From sundown on Maundy Thursday until sundown on Easter Sunday (a sub-season)--
The Paschal Triduum
We Christians
are a people of sacramental signs. We search for signs of Christ
in everything around us. In doing this, we take our cue from the
gospels. Jesus said that he can be found in the hungry, the thirsty,
the stranger, the sick. Even the stars in the sky can lead us
to find the Lord.
Once each year, at Easter, it seems as if all the signs point
in the same direction: Easter is the first Sunday after the first
full moon after the spring equinox. Why is this astounding day
so important to us?
When the spring equinox comes, daytime grows longer than night. Springtime begins. When the moon is full, it rises in the east at the same time the sun sets in the west. So there is never a moment when either the sun or the full moon is not shining in the heavens.
Friday, Saturday and Sunday, too, are important signs for us. Friday is the sixth day of the week, when God made the first human beings. Saturday is the Sabbath, when God rested. On Sunday the week begins once again. It is the day God said, "Let there be light."
Friday is the day of Jesus' death. On the Sabbath Jesus rested in the tomb. On Sunday God raised Jesus from the dead. That is why we call Sunday the Lord's Day.
Every year, on the Sunday after the first full moon of spring, we Christians keep the Lord's Day with all our might. In English we name this Sunday "Easter," from an ancient word for the first light of dawn. In most other languages, the word for Easter is based on the Hebrew word for Passover, Pesach . That is where we get the English word "paschal."
This is the
best time of the year for baptism. Like the rising sun or the
full moon, like the coming of spring, baptism is a sign of our
Passover. For us, baptism is a new creation rising from chaos.
It is an escape from slavery through the sea. It is death and
burial and resurrection in Christ.
The fast and the feast together -- Good Friday, Holy Saturday
and Easter Day -- are called the Paschal Triduum, which
means "the Three Days of Passover. "
These three days are begun and ended not from midnight to midnight but from sunset to sunset, in the Jewish manner of reckoning days. That way these three days match more closely the days of creation. The Triduum is the year's heart -- the three days of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. It is the Passover of the Lord.
(Adapted from Companion to the Calendar by Mary Ellen Hynes for Liturgy Training Publications).
Until sundown this is the final day of ordinary Lenten time. But at sundown the Lenten journey ends and the Paschal Triduum begins.
On Maundy Thursday evening, we gather together and do something strange. We wash feet in response to Jesus' new commandment (mandatum novum) .
The Gospel of John tells us that on the night before Jesus died, while he was at supper, he got up and washed the feet of his disciples. In the Middle East, where people's feet easily became dusty, this washing was an act of hospitality. But because rich people usually had servants do it, the apostle Peter was embarrassed and told Jesus not to do it. But Jesus warned Peter, "Unless I wash you, you can have no share with me." Then Jesus said, "If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you."
On Maundy Thursday night we follow the Lord's command; we celebrate the Lord's Supper, and then we keep watch with Christ at the Altar of Repose. The three days of the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord have begun -- in a sense we are in the midst of the Paschal Mystery.
(Adapted from Companion to the Calendar by Mary Ellen Hynes for Liturgy Training Publications).
This day is
part of something bigger than itself. It is the first full day
of the Paschal Triduum. The liturgical services of Good Friday
have no formal beginnings or endings, no greetings or dismissals.
The services are all part of the single, three-day liturgy of
the Triduum.
The main service on Good Friday is usually held in the afternoon.
This is the time when the lambs were slaughtered in the Temple
in Jerusalem to prepare for the Passover feast. This is the time
when Jesus died. (The traditional hours of the Passion are
12 noon to 3 pm.)
John's account of the passion is heard today. This account is in many ways different from those in the other three gospels. John shows us how God's glory is seen in the suffering and death of Jesus. We hear that Jesus was buried like a monarch, with a hundred pounds of sweet-smelling myrrh. The tomb was in a garden. Perhaps John is telling us that, because of the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord, we are welcome back to paradise.
On Good Friday the gathered church prays for the world and all its peoples. We do this every day, but today the prayer takes an ancient form.
A large wooden cross is carried into church. Symbolically, we say that this wood is the cross on which Jesus died. We also say that this is the tree of life in Eden. This is the ark that saved Noah and his family and the creatures huddled inside. This is the staff that Moses held up to split the waters of the Red Sea. Is it any wonder that people call this Friday "good"?
People fast on Good Friday and Holy Saturday. This is called the "paschal fast." Before a big event or after a tragedy, most people lose their appetites. That's one reason that members of the church fast during these days. We're filled with anticipation.
Another reason for the fasting is to remind us of Adam and Eve in paradise. God told them not to eat the fruit of a particular tree. On these days the children of Adam and Eve stand before the tree, the holy cross of Christ, and they refuse to eat.
