A Guide to Holy Week

​As we conclude Lent, it’s time to lift our eyes toward the cross and prepare for Holy Week. This guide is to help you prepare to walk with Jesus during the week of his crucifixion, and to participate with a deeper appreciation of these ancient traditions which the Church has practiced since the time of the Apostles.
HOLY WEEK begins on Palm Sunday, which commemorates Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. First, we hear the Gospel narrative of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. Then we use palm fronds and palm crosses to remind us of the palms that were waved and strewn in Jesus’ honor and of the Cross to which he was destined.

Once the procession is over, the mood changes as we hear the Passion story (the story of Jesus’ arrest, trial, and crucifixion). The crowd that greets Jesus on Palm Sunday shouting “Hosanna” becomes the crowd shouting “Crucify him” by the end of Holy Week. Recognizing this shift leads us to ask whether our love for Jesus is just as fickle. Do we by turns applaud him and, by our behavior and thoughts, crucify him again and again?

Spy Wednesday is traditionally remembered as the day that Judas betrayed the Christ to the Pharisees. Some churches offer a Tenebrae service on this day, which is a series of readings and dousing of candles and lights so that which each account of Christ's betrayal and suffering the darkness increases until there is no light. It's a powerful reminder of how our little betrayals darken the light within us. 

Maundy Thursday takes its name from an altered form of mandatum est, Latin for ‘he commanded’. John’s Gospel records that Jesus washed his disciples’ feet when he ate with them for the last time and commanded them to do the same. For this reason, we have a symbolic foot washing at the Eucharist on Maundy Thursday. We also give thanks for Jesus’ institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper.
When the Eucharist is over, two notable things happen. First, the sacrament is taken to the Chapel, which has been specially decorated to represent the Garden of Gethsemane. Second, the altar is stripped of its furnishings, which reminds us of the way in which Christ’s tormentors stripped him of his clothes before the Crucifixion.

There will be a Vigil in the Chapel before the ‘Altar of Repose’ (so called because the sacrament reposes there). Doing this reminds us of Jesus’ agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, where he had to resolve his will to obey his father’s will and endure crucifixion and death. Believers are encouraged to spend an hour in prayer remembering Christ’s petition, “Can you not watch one hour?”

Good Friday is the most somber day of the Church’s Year and, along with the Easter celebration of the Resurrection, the most important. The most ancient way of marking Good Friday is with a service (the Solemn Liturgy) in the middle of the day when the story of Jesus’ Crucifixion is read dramatically.

The Solemn Liturgy at St. Andrew’s will begin at 5.30 p.m. After the reading of the Passion, there is the Veneration of the Cross in which participants are encouraged to come forward and kiss the feet of Christ on the cross. We will also receive communion from the reserved sacrament which has been kept from the night before.

Holy Saturday mass remembers the time Jesus spent in the grave, a time of sorrow and fear for his disciples. But also the time that he spent preaching repentance to the souls in hell, referred to as the harrowing of hell. The dark absence of his presence was terrifying, but he was already at work vanquishing His enemy. How often to we feel abandoned by Christ? Can we have faith that He is working for our redemption, even though we are in darkness?

The Easter Eucharist is the most joyous and important service of the year. At St. Andrew’s, Easter Eucharist begins at 10 a.m. in the Courtyard. The Easter liturgy begins with readings on God’s ‘saving acts’ from the creation, through the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, until the time of Jesus’ victory over evil and death.

The principal symbols used in this service are light, fire and water. We will light a bonfire in the courtyard to symbolize the victory over death that is brought about by Christ’s resurrection. From this bonfire we will light the Paschal (Easter) Candle, and all the people follow the light of Christ, symbolized by the Paschal Candle, into the sanctuary.

After the congregation processes into the church, the baptismal water in the font is blessed with the Paschal Candle and all the people then renew their baptismal vows and are sprinkled with water from the font.  Then finally, the greatest feast in the church’s calendar continues with a Sung Eucharist.

As further signs of the Resurrection, there will be special music, the church will be filled with flowers, and we’ll share a celebratory brunch together after service.
​
We hope you will join us this year as we celebrate the hope of all people, the joy of our salvation, and the victory of the Resurrection!