As our Lenten journey continues, I am again reminded of the fullness of our worship life in the days of Holy Week. We move with Jesus into Jerusalem, ascend to the Upper Room, walk to the Garden, proceed to the halls of justice, stumble up the road to Mt. Calvary, and go into the tomb – to lay Jesus’ body down in death, and then to see that tomb empty in the resurrection of our Lord and Savior.
In the Early church, the services of the Triduum – Latin for “Three Days” – were meant for teaching and remembering the events of the last days of Jesus’ earthly life. They reinforced the doctrines of the faith in the worship setting for the church members, as they still do for us, and they served as the culmination of the catechetical instructions of new converts. Those being instructed in the faith, were then baptized at the Easter Vigil or Easter sunrise worship service.
The first part of the Triduum begins on the evening of Maundy Thursday, during which Christians recall the events that took place the night Jesus was betrayed. The word “Maundy” is derived from the Latin phrase mandatum novum, meaning “new commandment.” It refers to the Lord’s words to His apostles as recorded in John 13:34, just after he washed their feet: A new command I give you: love one another.
The true climax of Maundy Thursday worship is the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, first instituted on the night before Christ’s death. After the sacrament has ended, the stripping of the altar takes place. All vessels, crosses, books, candles, linens, paraments, banners, and other decorations from the altar and chancel area are removed – a powerful and dramatic reenactment of the Lord’s humiliation at the hands of the Roman soldiers, and the abandonment of his followers.
Good Friday, the second day of the Triduum, is the solemn remembrance of Jesus’ death on the cross, marked by austerity and silence. The English designation of “Good Friday” is apparently from the original “God’s Friday,” although the term is a very fitting one since the Lord’s death was for our eternal good.
The Tenebrae or Service of Darkness derives its name from the gradual extinguishing of candles and lights throughout the service. The ensuing darkness brings to mind the fading life of our Lord as He hung on the cross, and is a symbolic recreation of the darkness that covered the land when our Lord died. The last remaining candle (representing Jesus) is not extinguished, but is carried out of the chancel. It is then returned to the altar as a reminder that, even in the midst of death and darkness, our Lord was not defeated by the devil, but rose in triumph on Easter morning. In spite of the solemnity of Good Friday worship, it is not a funeral service for Jesus, but rather a time of quiet and serious contemplation on His great saving work.
Just as theologically we cannot separate the cross from the empty tomb, so with our Holy Week worship, we do not bypass the suffering of our Savior on the cross to rush to the glory of Easter morning. We are blessed to join in this full three-day journey in our worship life as we remember again the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior.
God bless your Holy Week worship this year.
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Manor
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