Last Supper of Jesus. Also, before the liturgy the priests wash the feet of the congregation in imitation of Jesus washing his disciples' feet.[citation needed]
Late Friday night until early Saturday morning is called Apocalypse Night or Holy Saturday. During this night, another liturgy is prayed and the entire Book of Revelation is read, to symbolize the Second Coming.[citation needed]
The series concludes with the Easter liturgy on Saturday night, followed by a gathering in the church (or a park) where the participants can celebrate the joy of the Resurrection, eating together and ending their long fast, and at which they are permitted once again to partake of meat, fish, and dairy products.[citation needed] From Easter until Pentecost the usual fasts on Wednesday and Friday are not observed, because it's a time of joy called the Holy Fifty Days.
Eastern Catholic Churches and Eastern Lutheran Churches
Holy Week observances and customs of the
Related observances
Through time, the festival of Holy Week was extended at both ends, with observances starting on Friday of Sorrows, the last Friday before Palm Sunday, and Eastertide, with various observances marking days of the Easter Octave.
Friday of Sorrows
The religious processions that are part of the Holy Week celebrations in many countries begin two days before Holy Week on what in those countries is called Friday of Sorrows.
On the Friday before Holy Week, the
O God, who in this season
give your Church the grace
to imitate devoutly the Blessed Virgin Mary
in contemplating the Passion of Christ,
grant, we pray, through her intercession,
that we may cling more firmly each day
to your Only Begotten Son
and come at last to the fullness of his grace.
This provision of an alternative collect was the equivalent of granting the Lenten celebration of Our Lady of Sorrow the rank of memorial, since during Lent a memorial, even if otherwise obligatory, is represented in the liturgy of the day at most by optional use of its collect.[74] The liturgical calendar of Malta gives the celebration the rank of feast, making its observance obligatory. Observance of the Tridentine Mass calendar as it stood in 1962 is still permitted in the circumstances indicated in the 2007 document Summorum Pontificum, giving Our Lady of Sorrows a commemoration within the liturgy of the Friday.[citation needed]
In many
The somber and often nocturnal commemoration with public processions directs thoughts to the desolate emotional state of the Virgin Mary on Black Saturday as prophesied by the Rabbi Simeon on the "seven sorrows" that as an allegorical sword pierced her heart. She is represented as worrying and grieving with Saint Mary Magdalene for Jesus; therefore the event is markedly similar to a mourning event among the people.[citation needed]
Octave of Easter
The Octave of Easter, also referred to as Bright Week in the Eastern tradition, is the eight-day period (octave) in Eastertide that starts on Easter Sunday and concludes with the following Sunday.[citation needed]
Easter Monday
Easter Monday is the day after
Dyngus Day in Central Europe
Śmigus-dyngus (Polish pronunciation:
Traditionally, boys throw water over girls and spank them with
Bright Monday in the Eastern Orthodox Church
In the
Sham-Ennessim in Coptic Church
A different celebration of Easter Monday takes place in Egypt. Sham Ennessim (
Easter Tuesday (Emmaus Tuesday)
Easter Tuesday is the second day after Easter Sunday and is a holiday in a few rare countries or regions like Tasmania.[citation needed]
In the Latin tradition, the Gospel of the Pilgrims of Emmaus was traditionally sung on Easter Tuesday during the liturgy. For that reason, it was on Easter Tuesday that joyful plays would echo the more tragic processions of Holy Week. These plays, which originated in the Benedictine monasteries, became known as the Officium Peregrinorum. They were popular during the Middle Ages, but remained an "unusual liturgical drama in the West".[78]
See also
- Divine Mercy Sunday
- Holy Week in Mexico
- Holy Week in Spain
- Holy Week in the Philippines
- Holy Week procession
References
Notes
- Congregationalist churches) traditions.[4]
Citations
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4381-2796-5.