(Adapted from Companion to the Calendar by Mary Ellen Hynes for Liturgy Training Publications).
The paschal
Sabbath lasts from Good Friday sunset to Holy Saturday sunset.
This is the middle day of the Triduum. It is perhaps the strangest,
most mysterious, most puzzling day on the calendar.
In Latin, Holy Saturday is Sabbatum Sanctum, the Holy Sabbath.
In the tomb, Jesus rested on the Sabbath. The church rests in
Christ today.
(Adapted from Companion to the Calendar by Mary Ellen
Hynes for Liturgy Training Publications).
At
nightfall on Holy Saturday, the blessed Sabbath is over. The first
day of the week begins. After the Sabbath, according to custom,
the first work to be done is to make a fire and to kindle the
evening lamp. That is what the church does. That is how the Easter
Vigil begins. On this night, every member of the church is asked
to gather with the soon-to-be-baptized.
A wonderful recovery in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer is the
ancient Great Vigil of Easter, the keystone about which the rest
of the liturgical year is built. Other baptisms of the year reflect
this primary baptismal rite. Other Eucharists of the year are,
to use the analogy of St. Augustine of Hippo, the repeatable part
of this vigil liturgy. In the Great Vigil of Easter we celebrate
and make present the pivotal events of the Old and New Covenant
heritage, the Passover of the Hebrews from the bondage of slavery
in Egypt to the freedom of the Promised Land the Passover of the
Lord from the bondage of the grave, and our own Passover from
the bondage of sin and death to the glorious liberty of new life
in Christ Jesus.
The Great Vigil begins after sundown on Easter Eve. It is called
a vigil, not because it is an all-night-long service but because
it prepares for the joyful celebration of the Resurrection, the
first Mass of Easter and the Vigil does provide the occasion for
the first Mass of Easter, just as Christmas Eve Mass is the first
Mass of Christmas.
The Vigil begins in a darkened Church, symbolic of the darkness
brought by the death of Jesus on Good Friday. But into this darkness
is struck the new fire from which the Paschal Candle, the symbol
of Christ the Light of the World, will be lighted. As the minister
carries the lighted Paschal Candle into the dark Church, he will
pause three times and intone, "The Light of Christ,"
to which the people respond "Thanks be to God,"
and light their hand candles, causing the Church to be flooded
with the soft glow of candle light. The darkness has been banished!
At this point the minister will place the Paschal Candle in its
special stand and the person appointed will sing the Exsultet,
a great and ancient hymn praising Christ as the One True Light.
Following will be read several prophecies from the Hebrew Bible.
After the reading of the final prophecy, the Altar candles are
lighted from the Paschal Candle and the other lights in the Church
are brought up to reveal the glorious Easter decorations and the
Congregation sings a joyous song of praise for the first time
since Ash Wednesday. The liturgy continues with the Epistle, Gospel
and homily. The celebrant then announces the end of the Lenten
fast and begins the Baptismal rite during which the faithful will
renew their Baptismal Covenant.
Following the Baptisms the first Mass of Easter is celebrated
This liturgy sums up all of salvation history in one rite and
is dramatically moving, especially if one has participated in
the sorrowful liturgies of the Passion during Holy Week.
This liturgy begins the Church's contemplation for fifty days
of the glory of salvation won for us by the Passion, Death, and
Resurrection of our Lord Jesus the Christ.
Easter The first
Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox
Easter
is the Sunday of Sundays, the solemnity of solemnities, the last
day of the Paschal Triduum and the first of the Fifty Daylong
Sunday of celebration. We celebrate the death, burial and resurrection-the
passover-of Christ. At baptism we became a sharer in Christ's
passover. No matter what day we were baptized, Easter is the anniversary.
The church's heart and soul is found in Easter. It is the time
of the most beloved scripture stories- of creation, Noah, the
Exodus, of Daniel in the lion's den, of Queen Esther saving her
people, of Jonah in the belly of a fish. And, of course, at Easter
the church tells the gospels of the passion and resurrection of
our Lord.
Easter is filled with songs and customs and foods that remind
us of these stories. For instance, dyeing eggs in rainbow colors
can be a celebration of the promise made to Noah and all the animals
after the great flood. Sprinkling ourselves with Easter water
can speak to us of the Israelites marching through the Red Sea
from slavery to freedom.
Egg hunts in gardens are also an Easter week custom. At Jesus'
tomb the angel had asked the women, "Why do you look for
the living among the dead?" An egg hunt is a search for
life. Like the holy women, we discover that life has con- quered
death.
The word "Easter" comes from the same root as
the words "star" and "east."
It means "dawn light." This word has become a
wonderful way to describe the Christian Passover. In the words
of Psalm 118: "This is the day the Lord has made. Let
us rejoice and be glad in it."
(Adapted from Companion to the Calendar by Mary Ellen Hynes for Liturgy Training Publications).