HOLY WEEK: WHY IS IT CALLED “HOLY”?
Dear brethren in Christ, with Palm Sunday, the Holy Week, the most important week in the liturgical year, begins. But why is it called “holy”.
The week is called “HOLY” because it commemorates the patent demonstration and summit of Our Lord’s Holiest and Immense Love for the entire humanity– a love willing to suffer unto “death, death on the Cross” in order to save us from our sins; and a love which knows no end, conquering death itself with His Resurrection-, with His Passion, Death and Resurrection.
As a review, we will briefly enumerate what happened during each day of the week based on the Gospel accounts.
Palm Sunday
- ✓ Jesus’ triumphal entry of into Jerusalem, mounted on a colt.
- ✓ The crowds spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and strewed them on the road. They kept crying out and saying: “Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; hosanna in the highest.”
- ✓ Pilgrims see in Jesus the One who is to come in the Name of the Lord. Indeed, according to St Luke’s Gospel they insert one more word: “Blessed is the King who comes in the Name of the Lord”.
- ✓ The Palm Sunday Mass re-enacts this with the procession of the palms and olive branches which are blessed. During the Mass, the Passion of Christ is read.
- ✓ At the end of the Mass, we bring home the olive branches or palms and as a custom, they are placed at doors, balconies, etc., to remind us that Jesus is our King and we must always welcome him in our homes.
Holy Monday
- ✓ Jesus visits his friends at Bethany and Mary anoints Jesus with perfume as a preparation for his burial. This gesture is also know as the Anointing at Bethany. Judas is scandalized and leaves.
- ✓ After spending the night at Bethany in Lazarus’ home, Jesus returns to Jerusalem and finds the temple converted into a marketplace. “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer’; but you have made it a den of robbers.”
Holy Tuesday
- ✓ Jesus predicts Judas’ betrayal and Peter’s triple denial.
Holy Wednesday
- ✓ Judas betrays Jesus and hands him over to the chief priests.
THE PASCHAL TRIDUUM BEGINS
- ✓ The Easter triduum or Paschal Triduum is the culminating point of the liturgical year.
- ✓ The services celebrated each day commemorates the different phases of the Paschal mystery, that is, the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Our Lord.
Maundy or Holy Thursday
- ✓ Jesus washes the feet of His Apostles and gives the New Commandment of love
- ✓ Jesus institutes the Sacraments of the Holy Eucharist and of Orders during the Last Supper.
Good Friday
- ✓ The Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ
Holy or Black Saturday
- ✓ Contemplation of Jesus in the tomb in silence and adoration
Easter Vigil
- ✓ Jesus resurrects from the dead and triumphs over sin, death, evil, and the devil.
- ✓ The Easter Vigil is held between the sunset of Black Saturday and the sunrise of Easter Sunday. According to St. Augustine, this celebration is “the mother of all vigils“.
- ✓ During the Easter Vigil, the faithful celebrate the joy of the Resurrection which anticipate Easter Sunday. It is an occasion for the believer to renew his baptismal promises and his commitment to Christ.
Easter Sunday
- ✓ Easter Sunday is the greatest feast of Christianity because it commemorates Our Lord’s victory over death, sin, darkness, and the devil, thereby opening the gates of heaven and gaining for us eternal life.
- ✓ With His triumph, He shows us that He is truly God and we know that we shall also resurrect with him, if we are faithful to Him till the end.
- ✓ During the fifty days of Easter, the Paschal Candle which represents the light of Christ is lit during the Holy Mass.
Let us thank God not only with feelings and words, but also with works, taking advantage of the Holy Week to grow in our self-giving to Him, -and for Him-, to His Church and all souls.
N.B. The events described in each day are based on the Gospel of the Holy Mass for each day. The Gospel for the Holy Wednesday Mass recounts how Judas made a deal with the chief priests to deliver Jesus to them for 30 pieces of silver. The betrayal is initiated and culminates to Jesus’ arrest after the Last Supper.
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