The last week of Lent is called Holy Week in the Western Churches, and Great and Holy Week in the Eastern. During this week, believers remember the events in the last week of Jesus Christ's life. These include Christ's entrance into Jerusalem and his suffering on the way to crucifixion, which are sometimes called the "Passion of Jesus Christ," or "Passion of Christ."
- ^ ISBN 978-1-59884-206-7.
Lent (Ash Wednesday through Holy Saturday): The season of Lent begins with Ash Wednesday and lasts until the final Saturday before Easter, Holy Saturday. It includes "Holy Week," the week before Easter. For six weeks preceding Easter, it is a time of penitential prayer, fasting, and almsgiving to prepare for the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday. This season of Lent originally was also a time of preparation for baptismal candidates and those separated from the Church who were rejoining the community. Holy Week, the last week of Lent, commemorates the last week of the earthly life of Jesus Christ. It covers the events of his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the last supper, the arrest, and his death by crucifixion. Beginning with the sixth Sunday of Lent, Holy Week includes Palm Sunday, Spy Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday.
- ISBN 978-1-4051-8539-4.
Great Week (or Holy Week) is the most important part of the liturgical year for the Eastern Churches. It belongs to the moveable liturgical cycle and follows the Holy and Great Lenten period, beginning with Palm Sunday and ending on Great Saturday evening before the Divine Liturgy of the Resurrection (Pascha).
- ISBN 978-1-4766-4196-6.
- ^ ISBN 9781134265466. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
Holy Week. The last week in LENT. It begins on PALM SUNDAY; the fourth day is called SPY WEDNESDAY; the fifth is MAUNDY THURSDAY or HOLY THURSDAY; the sixth is GOOD FRIDAY; and the last 'Holy Saturday', or the 'Great Sabbath'.
- ^ a b Brewer, Ebenezer Cobham (1896). The Historic Notebook: With an Appendix of Battles. J. B. Lippincott. p. 669. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
The last seven days of this period constitute Holy Week. The first day of Holy Week is Palm Sunday, the fourth day is Spy Wednesday, the fifth Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday, the sixth Good Friday or Holy Friday, and the last Holy Saturday or the Great Sabbath in Eastern Rite traditions.
- ^ Monk, Charlene Faye, "Passion Plays in the United States: The Contemporary Outdoor Tradition." (1998). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 6691.
- ^ Thomas M Landy, "Holy Week And Easter", Catholics & Cultures updated 17 February 2017
- The United Methodist Church. 3 March 2016. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
- ^ Apostolical Constitutions v. 18, 19
- ^ Thurston, Herbert. "Holy Week." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 2 April 2023 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ ISBN 9780806651156. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
Many Christians are already familiar with the ancient, and now recently restored, liturgies of the Three Days: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the great Easter Vigil service of light, readings, baptism, and communion. The worship resources published by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Episcopal Church, the United Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. and the Catholic Church include nearly identical versions of these liturgies.
- ^ The Easter Morning Sunrise Service, This Month in Moravian History, Number 18, 2007-04, Moravian Archives, Bethlehem NC.
- ^ "Easter sunrise services: A celebration of resurrection". The United Methodist Church.
- ISBN 9780664502324. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
Presbyterians, Methodists, and Roman Catholics call this day Passion/Palm Sunday; the United Church of Christ calls it Palm/Passion Sunday; Lutherans and Episcopalians call it The Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday.
- ^ a b "1920 typical edition of the Roman Missal" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 June 2013. Retrieved 23 April 2009.
- ^ Kirk, Lisa (25 March 2018). "Ideas for Displaying Palm Sunday Palms Around Your Home". Blessed Is She. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
- ISBN 978-0-8294-4897-9.
- ^ Kosloski, Philip (28 March 2018). "What is "Spy Wednesday"?". Aleteia. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
From Wednesday onward, Judas secretly watched for a chance to turn Jesus over to the chief priests, and so many Christians labeled this day as "Spy Wednesday." In the same vein various cultures reflected the somber mood of this day by calling it "Black Wednesday" or "Wednesday of Shadows," which also corresponds to the liturgical rite of Tenebrae that is celebrated on this day.
- Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States. 2018.
In this book, provision is made for Tenebrae on Wednesday evening only, in order that the proper liturgies of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday may find their place as the principal services of those days.
- ^ Ruehlmann, Greg (21 March 2008). "In The Dark". Busted Halo. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
It has not been popular in decades, and it would be misleading to call it a "best-kept secret" of the Catholic Church—it's celebrated by some mainline Anglican and Lutheran communities as well.
- ISBN 9781461660521.
In recent decades there has been a revival of the ancient use of red (crimson or scarlet) for Holy Week among both Episcopalians and Lutherans. The Roman rite has restored the use of red only on Palm Sunday and Good Friday.
- ^ a b c Gramenz, Stefan (27 March 2021). "Holy Week II: Maundy Thursday". The Lutheran Missal.
- ^ "Holy Thursday: Number of Masses" (PDF).
- ^ "General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar, 19". Archived from the original on 11 April 2009. Retrieved 18 April 2009.
- ^ How is oil used in worship?. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. 2013. p. 2.
This service, also called a Chrism Mass, is held during Holy Week and presided over by a synodical bishop. At this unique liturgy, the blessing of oil is coupled with a renewal of vows for rostered leaders. The traditional day for this service is Holy Thursday (when some traditions believe the first ordinations took place).
- ^ Holy Thursday Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper Archived 4 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine, 45
- ^ Roman Missal, Thursday of the Lord's Supper, 7
- ISBN 9780962995507.
Sufficient bread and wine may be consecrated on this day for the Mass of the Presanctified on Good Friday. The Sacrament is then taken to an altar of repose where the faithful are asked to "watch and pray". The altar, symbol of Christ is stripped of its vesture and the building is left bare for the solemnity of Good Friday.
- ISBN 9781463466923. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
Good Friday was a largely celebrated day for Lutherans. The church bells did not ring, because Jesus was dead, and the altar at the church was draped in black.
- ISBN 9780664234270. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
The liturgical color is black-or no color if the paraments (altar cloths) have been stripped.
- ISBN 9781556735967.
- ISBN 9781426730696.
- ^ Thurston, Herbert (1913). "Holy Week". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
Finally, Maundy Thursday has from an early period been distinguished by the service of the Maundy, or Washing of the Feet, in memory of the preparation of Christ for the Last Supper, as also by the stripping and washing of the altars
- ^ Ripley, George; Dana, Charles Anderson (1883). The American Cyclopaedia: A Popular Dictionary for General Knowledge. D. Appleton and Company. p. 101.
The Protestant Episcopal, Lutheran, and Reformed churches, as well as many Methodists, observe the day by fasting and special services.
- ^ Weitzel, Thomas L. (1978). "A Handbook for the Discipline of Lent" (PDF). Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 March 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
- ^ A Catechism as used by – The Church of the Province of Southern Africa. The Anglican Communion.
Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are Fast Days, when the amount of food eaten is reduced.
- ^ "Letter of the Congregation for Divine Worship, 14 March 2003". Archived from the original on 19 April 2014. Retrieved 21 March 2008.
- ^ The Easter Sepulchre Ceremony in Durham Abbey Archived 17 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine; Old Church Lore by William Andrews
- ^ "Library : Sermons on the Three Hours' Agony". www.catholicculture.org.
- ISBN 9780199997138. Retrieved 13 April 2014.. The service was introduced into the Church of England in the 1860s and was for a time widely observed in Anglican and Lutheran and some Catholic churches. A prominent feature was preaching on the "Seven Last Words" of Jesus from the cross, a conflation of the accounts in the four Gospels.
