HOLY WEEK & EASTERTIDE 2026 - All Saints Parish, Brookline MA

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.

We use authorized versions of the scriptures which provide more historically nuanced translations. With our bishop’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 also use 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.

MAUNDY THURSDAY, 2 April

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7:00 p.m. Maundy Thursday Triduum Liturgy—The First Gathering of the Church
- Foot washing, Last Supper (Communion), story of the betrayal and arrest, stripping the altar, followed by,
8:00 p.m. Nightwatch
- an overnight program of prayer, study & time together for youth in grades 3-12. Registration is required.

GOOD FRIDAY, 3 April

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9:30 a.m. Stations of the Cross
7:00 p.m. Good Friday Triduum Liturgy—The Second Gathering of the Church
- Veneration of the cross, chanted Passion Gospel, Solemn Collects (prayers)

HOLY SATURDAY, 4 April

12:00 noon, Holy Saturday Liturgy
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ABOUT THE SERVICE AT NOON ON 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.” In a brief service of scripture readings, chanted psalms, anthems from our burial rites, and the reading of an ancient homily (believed to have been composed in the second century) we celebrate an often overlooked component of our faith. While not technically part of the Triduum, it can be one more stop on your Holy Week pilgrimage.