Happy Holy Week! As you read this, I hope you find yourself prayerfully preparing your heart and your mind for the celebration of the Paschal Mystery that the Church celebrates in full at the end of this week. Often we refer to the last three days of this week as “The Triduum.” We call it the Triduum now, making it sound like it’s the only one, but historically, every large feast day would have a triduum that preceded it (think of occasions like the feast of the Ascension, Pentecost, or Christmas). This was an acknowledgement that these feasts take special time and preparation in order to enter into them most fully- three whole days, in fact. The Triduum of Easter is the commemoration and re-presentation of the events of Our Lord’s Last Supper, His Passion, and His Death. It is by praying with these most sacred events and participating in the liturgies that have surrounded them for centuries that we are able to most profoundly celebrate Easter, the feast of the glorious Resurrection of Our Lord.

Choosing to fully incorporate liturgical traditions into our celebration of these holy days is choosing to embrace a very counter-cultural mindset. Since the period of the Enlightenment, Western Civilization has been besieged by the idea that our physical and spiritual essences do not necessarily correspond to each other. Katie has reminded us of this in some of her recent pieces on education. The ultimate example of this separation is the philosophy Descartes puts forth in the seventeenth century – “I think, therefore I am.” This expression is the simplest way to pose the idea that one’s essence is bound up in the mind, not the body. We fall into this philosophical foible time and again as moderns because we’re positively surrounded by it. In the ecclesiastical realm, we saw these ideas personified in Christian sects that formed in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Groups like the Puritans or Separatists and certain forms of Calvinism entirely rejected the liturgical calendar and held firm to the belief that the body was an evil to be suffered in this world and that we would be freed from it in the next. This is precisely contrary to true Church teaching and Scripture (see many of the early Creeds of the Church, as well as passages like Philippians 3:21).

We are now dealing with the full consequences of the attempt to dismiss the importance of our own bodies and the use of them in the practice of our faith. Things like fasts, celebrating particular feasts on particular days, experiencing worship with our senses (beautiful art, kneeling, incense, Gregorian chant), or, most profoundly, the physical and spiritual reality of the Sacraments– all of these traditions of the Church have suffered gravely at the hands of the Enlightenment. These practices are more than just “outward signs of an inward disposition”. These practices help to make our faith real.

It’s incredibly tempting to agree with the philosophies and theologies that separate the body and the soul. But not only is this contrary to our faith, we have several centuries of evidence staring us in the face that demonstrate how much damage these ideas do. How many people do you know who would readily say, “I’m spiritual, but not religious”?  How many young people have embraced the idea that it’s possible to be “born in the wrong body”? How few of our churches still celebrate the Sacraments weekly? How many of us worship in spaces that have white-washed, modern art and architecture that do little to remind us that they are, in fact, places of worship?

All of these cultural and ecclesial ailments stem from the same problem – at their root, every one of them embrace the idea that the soul can be divorced from the body. This is not Christianity. The crux of the entire Christian identity and message rests upon the Incarnation of the Son of God. Our God took on the very flesh that we ourselves inhabit. He truly lived in His body, truly suffered in His body, truly died, and truly rose from the dead in His human body.

We embrace this real, physical, historical reality of our Savior by taking on real, physical traditions in our own faith. Quite simply there is no better way to pray during the Triduum than to enter into the bodily reminders of these celebrations. There are few better ways to witness to the reality of the Christian faith in your life than to participate, body and soul, in the Paschal Mystery. These are the holiest days of our Church year. Make them real in your life. 

The following are a few ideas for how you can commemorate the Triduum. There are a number of suggestions I will discuss, but the single most important thing you can do is attend as many of the services your church offers as possible. I know you’re busy, I know you have young children, I know the hours are long and late for many of these celebrations. But, my friends, if ever there is a time to buckle up and dive headlong into your faith, it’s now. Not next year, not once the kids are grown, not once you’ve had the perfect Lent (that’s never going to happen – just FYI). Now. Make the most important events of Christ’s life the most important events in your life. 

Holy Thursday

This beautiful day commemorates the Institution of the Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper. Most Churches will only have one evening liturgy on this day because it is the most fitting time to celebrate the Last Supper. In the Catholic tradition, Mass is normally followed by a formal stripping of the altar and a procession following the Blessed Sacrament to another location on the Church grounds where it will then repose late into the night. This tradition reminds us that Jesus went out from Jerusalem to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray with his faithful disciples and prepare Himself for His Passion.

A few ideas to commemorate this day:

·  Remember that “Eucharist” comes from the Greek for “Thanksgiving”. Long before Pilgrims, the New World, and turkey dinner, the Church recognized the divinely inspired need to thank God for the gifts He gives us. The greatest of these is Himself, His son Jesus Christ. It sounds incredibly easy and simple, but in reality it takes some intentionality to go out of your way to stop and give thanks to God for all the blessings in your life. Remember, of the ten lepers Jesus heals, only one of them returns to thank Him. Be that one.

·  Have a good, but modest meal at the end of the day. If you’re really wanting to get into the spirit of things, have a good fast food meal. Get a Subway sandwich, Jimmy John’s, or Panera Bread. There is a reason to feast on this day, but it’s not a feast at which to linger or one in which we have the luxury to keep coming back for more. This is a meal for a journey. Enjoy it and provide yourself sustenance for the next couple days of fasting.