The Three-Hour (Tre-ore) service, an extra-liturgical (that is, outside the liturgical tradition) service, held to mark the hours of Christ's passion from noon until three in the afternoon, was instituted by the Jesuits on the occasion of the 1687 Peru earthquake
- ^ "Sanctuary of the Divine Mercy". Archived from the original on 15 May 2021. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
- ^ "Saint Faustina". Archived from the original on 28 April 2019. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
- ^ "PHOTOS: Cleaning Moravian gravestones, a Good Friday tradition". Winston-Salem Journal. 10 April 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2020.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Roman Missal, Holy Saturday
- ISBN 9780664502188. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
The Easter Vigil consists of four parts: the Service of Light, the service of Readings (the Word), the celebration of Baptism, and the celebration of the Lord's Supper.
- ^ "Here there are the plenary indulgence available during the Holy Week". National Catholic Register. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
- ^ a b c d Ribeiro, Patricia. "Easter in Brazil". Archived from the original on 12 December 2013. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
- ^ S2CID 161691187.
- ISBN 9780615210582.
- ^ Nash, June (1994). "Judas Transformed [Maya, Holy Week]". Natural History. 103 (3).
- ^ "Easter: How does Italy celebrate this festivity?". 8 April 2019. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
- ^ "Trapani and Its Mysteries". Italian Tourism Official Website. 23 March 2015.
- ^ "La Sumana Santa di Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto: le origini delle splendide Vare che celebrano la Pasqua siciliana" (in Italian). 3 April 2021. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
- ^ Di Palo, Francesco (1999). I Giorni del Sacro (in Italian). Terlizzi: Centro Stampa Litografica. p. 6.
- ^ "Cielo e terra" (PDF) (in Italian). p. 134. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
- ^ a b "Yaqui and Mayo Indian Easter ceremonies".
- JSTOR 40169672.
- ^ Fein, Judith (8 April 2012). "Week Celebrations of the Yaqui Indians". Fox News. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
- ^ a b c d Lopez, Eloisa; Torres, Joe (21 March 2016). "Traditions keep Holy Week alive in the Philippines". Union of Catholic Asian News. Manila. Archived from the original on 3 April 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
- ^ a b "Filipino superstitions and practices during Holy Week". SunStar. 28 March 2018. Archived from the original on 19 December 2022. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-046142-3.
- ^ Vila, Alixandra Caole (2 April 2015). "IN PHOTOS: A look at churches where Pinoys spend Visita Iglesia". The Philippine Star. philstar.com. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
- ^ Bartolome, Jessica (1 April 2015). "Doing the Visita Iglesia in Metro Manila". GMA News. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
- ^ "Easter Salubong: Rooted in culture, family ties". GMA News Online. 7 April 2012. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
- ^ Tubeza, Philip C. (April 2013). "Faithful rejoice at 'salubong'". newsinfo.inquirer.net. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
- ^ Thomas M Landy, "In Seville Marches And Saetas Accompany Holy Week Processions", Catholics & Cultures updated 27 June 2018
- ^ Triodion (standard Orthodox service book)
- ^ http://www.zeitun-eg.org/paschag2.pdf [bare URL PDF]
- ^ https://stbasil.net/the-lectionary-of-holy-week [bare URL PDF]
- ^ Holweck, Frederick (1913). "Feasts of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
- ^ Calendarium Romanum (Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis 1969). p.119
- ^ Roman Missal, Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent
- ^ General Instruction of the Roman Missal, 355 and Universal Norms on the Liturgical Year and the General Roman Calendar, 14
- ^ "Śmigus-Dyngus: Poland's National Water Fight Day". Culture.pl.
- ^ "Part IV". www.holytrinitymission.org. Archived from the original on 26 July 2011.
- ^ Тvпико́нъ сіесть уста́въ (Title here transliterated into Russian; actually in Church Slavonic) (The Typicon which is the Order), Москва (Moscow, Russian Empire): Сvнодальная тvпографiя (The Synodal Printing House), 1907, p. 468
- ISBN 978-0-8204-2090-5., p. 32.
External links
- "The historical places of the Holy Week" (in Spanish). igeo.tv.