What is Holy Week?
The most important period of the year for Christians, often called Holy Week, begins Sunday. It is a celebration and remembrance of Christ’s death and Resurrection as related in the Scriptures, culminating on Easter Sunday.
Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday, which commemorates Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem with his disciples to celebrate Passover. As Jesus entered the city, people praised him and spread their cloaks and palm branches in his path.
During Palm Sunday services, palm leaves and branches are used in celebrating the message of Jesus’ arrival. Some churches spread them for a processional into the sanctuary. Others give their members crosses made of palm leaves to wear on their lapels. Sermons explore the final week of Jesus’ life and his crucifixion
The next three days following Palm Sunday are a time for repentance and prayer. Many Roman Catholics have Mass each day, and Episcopalians have Eucharist (Communion). Others have prayer times or Bible studies, some formal at the church and others informal at home.
Maundy Thursday, or Holy Thursday, celebrates what has become known as the Last Supper. During the Passover evening meal with his disciples, Jesus instituted the Communion practice when he told his disciples the bread represented his body and the wine his blood and to remember him when they ate and drank it. Later that night, according to the Scriptures, he was betrayed by Judas and arrested while praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. Many churches have Communion services on Maundy Thursday.
Good Friday is the day commemorating Jesus’ trials, scourging, Crucifixion, death and burial. Catholics and Episcopalians celebrate with the Stations of the Cross ceremony. Others have prayer services.
The Saturday before Easter is a day of reflection and contemplation as Christians await the celebration of Jesus’ Resurrection. Many Catholic churches are open for confessions and hold an Easter Vigil Mass that night. Some Protestant churches have formal services, but many of them allow their members to contemplate Easter on their own. The Saturday before Easter is also a time when some churches have youth programs and celebrations, including Easter egg hunts, in a combination of the religious and secular holidays.
Easter Sunday is the triumphant culmination of Holy Week, when Christians celebrate their belief in Jesus’ Resurrection and victory over death. Many churches have sunrise services, held early to coincide with the discovery by the women who found the tomb empty when they visited early on that Sunday to anoint Jesus’ body. All have celebratory worship services with joyful songs and messages of hope and salvation.
Easter falls between March 22 and April 25 on the Gregorian calendar each year. The date is determined according to a formula related to the full moon of the vernal equinox each spring.
This year, all Christians will celebrate Easter on April 16. But that is not always the case. Most Christian denominations now use the Gregorian calendar to calculate when Easter will be, but Orthodox Christians still use the Julian calendar. That means many years they celebrate Easter after other Christians.
This story was originally published April 7, 2017 at 7:02 AM with the headline "What is Holy Week?."