The Holiest of Weeks

I can’t remember back to a Holy Week when my brothers, John and David, and I didn’t identify with titles such as Altar Server 1, Altar Server 2, Candle Bearer 1, Candle Bearer 2, Cross Bearer, or Thurifer (the “incense person”) for approximately four days in a row. We filled these positions in our home parish during the services on Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Vigil, and Easter Sunday, sometimes with reluctance early on, but later having developed a sense of the immense honor it was to contribute – in a small way – to the most important week on the Church calendar.

Photo from Our Lady of the Lake Parish website

Holy Week begins on Palm Sunday (3/29 this year). During Mass we hear about Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem, and we listen to one account of his Passion, or the story of his crucifixion, during the Gospel reading. We also receive palms, which I have developed a passion for folding into crosses – and I know I’m not the only one! All jokes aside, though, if we just jumped from here to Easter Sunday, when we hear the Resurrection accounts, we wouldn’t experience the whole story…

That’s where the Triduum comes in. The Triduum is made up of three days: Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday, but it comprises one liturgical celebration in the Church…

During the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, we celebrate Jesus’ Last Supper, including a foot washing ceremony to recall the way Jesus humbled himself to wash his disciples' feet. This Mass also remembers the institution of the Eucharist and the Priesthood at the Last Supper. All of the consecrated Eucharist is removed from the tabernacle where it usually resides and taken to an Altar of Repose after Mass, where it is saved for the service on Good Friday. The sanctuary lamp, which indicates the presence of Christ in the Eucharist (see this post), is extinguished. This physically points to Jesus’ absence in death.

The Mass of the Lord’s Supper will be celebrated at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on 3/2/15 at 5 p.m.

Tenebrae is a prayer service on Holy Thursday that usually involves the gradual extinguishing of candles, all but one. Tenebrae is Latin for “darkness.” During this service a strepitus, or “great noise,” typically occurs in the midst of the darkness to symbolize the earthquake that occurred upon Jesus’ death on the cross.

            Tenebrae will be celebrated at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on 3/2/15

            At 11 p.m.

On Good Friday, the worldwide Church remembers and mourns Jesus’ passion and death. It is a day of fasting, penance, prayer, and silence, and is the one day out of the year on which no Masses are celebrated. There is, however, a Good Friday service. This service is composed of the Liturgy of the Word, during which John’s Passion narrative is read, Veneration of the Cross where members of the congregation kiss, touch, or simply kneel before a large wooden cross representing the one Jesus was crucified on, and a Communion service. It is not a Mass because though Communion is distributed, there is no Liturgy of the Eucharist; instead, the Eucharist that was consecrated on Holy Thursday is used. Traditionally the three hours between 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. are observed silently on Good Friday, as this was the time that Jesus suffered on the cross. He passed away at 3 p.m. after Three Hours’ Agony.

            The Celebration of the Lord’s Passion will be held at the Basilica of the

            Sacred Heart on 3/3/15 at 3 p.m. after three Silent Hours of Prayer, and

            there will be a Stations of the Cross ceremony at 7:15 p.m.

            Note: the cross venerated in the Basilica on Good Friday contains a relic

of the actual cross Christ was crucified on. It can be venerated

throughout the year in the Reliquary Chapel in the Basilica.

On Holy Saturday, the Solemn Paschal Vigil, or Easter Vigil, is held at night. It is a longer Mass, composed of a Service of Light, Liturgy of the Word, Liturgy of Baptism, and Liturgy of the Holy Eucharist. During the Service of Light, the new Paschal (Easter) Candle – the tall white pillar that stands on the altar throughout the year – is typically processed into a darkened church, reminiscent of the darkness of the Triduum and the solemn mood of Good Friday. In my home parish, light from this candle is distributed throughout the church to smaller candles that members of the congregation are holding, representing the Light of Christ returning to the world and residing in each one of us. The Easter Vigil is also the night on which new members of the Church are welcomed into the family through the sacraments of Baptism, Holy Eucharist, and Confirmation. The Easter Vigil is by far my favorite Mass of the year, as it is a time of new and renewed faith. It is a liturgy filled with hope, joy, and celebration.

Easter Vigil will be celebrated at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on 3/4/15 at 9 p.m.

At last, we have arrived at Easter Sunday, the ultimate opportunity to rejoice and sing “Alleluia” for the first time since the beginning of Lent. Jesus’ resurrection means absolutely everything to the Catholic faith. The Lord is Risen…He is Risen Indeed!

Easter Sunday Mass will be celebrated at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on 3/5/15 at 8 a.m. and 12 p.m. The Easter Student Mass will be celebrated at 9 p.m.

The Triduum takes commitment. Time. Energy. But it is absolutely worth the investment of all of these in order to experience the fullness of the culmination of salvation history: the loss, the grief, the celebration, the joy.

I am staying on campus for Easter this year, which is certainly bittersweet: it will be my first year away from my family during the Triduum and I won’t get to claim ownership of the titles Thurifer or Altar Server 2, but I will be an enthusiastic participant in all things Holy Week here on campus. There is a unique sense of understanding that accompanies participation in the Masses and services of Holy Week that simply cannot be experienced any other way. Kate Morgan, the Director of Communications for Campus Ministry, commented that the Triduum is “A way to go through every emotion that you’re supposed to.” Holy Week tells the whole story.