Holy Week
After 40 days of fasting and preparation, our attention shifts to the passion of Christ including the events that led up to His crucifixion. We remember these events as we eagerly anticipate Christ’s defeat of death through his resurrection.
Originally, Christians had an annual memorial of the death of Christ along with His resurrection. This was called Pascha which comes from the Hebrew word for “Passover“, pesach. The Pascha was a night-long vigil which included the redemptive themes such as the incarnation, suffering, death, resurrection, glorification and, ultimately, culminated in the celebration of the Eucharist. Over time, this became Holy Week.
Palm Sunday
April 13, 4pm (regular childcare available)
Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week. The procession with palms, which was already observed in Jerusalem in the fourth century, calls to mind the triumphal entry of Jesus, our Lord and King, into Jerusalem. The procession is fundamentally an act of worship, witness, and devotion to our Lord.
Maundy Thursday
April 17, 6:30pm (no childcare)
Maundy Thursday receives its name from the mandatum (commandment) given by our Lord: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another” (john 13:34). At the Last Supper, Jesus washed his disciples’ feet and commanded them to love and serve one another as he had done. This day commemorates the Lord’s example of servant ministry, the institution of the Eucharist, the agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, and the betrayal leading to the crucifixion.
Good Friday
April 18, 6:30pm (childcare for 0-3)
This most somber of all days is appropriately marked by fasting, abstinence, and penitence, leading us to focus on Jesus and the meaning of his Cross. The Lord of Life was rejected, mocked, scourged, and then put to death on the Cross. The faithful are reminded of the role which their own sin played in this suffering and agony, as Christ took all sin upon himself, in obedience to his Father’s will. By the Cross we are redeemed, set free from bondage to sin and death. The Cross is a sign of God’s never-ending love for us. It is a sign of life, in the midst of death.
Easter Sunday at 4pm
Celebrate the Feast of the Resurrection of our Lord with us! (regular childcare available)