Holy Week, 2023
For those who are journeying with us for most or all of Holy Week this year, here are some additional instructions, invitations, and context details that may help to enrich your experience and our time together.
Palm Sunday on April 2: we will begin at FBC (on the FBC side) promptly at 10, with a procession into the FBC space, where we will do the brief Liturgy of the Palms, followed by a procession around our block. Bring comfortable shoes, and be prepared for the service to run a little longer than usual!
If for any reason you are not able to make the procession with us, you may hang back and worship with First Baptist, and proceed into our worship space when their time of worship has ended, to welcome back the parade.
In the midst of a week of somber contemplations, Maundy Thursday is a day of relative celebration and festivity as we remember the Passover meal that our Lord kept with his friends, and how he washed their feet. For those who are available to make it a day and willing to serve, we will do a Holy Week runthrough rehearsal at noon, followed by a Maundy Thursday “Happy Hour” at the Schweinhaus at 2pm. Call time for servers for Maundy Thursday (and for each of our 5pm services) is 4pm. (That’s not a hard rule, but let me know if you can’t be there early so that I can be sure to fill you in separately.) There are lots of little roles for each service, so if you’re willing to serve and able to pop in early, please do so! We’ll put you to work!
The services of the Triduum (from Maundy Thursday through Saturday) constitute a single liturgy, so the customary concluding elements of the service are omitted on Maundy Thursday, and all leave in uncomfortable and heavy silence.
Good Friday is a day of fasting and particularly intense devotion of prayer. If you are able to take the day off of school or work to attend to these devotions, it is a good time to do so! The service begins in darkness and silence, without any of the customary introductions. It will consist of a reading of the Passion Gospel, intensive prayers, and the somber veneration of the Cross. While we will not celebrate the Communion liturgy at this service, we will receive the Body of Christ from a portion of the sacrament consecrated on Thursday that has been reserved for that purpose.
The midday Holy Saturday liturgy is brief, but powerful, as we contemplate Christ laid in the tomb, and descending into death for our salvation and the redemption of death itself. From then, we will immediately proceed with preparations for the Easter Vigil liturgy, and welcome as many “hands” as can help with that! To aid our celebration, we invite/encourage you to bring FLOWERS for the Altar, and BELLS to ring after the Easter Acclamation!
The Easter Vigil consists of several parts: first, a service of light, wherein we kindle the new fire, and bring in the Paschal Candle, celebrating Christ, the light of the world. Then we read several Old Testament lessons recounting the whole history of salvation, before joyfully acclaiming the resurrection, remembering our baptism (if not celebrating new baptisms!), and celebrating the first communion of Easter.
Following the Easter Vigil liturgy, we will have a potluck and party. Please bring a dish to share … the more “un-Lenten” it can be, the better! Although it is suitable to the occasion, we will NOT be serving alcohol at this celebration … but there may be space for an “after party” following our potluck.
Everything that happens on Easter Sunday is pure overflow of joy! We will be keeping our 10 AM Sunday service time, as well as Fr. Nathaniel representing us at the multi-church sunrise service, 7AM at Boulevard Park. But if you and your family need to sleep in after the Easter Vigil service, that is totally OK!
Of course, you are welcome to as many or as few of these Holy Week festivities as you are able to jump in for, but as you are able, we encourage you to consider and embrace the whole cycle of Triduum services with special attention and devotion. Consider it a sort of mini-retreat! Grab a couple of devotional books, or check out all of the readings for Holy Week suggested in the Prayerbook (BCP 721-22, 744). Come, pray with us at the appointed times as we walk through the mystery of Christ’s judgment, passion, death, burial, and resurrection together: the fulfillment of God’s promises to his people, and the substance of our salvation. And bring a friend to experience it with you!
I’ve done a number of “Holy Weeks” in my time, and they’re always a ton of work: I’m always surprised at just how many details there are to arrange, and how many I forget year to year. But because the substance is set by the deeds of Christ, and the structure of our devotion is already established by the prayerbook, it is always a powerful experience … and I have never resented or regretted anything that I have invested in the celebrations.
Regardless of how you observe this week, may the Lord bless you through the power of his passion, death, and resurrection, and may these saving deeds that he has accomplished on our behalf be near to our minds and memories in this most holy time.
