Ash Wednesday is the solemn celebration which opens the season of Lent. The ashes are gathered from previously used palms in years past and burned.
During the Holy Mass, the parishioners receive the sign of the cross in ash – which represents very simply “From dust I have come, to dust I shall return.” Ash Wednesday is, in short, a remembrance of mortality.
But it is on Palm Sunday that Easter Week begins, the day when Jesus Christ rode triumphantly into Jerusalem hailed as a king while the people were showering him with palms.
Within a week, however, He would face his own cruel torture and death at the hands of the executioners on a cross. The Holy Triduum consists of the three days, Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday which precede Easter.
Holy Thursday
The Mass of the Last Supper is a solemn celebration of the institution of the Eucharist. But this day is special in many ways for the Christians who mark the event. The Holy Oils which will be used the following year in the consecration of baptism, confirmation and the healing oils of the sick are brought back from the Diocese where they had been blessed by the Bishop in the Holy Chrism Mass. Parishioners process into the church with each of the oils and place them reverentially in their sacred vestibules.
Later in the service, the priest has twelve members of the parish who come to represent the twelve disciples and he washes their feet. Holy Thursday’s primary importance, however, is that this is the day the Eucharist was made.
Good Friday
On Good Friday, the day commemorating the day of Jesus Christ’s death, Catholics will proceed to venerate the Cross itself.
In most churches, the priest or another strong young man will carry a large reproduction of the cross into the church, where it is placed before the altar. A short homily is given and then each person and family approaches to venerate the cross with either kisses, hugs, a moment of silence or whatever the personal devotion may be.
Good Friday is unique of all days in the liturgical year in that the Blessed Sacrament is NOT present in the church. It is removed and taken to an adoration chapel to be used on the following Holy Saturday. Holy Communion is not received on Good Friday, because according to Catholic tradition, Christ has died and is not present in the Eucharist yet. This is also the reason the Eucharist is removed and taken out of the church. It represents the empty church, because Christ has died.
Holy Saturday
Holy Saturday begins with the blessing of a candle and usually the lighting of candles within the entire church. Every member of the church holds a candle and the fire is spread amongst the congregation. A great deal of scripture is then read, also known as, the twelve prophecies. Catholics read through twelve scriptural prophecies regarding the coming of Christ beginning in the Book of Genesis.
After the service, the congregation processes outside to another chapel where the Blessed Sacrament has been taken. In most churches, they will build a small adoration chapel which represents the cave where Jesus lay in wait of the resurrection.
Catholics will sit and wait with Jesus, taking the time to pray with Him, engage in spiritual reading, but primarily to "stay awake with him" and stand and watch. These services can go on all night or just up until about midnight depending on the location of the church.
The following week, Divine Mercy Sunday is celebrated wherein most parishes will sing The Chaplet of the Divine Mercy. And another Catholic Devotion practiced heavily throughout the Triduum is The Holy Rosary.
Sources:
- The Catholic Encyclopedia, by William Addis and Thomas Arnold.
