Holy Week: time of special grace

Dear Parishioners,

We are in the Holy Week. These are the most profound and meaningful days of our faith. During these days we are called to “watch and pray” (Mt 26:41) with the Lord and be the partakers in His agony, suffering, cross, death and resurrection. The purpose of Holy Week is to reenact, relive, and participate in the passion of Jesus Christ.

I would like to give you all an overview of what we will be celebrating in this Holy Week. 

The days of the Holy Week are:

Palm Sunday (or Passion Sunday)
Holy Thursday (or Maundy Thursday)
Good Friday
Holy Saturday
The time from sundown on Holy Thursday to sundown on Easter Day is also known as the Triduum, which means “three days.”

Holy Week observances began in Jerusalem in the earliest days of the Church, when devout people traveled to Jerusalem at Passover to reenact the events of the week leading up to the Resurrection.

We celebrate the following events in the week before Easter:

  • Palm Sunday (or Passion Sunday), the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem.
  • Holy Thursday (or Maundy Thursday), the institution of Eucharist, call to service and institution of the priesthood.
  • Good Friday, the arrest, trial, crucifixion, death, and burial of Jesus Christ.
  • Holy Saturday, the Sabbath on which Jesus rested in the grave.
  • Easter Vigil

The entire liturgical year culminates in the Easter Vigil, an ancient liturgy celebrated on the night before Easter Sunday. It was initially an all-night vigil that started in the middle of the night and didn’t end until the first rays of dawn when the celebration of Mass began.

The Easter Vigil is the longest service of the year, for good reason. It’s filled with powerful scripture and beautiful liturgical traditions.

It’s also when the Church grows, since the Easter Vigil is the night when catechumens can receive the Catholic sacrament of Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Communion on the same night.

The Easter Vigil is a one-of-a-kind Mass, more different than a regular Sunday liturgy than any other Mass of the year. 

Holy Week's indelible mark

Holy father Pope Francis, addressing the Confraternities who prepare the Holy Week celebrations, encouraged them to ensure that the experience of Holy Week "leaves an indelible and permanent mark" on those who participate, reminding them that the re-enactment of Jesus' Passion "is not a spectacle, but a proclamation of our salvation" and "for this reason it must leave its mark." 


Love of God and neighbour

It is especially important during Holy Week to spend time devoted to prayer, listening to the Word of God, following the example of the Good Samaritan caring for our wounded sisters and brothers. The Pope said, "Love of God and love of neighbour are one love...In the presence of God, we become brothers and sisters, more sensitive to one another."


Opening our hearts to others

Holy Week marks "a time of grace that the Lord gives us so that we may open the doors of our hearts" and our communities, the Pope recalls, and go out to meet Jesus and others, also to bring the light and joy of our faith. He encouraged everyone to go forth with love and with God's tenderness, respect and patience, "knowing that we offer our hands, our feet, our hearts, but that it is God who guides us and shows us the way." 

I wish all of us a fruitful and grace filled Holy Week.