The Sunday of the Passion
PALM
SUNDAY
With Liturgy of the Palms
& Holy Eucharist
Today’s liturgy is in two parts. The Liturgy of
the Palms celebrates Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem at the beginning of the
week of his Passion. After we hear Mark’s account of that event, the
celebrant gives thanks over the branches which we carry. In many
congregations a procession with branches then moves into the church
building, with festive songs of “Hosanna in the highest!” as we enact
the event which led directly to Good Friday. The second part of today’s
liturgy changes from triumph to tragedy as it focuses on the suffering
and death of Jesus. The account of the Lord’s Passion is a dramatic
reading from Mark’s Gospel, so that we may have a fuller sense of
sharing with him in his redemptive acts of dying and rising for our
salvation. Today we enter into the celebration of the mighty acts of God
which brought about our redemption. During this week, we will rediscover
what God has done for us, rediscover the meaning of our Baptism and
rediscover the meaning of our sharing in the Eucharist.
From The Rite Light: Reflections on
the Sunday Readings and Seasons of the Church Year.
Copyright © 1998 by Michael W. Merriman. Church Publishing Incorporated,
New York
Holy Eucharist
Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday In Holy Week
in the
Chapel
The days between Palm Sunday and Maundy Thursday are
known as Holy Monday, Holy Tuesday and Holy Wednesday. Special
Eucharistic propers and proper collects mark each day. The Gospels of
these days recount several events that focus us on the themes of
anointing and cleansing (Mary anointing Jesus’ feet with costly
perfume); authority (Jesus performing many signs); and betrayal (at
supper with his disciples, Jesus predicts his betrayal). As we move ever
closer to the shadow of the cross, these days invite us to acknowledge
the impurities which fill us; to humbly submit ourselves to Jesus’
authority; and by our acts and omissions, not to betray our Lord.
MAUNDY THURSDAY
Agape Feast in the Parish Hall
followed by Holy Eucharist, Foot Washing &
Stripping of the Altar in the Church
Tonight’s
Eucharist—on the eve of Good Friday—begins the Sacred Triduum, or Three
Sacred Days, of our redemption. This is a celebration: a celebration of
our Lord’s institution of the sacrament of his Body and blood; but it is
pervaded by the shadow of the cross. Jesus gathered with his disciples
in the context of the greatest of all events in Israel’s redemption—the
exodus and the Passover. Yet the normal joy of such an evening was muted
by betrayal, the failure of his friends to understand what he was doing,
and his own fear of what was to come.
It was at
a farewell dinner that Jesus, by washing his disciples’ feet, sought to
illustrate one final time the character of love and ministry which is
central in the life to which he calls us: self-giving love to the point
of dying for one’s friends. Through scripture, we hear the ancient
instructions for celebrating the Passover, Paul’s account of the
institution of the Eucharist, and John’s account of the moment when
Jesus washed his disciples’ feet. After Holy Communion tonight, the
liturgy will not end. It continues tomorrow, Saturday, and Sunday, when
it comes to its conclusion. We will take the Sacrament which remains
tonight and place it on the Altar of Repose at the chapel next door to
the church, where it will be available for Holy Communion on Good Friday
at the 12:05 p.m. service. You are invited to keep vigil there in
response to Jesus’ question, “Could you not watch with me for one hour?”
From The Rite Light: Reflections on the Sunday Readings and Seasons of
the Church Year.
Copyright © 1998 by Michael W. Merriman. Church Publishing Incorporated,
New York
The Watch at the Altar of Repose
**After the Maundy
Thursday Service Throughout Thursday
Night Until Noon Friday**
Immediately following
the Maundy Thursday Eucharist, we will begin the “watch.” For many
people, this tradition is one of the most personal experiences in Holy
Week devotion.
Leaving the Upper Room,
Jesus began a night of agony in the garden of Gethsemane. There He asked
His disciples, “Can you not keep watch with me for just one hour?”
It has long been customary for the faithful to
respond to Jesus’ question by spending a “holy hour” in prayer and
meditation between the Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services. We will
sign up for one-hour slots to keep vigil throughout the night, and on Good
Friday. We need to have each hour covered by at least one parishioner!
