Introduction To The Services Of Holy Week

The following article is a rapid tour of the traditional services of Holy Week. Each of the primary services is discussed briefly, with attention to their primary themes and the features that make each service unique. For more detailed explanation, see the chapters that follow.

The sixth Sunday in Lent, the first day of Holy Week, commonly "Passion" or "Palm" Sunday, presents a peculiar set of problems. The celebration of the triumphal entry into Jerusalem brings to a close the first five weeks of our Lenten fast. In the same liturgy, the solemn reading of the Passion narrative initiates for us the beginning of the Holy Week of our Lord's passion and death. It is important that the liturgy for this day encompass both of these emphases, but with a clear distinction between them. Many congregations have found that celebrating the entry into Jerusalem is best done with a massive parade out-of-doors, complete with singing and swaying. The movement from outside in could well signal the movement in the liturgy from Palm to Passion Sunday. Congregations located in neighborhoods near other parishes might gather jointly in a common place for a joint Palm Sunday parade after which the congregational participants move back into their own facilities for the reading of the Passion narrative and the Eucharist. Music for Palm Sunday could be an all-stops-out affair, while the music for Passion Sunday should appropriately focus on the events of the week that it begins. The services for Monday and Tuesday in Holy Week can take any number of shapes. The key is simplicity and appropriateness to the week. The simple gathering for a prayer office, a quiet, focused liturgical drama, a service of Passion music or a gathering for directed meditation could be the order. There is every reason to dispense with all extraneous instrumental music. Gathering in silence and beginning from silence is appropriate. If hymns are to be sung, the organ could accompany them, but only in a manner appropriate to the nature of the day. Unaccompanied singing, led by members of the parish choir, is perhaps the better solution. The service for Wednesday in Holy Week could appropriately take the form of corporate confession and forgiveness. Such a service could form an interesting parallel to the Ash Wednesday liturgy. Provision for individual absolution makes personal in a ritual action the forgiveness which is ours in Christ, much like the imposition of ashes on Ash Wednesday made personal our need for repentance and reconciliation. Such a rite, set in the context of Holy Week, establishes a meaningful background on which to contribute the pilgrimage through the three holy days. For many churches, the liturgy of Holy Thursday is among the most significant services of the year. The rich imagery of the night in which Jesus was betrayed is exceeded perhaps only by the glory of the Easter Vigil. Because of its richness, care must be given to the planning of the liturgy so that its impact is not diminished by trying to pack too much in one service. Special care must be given to the planning and execution of the unusual traditions of this day. The washing of feet after the example of Jesus and the stripping of the altar are potentially moving spiritual experiences, but only if they are carried out with planned simplicity and dignity. Holy Thursday is no time for chaotic spontaneity. Also, there is more than enough biblical and theological material for the day without having to give extreme emphasis to the fact that the last supper of our Lord with his disciples may have been a Passover. The connection of our paschal observance with the Jewish Passover is vividly clear in the Exsultet in the liturgy of the vigil of Easter. Striking by its utter simplicity is the liturgy for Good Friday. In the rites of most churches that keep the traditional Good Friday liturgy, its major components are four: the reading of John's account of the Passion, the terse bidding prayer, the veneration of the wood of the cross with quiet meditation on the mystery of redemption, and Holy Communion. Music should be restrained. Preludes, postludes, and "special" music should be avoided unless it is critical to the shape of the liturgy. Everything should focus on the stark, saving reality of the crucified Christ. It is appropriate here to make a pastoral plea to the parish musicians on behalf of the spiritual needs of the choir members. The multiplicity of services and the vast amount of music to be mastered by the choristers for Lent, Holy Week, and Easter necessitates very often the need for additional rehearsals. An easy option, of course, is to commence choir rehearsal immediately following one of the services of Holy Week. While sometimes there may be no other option, this immediacy of movement deprives the choristers of the same opportunity we have worked so hard to provide for other members of the congregation. The choir is robbed of the benefits of having quiet moments to reflect spiritually upon the liturgy in which they have just participated. It is unfair to ask the choristers to gear up a choir rehearsal without time to reflect upon the Maundy Thursday or Good Friday liturgy. Everyone else can stay in the worship space and pray or have a quiet drive home and a couple of hours in the easy chair to think about what they have experienced. The choir deserves that no less than everyone else. Explore ways that the schedule might be adjusted so that these things don't happen to the choristers: start rehearsals earlier in the year, lengthen the rehearsals in the early weeks of Lent, and, if there is no other way, put a break between the service and the rehearsal for the choir to have some reflection time. A quiet period at the beginning of the rehearsal is the very least you can do to feed your choir spiritually as well as musically.