Holy Week And Easter

GCSE Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)

Katie Meally

RE Coursework

WJEC GCSE Religious Studies Option C

Celebration

Holy Week and Easter

Lent is one of the most important and sacred times in the year for Christians. During this penitential forty day period, Christians everywhere reflect upon their lives and their sins, and ask God for forgiveness. The final and most significant week of Lent, is called Holy Week which contains several very important days, ending with Easter Sunday, the most important date in the Christian calendar, even more so than Christmas. Easter celebrates Jesus rising from the dead, and through this he saved all of human kind from sin.

Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday, sometimes known as ‘Passion Sunday’. On this day Christians remember when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, and was welcomed as a King. He was not a King in relation to the amount of riches he had, but he was a King of peace, and the King of the Jews. On this day Christians attend church, and are given palms usually folded into crosses, similar to those that were waved about on the day that Jesus entered Jerusalem. The palms are folded into crosses to remind people of the crucifixion that Jesus is going to suffer. These palms are blessed by the priest, and are kept by the congregation in their homes. Left over and returned palms are burnt the following year, to create the ashes used on Ash Wednesday. The liturgy during the Palm Sunday mass deals with the death of Jesus.

The first three days of Holy week, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, do not have any particular ceremonies associated with them. This does not mean however that it is unnecessary to attend mass on these days. Holy Week is a special time to attend mass and meditate, on all days not just the significant ones.

Thursday of Holy Week (sometimes referred to as Holy Thursday or Maundy Thursday) is a significant date in the Christian calendar. It is on this day that Christians remember the night that Jesus celebrated the Jewish Passover with his disciples (sometimes referred to as the Last Supper).

On Holy Thursday a special mass takes place in the morning celebrated by the bishop. All priests within the diocese attend this mass, and renew the vows they made at their ordination promising they will work to serve others in the church. At this service, the oils that are going to be used in sacraments throughout the coming year (the oil of Catechumens, oil of Chrism and the oil used to anoint the sick) are blessed by the bishop.

A public service is celebrated in the evening of Holy Thursday; this is sometimes referred to as ‘The Mass of the Lord’s Supper’, the scripture readings in this service focus on the Last Supper. The offertory at this service offers to God gifts to the poor along with the bread and wine that is to be transformed into the body and blood of Jesus.

The Last Supper was a very significant time in Jesus’ life. Jesus knew that he was soon going to die and so wanted to leave his apostles with something to remember him by and ...

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The Last Supper was a very significant time in Jesus’ life. Jesus knew that he was soon going to die and so wanted to leave his apostles with something to remember him by and to set an example of how to live after he died. At the Last Supper Jesus washed his apostle’s feet, something usually done by servants. This emphasised the fact that although Jesus was the Son of God, he is a servant to the people. As he did this he said ‘“Do you understand what I have done to you?” he asked. “You call me Teacher and Lord, and it is right that you do so, because that is what I am. I, your Lord and Teacher, have just washed your feet … I have set an example for you, so that you will do just as I have done for you”’ (John 13:12-15). During the service on Holy Thursday the priest re-enacts these actions, he removes his white vestments and washes twelve people of the congregation’s feet, representing Jesus’ twelve disciples.

During the Passover when Jesus celebrated his last supper, he took the bread and wine and shared it out between the disciples as his body and blood. This was the first Eucharist, which is now celebrated in almost every service in the Church. On Holy Thursday both bread and wine are given out during the Eucharist.

The Holy Thursday service ends with the procession of hosts to a side chapel where the hosts that are to be distributed on Good Friday are reserved. The congregation are invited to join ‘the watch’, Catholics stay in the chapel in silent meditation through the night; this imitates what Jesus asked his disciples to do in the Garden of Gethsemane on the eve of his crucifixion.

After the watch is over, the church is stripped of all flowers and decoration that had been assembled to resemble the Garden of Gethsemane. This lack of decoration in the Church reminds Christians that Good Friday is a very solemn time remembering Jesus’ tragic torture and crucifixion.