The Altar of the Watch will be kept in the chapel,
where our “garden of Gethsemane” will be set up in the sanctuary, and the
Reserved Sacrament – Jesus’ very Presence among us – kept on the chapel
altar. If you
cannot spend an entire hour, simply come and spend what time you can.
GOOD FRIDAY
Good Friday
Service with Holy Eucharist
Evening Prayer with Veneration of the Cross
Today’s liturgy is the second part of a complex series of rites which
cover the Three Sacred Days of our redemption. This liturgy began last
night and will be concluded on Sunday. We will engage in intense
intercessory prayer for the church and for the world. It was on the
cross that Jesus made his full intercession for us, and we are united
with him through Baptism in that intercession. The final portions of
this liturgy take place before a cross, where we praise Christ for his
love, which he demonstrated on the cross. At the end of the liturgy, the
church is left in silence and darkness, as we prepare for the final act,
which begins at the Great Vigil on Saturday night. It is as though the
church has died and now waits silently to be resurrected out of the
baptismal font at the Great Vigil of Easter. Today we hear John’s
account in Holy Scripture of the Lord’s trial, suffering, and death.
From The Rite Light: Reflections on the Sunday Readings and Seasons of
the Church Year.
Copyright © 1998 by Michael W. Merriman. Church Publishing Incorporated,
New York.
HOLY SATURDAY
Liturgy of the Word
“Something strange is
happening—there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and
stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The
earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh
and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. God
has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear.”
Holy Saturday, also called the
Holy Sabbath and the Great Sabbath, is an empty day, the day when Christ
rested in the tomb and all creation awaited the resurrection. The Book
of Common Prayer has contained propers for a Liturgy of the Word on this
day since 1549. With the church still bare, as on Good Friday, the
people gather in silence to hear the propers appointed for the day,
including the conclusion of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ
according to John, followed by the anthem “In the midst of life” from
the Burial Office. All leave the church in silence.
Quote from an ancient homily,
Office of Readings Holy Saturday Roman Rite, reprinted in A Triduum
Sourcebook
THE GREAT VIGIL OF EASTER
The Lighting of the Pascal Candle
Saturday Night
We gather in the darkness
of the night on which Jesus rose from the dead. This service is unlike
any other service in the year. It is the Christian Passover feast, in
which we celebrate the Passover of Jesus from death into life and our
own passover from death into life in Holy Baptism. The service has four
parts.
The Service of Light
We gather to kindle a fire to drive away the darkness, and from the new
fire a large candle is lighted, called the paschal candle. As it is
carried into the midst of our assembly the priest sings out “The light
of Christ,” and we respond “Thanks be to God.” From this candle, the
people light their own small candles, and the church is filled with the
light of Christ. Then another singer sings the ancient hymn known as the
Exsultet, which praises God for this night in which the ancient people
of Israel were delivered from Egypt at the Red Sea, in which Christ rose
from the dead, and in which we are baptized into his death and
resurrection.
The
Vigil
We then settle down, and with music punctuating the readings, we hear a
number of passages from the Old Testament which cover the major events
of salvation history. Each reading is followed by a collect which
relates the reading to our salvation and our Baptism.
Renewal
of Baptismal Vows
By reminding us of our sacred story, the readings have reaffirmed our
identity as the people of God, the Body of Christ. Now we renew the
promises of Baptism, by which the church gave birth to us as members by
water and the Holy Spirit. It is in the rising of the newly baptized
from the waters of Baptism that the Resurrection of Christ is renewed in
our midst. When we, the members of his Body, stand in prayer, the Body
of Christ is risen and made visible to the world.
Holy
Eucharist
This is the Eucharist of the year—the one of which all our other
Eucharists are repetitions. In this Eucharist, Paul reminds us that in
Baptism we have died with Christ in order that we may be raised with
him, and we hear Mark’s account of Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of
James, and Salome bringing spices to the tomb to anoint the body of
Jesus, only to be told that Jesus was risen from the dead. In sign and
Sacrament, holy story and song, the dying and rising of Jesus in the
midst of the people is once again enacted. Sharing in the holy gifts of
the altar, we find ourselves made one with Christ and rejoice in this
foretaste of the glory of God’s kingdom.
From The Rite
Light: Reflections on the Sunday Readings and Seasons of the Church
Year.
Copyright © 1998 by Michael W. Merriman. Church Publishing Incorporated,
New York.
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