Holy Week begins on PALM SUNDAY (24 March) when we remember Jesus (with his disciples) entering Jerusalem riding on a donkey. His arrival was greeted by cheering crowds who waved palms and shouted ‘Hosanna to the King of David’ as they welcomed their new king who would save his people from the tyranny of Rome. By Good Friday, the cries of ‘Hosanna!’ have become angry shouts of ‘Crucify him!’ The services of Palm Sunday capture the change in mood.

We begin with the Liturgy of the Palms as we hear the story of his arrival and then join in a procession of palms. The service then continues with the Liturgy of the Passion which is dominated by a dramatic reading of Jesus’ Passion (his trial and crucifixion), this year from Mark’s Gospel. There is then Holy Communion before we depart in silence.

On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, we gather to reflect and meditate on different moments in Jesus’s journey through Holy Week.

 

This year, Holy Trinity will host a CHRISM MASS on the Tuesday as clergy and lay ministers gather from around the Southern France chapter to renew their vows before the Bishop and people of the church. At this service the holy oils for the coming year are blessed by the Bishop and distributed for use.

On Wednesday evening, to remember the hospitality that Jesus received at Bethany at the home of Martha and Mary before going up to Jerusalem for the Passover Festival. We gather for an AGAPE (love) MEAL, hear the story read, anoint each other with oil remembering the costly ointment with which Jesus was anointed and then share in Holy Communion as we sit around the table. (As this is a sit-down dinner, it is essential to book a place so that there is a place at the table for you and there is enough food to go round!

Email Fr Jeremy (frjeremy.niceandvence@gmail.com) if you would like to come.

 

Then follows the EASTER TRIDUUM the holiest days of the church’s year. This begins with MAUNDY THURSDAY when we gather in the evening to commemorate Jesus gathering with his disciples in Jerusalem in an upper room to share in a Passover meal. This was the institution of the sacrament of Holy Communion, the Last Supper, the Eucharist, the Mass when Jesus broke bread and shared wine – his body and blood – with the command to do this as often as possible to remember him. John’s gospel also recounts that before supper, Jesus also insisted in washing his disciples’ feet (one of the most menial tasks of the day done by the lowliest servant) showing that true love is to be found in the care of and service towards another. He concludes this with the new commandment (Mandatum from which comes the word Maundy the name given to this day) to ‘love one another as I (Jesus) have loved you.’ The liturgy takes us from light to darkness, from joy to sorrow, as we journey from the Last Supper to the Garden of Gethsemane and Judas’s betrayal of Jesus and his arrest. We begin the church in light and with music and end with the altars stripped and in complete darkness and silence. In the garden, Jesus addressing his sleeping disciples, says ‘Could you not watch with me one brief hour?’ and so we are invited to remain in the darkness of the church watching with Jesus present in the Blessed Sacrament for a while.

 

On GOOD FRIDAY we gather in silence before the cross and remember Jesus’s crucifixion and death meditating on the Seven Last Words from the cross which are actually sentences (rather than single words) that Jesus is reported as saying from the cross before he dies. There is a moment to come forward to venerate (touch or kiss) the cross as a thanksgiving for Jesus’s great sacrifice for the world. Those who wish can share in Holy Communion before we depart in silence.

HOLY SATURDAY is usually a day when, Jesus having been buried in the tomb given by Joseph of Arimathea, a team of people busily prepare the church for our Easter celebrations decorating the buildings with flowers and candles in time for the EASTER VIGIL which is the mirror image in terms of liturgy of Maundy Thursday.

 

We gather in darkness and silence on Saturday evening at sundown at the entrance to the church where a new fire is lit. From the flames, the Paschal Candle symbolising the Risen Christ, is lit and carried into the dark church for it is only by the light of Christ that the darkness is banished. From this single flame, we each receive a lit candle and we sit in the candlelight keeping vigil as we hear the story told of our redemption beginning with the story of Creation. The Resurrection is then proclaimed with loud chords on the organ, the ringing of bells and the singing of the Gloria. All the lights come on and we share together in the first Mass of Easter with great celebration and joy.

 

We later gather as a RESURRECTION COMMUNITY on EASTER MORNING as we continue our Easter celebrations with music, readings, sermon and Holy Communion and post-service gatherings including an Easter egg hunt for children. And although we are happy, those of us who have been on the whole journey are, by then, exhausted! And so we take time for relaxation and refreshment ready to continue our celebrations the following Sunday. The season of Easter lasts for 50 days of unremitting joy! It concludes with the FEAST OF PENTECOST on May 19.