Tonight marks the beginning of the Triduum – the three days from Holy Thursday evening to Easter Saturday evening – during which Catholics commemorate the Last Supper, the Passion and Crucifixion, and finally the vigil at the tomb awaiting the Resurrection. This three-day Liturgical celebration caps off Holy Week which began the preceding weekend on Palm Sunday (which recalls Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem).
Holy Thursday
Tonight we remember the institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper. In preparation for His death, Jesus celebrated the Passover meal with His disciples, His last meal before His death. And at that celebration Christ gave new meaning to the unleavened bread and the cup of blessing, by proclaiming: “This is my Body” and “This is my Blood” – linking His sacrificial death to the Communion meal now celebrated at every Mass.
Also at that meal final Jesus washed the feet of the Apostles to demonstrate the humble service to which they would be called as leaders of the Church. If Jesus - their Master - washed their feet, then how much more ought they to wash the feet of others. On this night, during Mass members of the congregation are selected to have their feet ceremoniously washed by the presiding celebrant (the priest or bishop presiding at Mass.)
At the end of the Mass, the consecrated Eucharist (which Catholics believe to be the Body and Blood of Jesus – His Real Presence in our midst) is transferred from the main altar to a temporary location, usually outside of the main sanctuary at a suitable altar of repose. There members of the faithful can wait with the Lord through the night, just as the Apostles were called to do in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus was arrested.
The service ends abruptly, with no concluding hymn or procession. All leave in silence. The liturgy does not end…it continues the following day.
Good Friday
On Good Friday the death of our Savior is recalled. In the afternoon of this day the Liturgy begins (or rather, takes up again where it left off on Thursday) in silence, as the priest prostrates himself (lies flat upon the floor) before the altar as a sign of reverence and humility in honor of Christ’s sacrifice. A cross or crucifix is brought forward for the faithful to reverence (with a kiss, a touch, or a bow).
Scriptural readings include the story of the Passion from John’s Gospel. As the story of Jesus’ suffering and death are recounted, the faithful are given a part to play. When Pilate asks what ought to be done with Jesus, the man who claims to be King of the Jews, we cry out, “Crucify him!” We also are given the role of taunting and ridiculing Jesus on the Cross. This aspect of Good Friday is meant to emphasize the point that we are all guilty and we all cause Jesus to suffer by our sinfulness. We are the ones who bear the blame for His death.
There is no consecration of the Eucharist on Good Friday. When Communion is distributed, the Body is taken from the altar of repose where it has been kept since the previous evening.
Afterward, all leave in silence…for again, the Liturgy does not truly end, but will continue the following evening.
Holy Saturday
Since the time of the Second Vatican Council and the renewal of the Liturgy, the Holy Saturday celebration has become a sort of “crowning jewel” of the Liturgical Season. Filled with multiple symbols and significance, this night stands out among other Masses as a real point of inspiration (when it is celebrated faithfully and with reverence).
We begin outside (whenever possible) around a fire, in the dark of the evening. The fire is blessed, and a large candle (the Paschal Candle or Easter Candle) is also blessed and lit from the fire. The flame of the Paschal Candle represents Christ “the Light of the World.” The congregation lights smaller candles from the larger Paschal Candle as we all receive our light from Christ. We process into a darkened church which is soon aglow in the light of the many small candles, as we pass flames from one to another, until the whole congregation is assembled. Then the proclamation of Christ’s Resurrection is read or sung and the lights of the church are turned on. Then the Mass continues.
Among some of the other features of Holy Saturday, those seeking full communion with the Church are baptized and Confirmed and receive their first Communion. After completing many weeks of training in the faith, Holy Saturday is the traditional day of accepting these new Catholics into the fold. For this purpose, holy water is blessed and the chrism (holy oil used for anointing), which was only recently consecrated at the beginning of Holy Week, is used in the ceremony.
Also, the “Alleluia” is sung for the first time since the beginning of Lent. Since Lent is a time of penance, a somber reflective season, the grand Alleluia, which is usually sung before the Gospel, has been omitted for forty days. The Alleluia makes a glorious return on Easter Saturday evening.
And with that the Gospel is proclaimed that Jesus has risen, and the long wait of Lent is over.
I would strongly urge anyone who is able to participate in all three days of the Triduum if at all possible. It encapsulates the entire Passion of Christ and plays it out in real time before your eyes with liturgical precision. In the Triduum the true meaning of Easter is celebrated within the Universal Church, as the whole Body of Christ’s believers await the risen Christ.
Jesus' Body Is Laid in the Tomb
At Mass:
Without a word spoken and with little ceremony, Jesus Body is placed in the tabernacle. But unlike those gathered at the foot of the cross on Calvary, we know the end of the story. The risen Christ is inside us and we carry Him out into the world. While they mourned His loss before their Sabbath rest, we bring Him with us as we leave this Sabbath celebration
Some who are gathered there with us at Mass plan to return to His resting place in the sanctuary of the church, just as others visited the tomb. And they too will be rewarded as they pay homage to their Savior.
[For an explanation of this series of meditations on the Way of the Cross see this Introduction.]
