RCIA - Holy Week
The Meaning of Holy Week
John 13:1–5 “Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. And during supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper, laid aside his garments, and girded himself with a towel. Then he poured water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded.”
Palm Sunday
Spanish Pascua florida, and it was from this day of 1512 that our State of Florida received its name
Spanish Pascua florida, and it was from this day of 1512 that our State of Florida received its name
The Easter Triduum
Triduum Sacrum (Lat., ‘the sacred three days’). The three concluding days of *Holy Week commemorating the Last Supper, Passion, and Death of Christ, i.e. *Maundy Thursday (evening only, acc. to modern RC reckoning), *Good Friday, and *Holy Saturday.
Holy Thursday
Good Friday
Veneration of the Cross. A ceremony of the Latin Rite for *Good Friday, sometimes also called Creeping to the Cross, in which clergy and people solemnly venerate a crucifix, usually at the entrance to the sanctuary. It originated in the veneration of the relics of the True Cross in *Jerusalem (mentioned in the ‘Pilgrimage of *Egeria’). Subsequently the custom was transferred to Rome with relics of the Cross deposited in the church of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, and then it spread to churches which had no relics. The prayers were originally of an extra-liturgical character and appear to date from the Carolingian era. An early description of the ceremony occurs in the *Regularis Concordia. An analogous ceremony, consisting in a solemn procession, veneration, and elevation of the cross, takes place in the E. Church on *Holy Cross Day (14 Sept.) and on the 3rd Sunday in Lent.
The Friday preceding Easter, observed in commemoration of the Crucifixion (Mark 15:42; Luke 23:54; John 19:31; cf. Matt. 27:62); called Great Friday in the Eastern Church. In the church year it is traditionally a day of fasting and penance. Post-Reformation practice observed by both Roman Catholics and Protestants includes a service from noon to 3 P.M. marking Jesus’ agony on the cross (Matt. 27:45; Mark 15:33; Luke 23:44).
John’s narrative (John 18:1–19:42) is even more distinguished by its special materials: the exchange between Jesus and the crowd that came to arrest him, including his saying “I am” (Gk. eĝ eɩ́mi) and their falling to the ground; the details that Simon Peter wielded the sword and that Malchus lost his ear; the soldiers’ seizing Jesus; another disciple’s accompanying Peter to the house of the high priest; Jesus’ being interrogated by the high priest, Annas; the officer striking Jesus for his answer to the high priest and Jesus’ words to the officer; Annas’ sending Jesus bound to Caiaphas; conversations between Jesus and Pilate; Pilate and the Jews in dialogue; the declaration by the Jews, “We have no King but Caesar”; Jesus’ bearing of his own cross; three words of Jesus from the cross; the Jews’ request that Jesus’ legs be broken, but since he is already dead his side is pierced; and Nicodemus’ bringing 100 pounds of spices to use in burying Jesus.
Holy Saturday
Holy Saturday
In the primitive Church Holy Saturday was known as Great, or Grand, Saturday, Holy Saturday, the Angelic Night, the Vigil of Easter, etc. It is no longer, like Maundy Thursday, a day of joy, but one of joy and sadness intermingled; it is the close of the season of Lent and penance, and the beginning of paschal time, which is one of rejoicing.
By a noteworthy exception, in the early Church this was the only Saturday on which fasting was permitted (Constit. Apost., VII, 23), and the fast was one of special severity. Dating from the time of St. Irenaeus, an absolute fast from every kind of food was observed for the forty hours preceding the feast of Easter, and although the moment assigned for breaking the fast at dawn on Sunday varied according to time and country, the abstinence from food on Holy Saturday was general.
The night of the vigil of Easter has undergone a strange displacement. During the first six or seven centuries, ceremonies were in progress throughout the entire night, so that the Alleluia coincided with the day and moment of the Resurrection. In the eighth century these same ceremonies were held on Saturday afternoon and, by a singular anachronism, were later on conducted on Saturday morning, thus the time for carrying out the solemnity was advanced almost a whole day. Thanks to this change, special services were now assigned to Holy Saturday whereas, beforehand, it had had none until the late hour of the vigil.
This vigil opened with the blessing of the new fire, the lighting of lamps and candles and of the paschal candle, ceremonies that have lost much of their symbolism by being anticipated and advanced from twilight to broad daylight. St. Cyril of Jerusalem spoke of this night that was as bright as day, and Constantine the Great added unprecedented splendour to its brilliancy by a profusion of lamps and enormous torches, so that not only basilicas, but private houses, streets, and public squares were resplendent with the light that was symbolic of the Risen Christ. The assembled faithful gave themselves up to common prayer, the singing of psalms and hymns, and the reading of the Scriptures commentated by the bishop or priests. The vigil of Easter was especially devoted to the baptism of catechumens who, in the more important churches, were very numerous. On the Holy Saturday following the deposition of St. John Chrysostom from the See of Constantinople, there were 3000 catechumens in this church alone. Such numbers were, of course, only encountered in large cities; nevertheless, as Holy Saturday and the vigil of Pentecost were the only days on which baptism was administered, even in smaller churches there was always a goodly number of catechumens. This meeting of people in the darkness of the night often occasioned abuses which the clergy felt powerless to prevent by active supervision unless by so anticipating the ceremonies that all of them could take place in daylight. Rabanus Maurus, an ecclesiastical writer of the ninth century (De cleric. Instit., II, 28), gives a detailed account of the ceremony of Holy Saturday. The congregation remained silent in the church awaiting the dawn of the Resurrection, joining at intervals in psalmody and chant and listening to the reading of the lessons. These rites were identical with those in the primitive Church and were solemnized at the same hours, as the faithful throughout the world had not yet consented to anticipate the Easter vigil and it was only during the Middle Ages that uniformity on this point was established.