Triduum Sacrum
HOLY WEEK and OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO OUR JEWISH SIBLINGS
Of all the worship services in the Christian year, the liturgies of Holy Week pose some of the most difficult and painful problems for us in our relationship with our Jewish siblings. In the Passion narratives we hear on Palm Sunday and Good Friday, the Gospel writers (writing decades after the events described) pit Jesus against “the chief priests,” “the elders,” “the crowds,” and, more generally, “the Jews.” It is vital to remember that Jesus and his followers were Jewish, as were many to whom the Gospels were written. The debates and vitriol we hear in these texts are elements of an intra-family dispute—siblings arguing and blaming one another in order to establish and secure a distinct communal identity for themselves over and against each other. We must also remember that the first century was a tumultuous and dangerous time for Jews. The Romans executed not only Jesus but countless others and ruthlessly destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple in 70CE. In subsequent centuries, Christian rhetoric became increasingly anti-Jewish and Holy Week, at various times in history, became a time when organized persecution of Jewish communities took place. Part of our ongoing work of repentance and reconciliation requires us to acknowledge the painful history of Christian atrocities perpetrated against the Jewish people, re-examine our Scriptures and liturgies with this history in mind, and commit to acting differently now.
This year we will be using authorized versions of the scriptures which provide more historically nuanced translations. With Bishop Alan’s encouragement and permission, on Good Friday we will be using an alternate New Testament reading from Ephesians, which frames the death of Jesus in the larger arc of salvation history instead of framing it (as the traditional reading from Hebrews does) as the final sacrifice offered to God. We will be including new versions of the Solemn Collects which adds prayers lamenting Christian acts of prejudice and violence, and affirming the eternal covenant God has with the Jewish people. In addition to two of the traditional readings at the Great Vigil (Creation and the Exodus), we will also be adding scripture readings which highlight God’s care for and relationship with the ancestors of the Muslim people, and others who, like all Christians, have been welcomed into a covenantal relationship with God through ancestors in the Jewish faith.
Triduum Sacrum—The Three Sacred Days—is the name given to the days leading up to Easter: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday. The rites and ceremonies we observe on these nights developed over centuries with much local adaptation. Similar rites were described by Egeria in the diary she kept of her pilgrimage to the Holy Land between 381-384 CE. The first time the Triduum rites appeared in any Anglican prayer book was the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, however by then local congregations had been doing some variation of these services for decades—we have records of All Saints doing some versions of these rites as far back as the 1930s. The most common understanding now is that these services are unitive, that is, on these nights the faithful gather to celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus in one single liturgy, which extends from the opening acclamation on Maundy Thursday to the dismissal at the Great Vigil.
Maundy Thursday
Maundy is an English word of uncertain origin. Most scholars agree that it most probably derives from the Latin “mandatum” or “mandate,” the first word in the phrase, “Mandatum novum do vobis—a new commandment I give you.” In this service, we are offered a chance to practice and reflect on what being a servant really means. How do we actually live out this “mandatum novum?”
Washing someone else’s feet is a very intimate act. Probably the most intimate act we perform in church. Scholars remind us that part of what Jesus is doing here is demonstrating the intimacy of our relationship with God. Jesus desires us to be in a deep, intimate relationship with the creator of all life and to recognize our deep connections to one another. You will be invited to take part in both washing and being washed and encouraged to reflect on how your feelings about helping and being helped shape your relationships. How does serving or receiving loving service shape your views about power and authority—about who has it, how it is shared or not? How does your experience with this ritual act shape your vision of the church’s ministry?
The service then continues with the story of the Last Supper as we gather around the Altar to share Communion. At the conclusion of Communion, we hear the story of the betrayal and arrest of Jesus, the altar is stripped, the reserved sacrament is consumed, and the service descends into silence.
Good Friday
Good Friday is a shocking day. It is a day to contemplate Jesus’ death on the cross, and a day to be confronted with our own alienation from God and from one another. We hear the story of Jesus’ passion and death, and we pray the needs of the world.
By ancient custom, Good Friday is the one day in the Christian year when the Eucharist is not celebrated. To emphasize the continuity of our three-day liturgy, and to reinforce the sense of isolation and desolation, we do not receive pre-sanctified Communion. The altar is removed, and in its place stands a wooden cross. You are welcome to come forward and venerate the cross in a manner that is comfortable for you. Veneration may take many forms. Some people kneel and pray before the cross; others will want to touch or hold the wood; others will simply gaze upon it. Do what your soul calls for. Allow others to respond in their own ways.
Holy Saturday
According to scholar Marion Hatchett, the noon service on Holy Saturday is an “almost uniquely Anglican” liturgy of the Word that focuses on Jesus’ burial and his descent among the dead a.k.a. “the harrowing of hell.” With scripture readings, chanted psalms and anthems from our burial rites, and the reading of an ancient homily believed to have been composed in the second century) we celebrate this often overlooked component of our faith. While not technically part of the Triduum, it can be one more stop on your Holy Week pilgrimage.
Great Vigil
As we re-gather for The Great Vigil the church is dark and silent. Holy Saturday is the void out of which God (re)creates life. In the dark, a fire is kindled. The Paschal candle is lit. (Pascha is the Greek term meaning “passage” or Passover.) This candle burns throughout the great 50 days of Easter until Pentecost. It is the light of Christ.
The Exsultet is sung by the cantor at the beginning of the service, proclaiming: “This is the night when God brought our forefathers out of bondage, [when God brought our exiled ancestors home], when Christ broke the bonds of death and rose victorious from the grave. How blessed is this night, when earth and heaven are joined and all humanity is reconciled to God!”
Tonight, we enter most fully into the mystery of passion, death, waiting, and new life. During the Great Vigil, we hear of God’s redeeming acts in history; sometimes baptisms are performed, then at the acclamation “Alleluia!” the altar candles are lit, bells are rung, a triumphant song of praise is sung. The service concludes with the first Eucharist of Easter.