Jesus' Body is Removed from the Cross
At Mass:
We come forward to receive He who died to bring life to the world as we hear the words: “The body of Christ!”
And we respond: “Amen!”
Mary is called Theotokos - the God-bearer. She bore Christ in her womb and suffered with Him as He accepted His cross and gave up His life for the world. She came forward to receive His body when many others turned away.
We become bearers of God as we come forward to receive His body now. We, like Mary, say “yes” – AMEN – and receive the Lord into our bodies and into our hearts.
[For an explanation of the series of meditations on the Way of the Cross, see this Introduction.]
Jesus Dies on the Cross
With His suffering at an end, Jesus announces, “It is finished,” and gives up His Spirit. His bloody sacrifice fulfills the animal sacrifices once offered by the Jews in the Temple, and so the Temple curtain rips from top to bottom as the earth trembles and the sky darkens. The true “Lamb of God” has been slain.
At Mass:
We sing or recite:
“Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world: have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world: have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world: grant us peace.”
Jesus is the Lamb of God that is foreshadowed by the Passover lambs sacrificed and consumed by the Jews since the time of Moses. His death cleanses the world of sin and His Blood washes us and makes us new creatures in God’s eyes. Through His death, God will “Have mercy on us” and “Grant us peace.”
The Jews sacrificed new lambs every year at Passover, unable to fill the void between them and God. But with Jesus’ death “It is finished” – mercy and peace has triumphed.
[For an explanation of the series of meditations on the Way of the Cross, see this Introduction.]
Jesus Is Nailed to the Cross
Jesus’ arms are stretched out on the wood of the cross and nails are driven into His flesh. His hands and feet are pierced as the hammer blows drive the shafts of metal through His skin until they penetrate through to the other side, pinning Him to the cross, where He awaits the peace that death will bring.
At Mass:
We all exchange a sign of Christ’s Peace.
Jesus extended His arms on the cross in submission to a violent death. The excruciating agony that He must have suffered at that moment earned for us our eternal peace in Heaven which we now eagerly await. As we gather for Mass and experience a foretaste of the Heavenly banquet, we offer a sign of that Peace as we extend our arms to one another in a handshake or a warm embrace.
We might think of our own hands as we turn to our neighbors to offer this sign of peace, and imagine how we might use our hands to do Christ’s work as His own hands are pierced and bleeding on the cross. His agony on the Cross, which was anything but peaceful, has purchased for us our lasting peace. We respond with the work of our hands.
[For an explanation of this series of meditations on the Way of the Cross, see this Introduction.]
Jesus Is Stripped of His GarmentsAs a sign of further humiliation, Jesus’ clothes are removed before his execution and the soldiers divide His garments among them. They cast lots to see who would receive His cloak.
At Mass:
We stand and recite the “Our Father” the prayer given to us by Jesus when His disciples asked Him how they ought to pray.
The soldiers who stripped Jesus did not realize what priceless relics they held in their hands. The clothing worn by Christ, drenched in His own blood, would be safeguarded by any Christian today and could not be sold or traded or gambled away. To receive such a reminder of Jesus’ Passion would be a humbling gift.
The “Lord’s Prayer” is such a gift. Christ was not ashamed as He stood naked and in agony before the Cross – He was clothed in His own glory as God’s Son. He offers us this priceless cloak when He instructs us to call God “Our Father” and to become children of God.
As we stand naked before God, we can cry out to Him in confidence with Jesus, “Abba” – “Father.”
[For an explanation of this series of meditations on the Way of the Cross, see this Introduction.]
Jesus Falls the Third Time
Jesus has nearly reached His destination, but is overcome once again with exhaustion and collapses once more. Bloodied and bruised, He must lift Himself up off the ground and face His executioners.
At Mass:
The priest elevates the consecrated bread and wine, which has been transformed into the Body and Blood of our Lord. As we reflect on the Stations of the Cross and Jesus’ third fall, we might imagine the priest lifting up Jesus’ Body, holding Him up so that He can fulfill His mission. As He hold’s Christ’s broken Body, the celebrant proclaims:
“Through him, with him, and in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours, almighty Father, for ever and ever.”
And we reply: “Amen.”
This is the “Great Amen” – when we give our assent to the great mystery of Christ’s Real Presence in the Eucharist. Amen; I believe; I stake my life on it.
The irony of Jesus’ redemptive death is that He became weak and powerless (in our own human estimation) and succumbed to a humiliating death. And it was in this weakness that He triumphed over sin. As He fell a third and final time His weakness and frailty must have seemed impossible to overcome. Yet we hold up His Body and proclaim: “…all glory and honor is yours, almighty Father, for ever and ever.”
[For an explanation of this series of meditations on the Way of the Cross see this Introduction.]
Tonight we remember the institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper. In preparation for His death, Jesus celebrated the Passover meal with His disciples, His last meal before His death. And at that celebration Christ gave new meaning to the unleavened bread and the cup of blessing, by proclaiming: “This is my Body” and “This is my Blood” – linking His sacrificial death to the Communion meal now celebrated at every Mass.
Holy Saturday