·  If your parish has a procession to a place of repose for the Blessed Sacrament, fully participate in this! If possible, spend 20-30 minutes in quiet prayer with Our Lord (ideally, a full hour, but do what you can). If your Church does not have this tradition, or isn’t doing it this year because of a Covid excuse, stay up and make the time to sit with Jesus in silent prayer. Reflect on the Garden of Gethsemane and Jesus’ final spiritual preparations for His Passion. Remember that His apostles couldn’t even stay awake with Him, in this, their final night together. Remember His betrayal. Remember that all of His friends and followers desert Him. Do everything you can this evening to remain with Him. Ask Him for the grace to do so. 

Good Friday

 How strange that we call this day, “good”. Is it not? In a way, the entirety of Christian teaching and belief can be summed up in the explanation of why we call this day “good”. It commemorates the brutal Passion and Death of Jesus. And yet we call it good, because it is this day that we know salvation has been won for us. The sacrifice has been made. The price has been paid. Though completely innocent, Jesus Christ died for our sins through a total gift of Himself. He died for you. He thought of you, specifically called you by name, as He hung on the Cross, being mocked and tormented by all those around Him. Here are a few ways you can commemorate this extraordinary act of love:

·  Embrace a day of silence as much as possible. Obviously, you’ll still talk with friends and family, but it’s not a day for excess. Try to keep all the other voices out – no news, no podcasts, music, or audio books. Keep the TV off. Avoid watching videos or anything that could be classified as superfluous entertainment. I could write a whole other post on how horrible we are at enduring silence these days, but if you also recognize that silence can be a good thing that brings you closer to your suffering Lord, today is the day to embrace it.

·  Fast. Eat what you need to and no more. If you belong to a Christian tradition that has specific parameters around the way you fast, keep to these strictly. If you have ever lost a loved one, remember the day of their funeral. Remember that in the midst of grief, one’s appetite is lost.

·  If you aren’t already in the middle of attending a Good Friday service, stop everything you are doing at 3PM and simply sit in silence. After an appropriate amount of time has passed, read and pray with the Twenty-Second and Thirty-First Psalms.

·  Read the Gospel of John out loud with your family. This practice takes three to four hours (depending on how quickly you read and how many disruptions you face), but it is a beautiful way to reflect on the Passion of our Lord. Everything in John’s Gospel points toward the true identity of Jesus Christ, His journey to Jerusalem, and the events of the Paschal Mystery. Let this Gospel guide your reflections for the day.

Holy Saturday

This is the day of the great in between. If ever there was a day that personified the idea of “limbo”, this is it. Thankfully, this is mostly a day of anticipation for us Christians. Unlike Christ’s disciples, we know what is coming. This is a day to both fully reflect on the events of Good Friday, and to begin to prepare for the great joy of Easter that is just hours away. This is a day of waiting, but of promise. Relatively few Churches have any sort of liturgy on this day (for good reason! It would be difficult to say exactly what we would celebrate in such a liturgy), but you can make the commemoration of this holy day real in your own home:

·  If you can’t do anything else, read this ancient homily given on Holy Saturday. We don’t know who the author is, but it is now permanently part of the Divine Office of Readings. It is incredible and far more worthy of your time than my simple musings.

·  This is a day of preparation – so prepare! Prepare your heart and your home for the feast to come. Cook, clean, plan, and organize. Try once more to do as many of these things in quiet, without the blaring of media. It is still a day that is most appropriately kept quiet, but it’s a different kind of quiet now. It is the imminent arrival of great joy. It is the quiet of an expectant mother.

Easter

This is the day of days, the feast of all feasts! Today is the foretaste of the eternal banquet. This day is the reason we have joy and hope as Christians – we have the promise of Salvation. The promise of purpose in our lives and victory over death. Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed!!

·  Attend Easter Vigil, or Sunrise Service, or whatever the earliest celebration of Easter is at your Church. Yes, you have small children. Yes, it’s exhausting. But think of what this celebration is! This is the culmination of all of humanity’s Christmas mornings – just like young children who can’t stay in bed at the thought of presents under the tree – we should jump at the very first opportunity to rise with Christ and meet Him in this new day – this new life!

·  Listen to beautiful music, particularly Easter hymns. [Three of my personal favorites are “Ye Sons and Daughters”, “This is the Day”, and “All Creatures of Our God and King.”]

·  FEAST. What are your favorite foods? Make all of them.

·  How are you going to eat all of this food, you ask? Celebrate with others. As many as possible. Join family and friends as you all dwell in the beauty of this long, luxurious spring day.

·  At the end of your day read Luke 24:13-35, the story of the Road to Emmaus. Remember that Jesus also comes after you and reminds you of His true identity in the breaking of the bread.

·  Bless God. Bless His holy name! Go to bed joyfully singing God’s praises.

Our bodies were created to worship God. They can be put to no greater service than practicing the Christian faith in real, tangible ways. Easter is the greatest foretaste we have in this world of the eternal banquet we hope to join in heaven. And it will be a real feast in every possible way, one that we will be able to sense with our glorified bodies: to taste, feel, smell, hear, and see. Enter into the mysteries of this Holy Week by embracing the liturgical, incarnational traditions of our faith - doing so you will act as a visible witness to the faith and fulfill the purpose you have been given by our Creator.

New to the Loom?

Listen Wherever You Get Your Podcasts

Recent Episodes

Recent Posts