YOUR HOLY WEEK TRAVEL ITINERARY
| Holy Week Day & Time | What happens? | What does it mean? |
| Palm Sunday, April 2, 8 am & 10:15 | 8 am – We celebrate Palm Sunday during the service. 9-10am – We hold a special “between the services” Coffee Hour. 10 am – We gather outside to get ready for our Palm Sunday parade.1 0:15 am – We process around the neighborhood, led by the cross, for our Palm Sunday Parade, that brings us up into the church to sing “All Glory, Laud and Honor” and celebrate the Palm Sunday Service. | We begin Holy Week with our bodies moving through the streets of our neighborhood with palms, in connection to Jesus’ triumphal entry into the Jerusalem. We shout, “Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!” |
| Wednesday, 7 pm, Tenebrae Service | A meditative service with poetry, music, scripture and the slow diminishment of light as we extinguish candles slowly as we hear parts of the Passion story. | Our first approach to Christ’s arrest and death through this service of “shadows” (i.e. Tenebrae). |
| Maundy Thursday, 6 pmbeginning with supper in the Undercroft | We begin with a simple dinner together in the Undercroft during which we discuss the scripture appointed for this day. As we sing chants, we go upstairs to enter the candlelit sanctuary. There we will offer foot washing for those who wish, followed by Holy Communion, the stripping of the altar and the beginning of Night Watch for those who wish to stay and pray. | The word Maundy is derived from the Latin word madatum (commandment) and refers to Jesus giving the “new com- mandment” to “love one another as I have loved you” (John 13:34) to his disciples at the Last Supper. The Maundy Thursday service commemorates the Last Sup- per and often focuses on two things Jesus did at the Last Supper: washing of the disciples’ feet and the institution of the sacrament of Holy Communion. The service ends in complete silence with the stripping of the altar in re- cognition of Jesus’ prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane and the despair and death to come. |
| Night Watch, 8 pm- 6 am | Silent prayer in the church and chapel for those who wish to pray for part (or all) of the night. | We imitate Christ by staying awake and spending the night in prayer as did Christ on the night of his betrayal. |
| Good Friday, 12 pm & 7 pm | We hear the Passion story, pray the ancient Solemn Collects, venerate the cross and leave in silence. | On Good Friday we join Mary and John at the foot of the cross as we contemplate the death of Jesus. |
| Holy Saturday, 9-9:20 am | A brief, informal service scripture and prayers in the church. | “Holy Saturday is the day in which God has died into our very own death, and sanctified it, in all its stark, immovable threat.” (James Farwell) |
| Easter Vigil, 5:15 am | We gather outside in the darkness to light the new fire, come into the dark church and light our own candles. We hear ancient stories of God’s people from our Hebrew scripture, witness the first Sunrise of Easter, renew our Baptismal Covenant and celebrate Holy Communion. | We go to the tomb in darkness with Mary, only to find it empty and discover the mystery of resurrection, the new life given by God through Christ. |
| Easter Day, 8 am & 10:15 am | We celebrate Easter a lot like we celebrate every Sunday (indeed, every Sunday liturgy is technically an Easter liturgy), except with added joy and alleluias! | Easter is the most important day of celebration in the Christian Year. On this day we celebrate how Christ overcame death to rise to new life, offering his redemption and love to all. |