It is estimated that Jesus died at around 3 o’clock on Good Friday, at this time a sombre ‘celebration’ takes place in the Church. Scripture readings focusing on the death of Jesus are read, and Christians remember the painful death that Jesus experienced. Christians also remember Jesus’ exaltation and that through his death he saved mankind from sin and was taken back into heaven to be at the right hand of the father.

Readings during this service concentrate on how through his death, Jesus saved humankind from sin and evil.

During the service, ‘The Veneration of the Cross’ takes place. This is a procession of a cross, remembering the journey Jesus took to Calvary carrying the cross which he would later be crucified on. During the procession the congregation chant and sing, then kneel before the cross and kiss it as a mark of respect.

The Eucharist is distributed amongst the congregation during this service, but in a very solemn way. The reserved hosts from Holy Thursday are given out after the Our Father has been proclaimed.

At the end of the service the priest does not give the congregation a blessing or a specific dismissal, this signifies that this is not the end for Jesus, he will triumph over this tragic event.

The next significant event in Holy Week is the Easter Vigil which takes place during the darkness of night; it begins shortly after nightfall and ends before dawn. It can be divided into four sections:

The service of light
The service of readings
Solemn baptism and Confirmation
The Eucharist

The service of light usually begins outside of the actual church building whilst it is dark. A fire burns and from this flame the paschal candle is lit. The priest then usually carries this candle into the church, leading the congregation inside. This procession stops three times along the way to sing ‘Light of Christ’ to which the congregation reply ‘Thanks Be to God’. The paschal candle is then placed on a stand near the altar and is honoured with incense.

The Easter Vigil contains seven readings, each of which is followed by a responsorial psalm.

After the baptismal waters have been blessed by the priest, the congregation are invited to renew their baptismal vows and strengthen them with the newly baptised.

The newly baptised members of the congregation bring the gifts of bread and wine to the altar in preparation for the celebration of the Eucharist which carries on as normal.

Holy Saturday through the day does not contain specific celebrations or services. Christians anticipate the resurrection of Jesus and await Easter Sunday. On Holy Saturday the church is cleaned and adorned with flowers and various decorations ready for Easter Sunday.

The scriptures tell us that on Easter Sunday many years ago, the women went to visit Jesus’ body in the tomb but found it empty; Jesus had risen from the dead. Christians believe that on this day Jesus was resurrected, three days after he had been crucified and brutally killed. Many Christians begin their celebrations of this joyous event on Holy Saturday evening, as it is believed that Jesus rose before dawn on the third day.

On Easter Sunday Christians attend special services of celebration, where they sing hymns of joy praising God and giving thanks, readings are taken from the scriptures describing appearances Jesus made to his disciples. Easter celebrates the salvation that Jesus brought to human kind. By overcoming death, Jesus showed us that after we die we will live with him in heaven for eternity, and that death is not the end, it is merely the beginning of our life with God.

For Christians, Lent, Holy Week and Easter are very important and significant times. It is during this time that Christians especially reflect on their lives and pray to God to help them be the best people they can be. They remember the ultimate sacrifice that God made for us, the death of his son Jesus, in order to save humankind from sin. Christians make a special effort to attend reconciliation sessions with their priest, to absolve them of their sins and to say sorry to God for any wrongdoings they have done. This helps Christians to grow spiritually and feel closer to God, this is very important at this time of year. Christians are reminded of the examples that Jesus gave them on how to live their lives, and they recognise that they should follow his lead; they are reminded of this through the readings at services during this season. They are also reminded of how to live their lives through the offertory during Church services where gifts are given up to the poor, reminding Christians that it is their duty to look after one another, especially the poor and needy within society.

Easter is still of great importance in many people’s lives. Even Christian’s that do not attend mass on a regular basis make a special effort to attend services during this important time.

Even though in some aspects Easter has become commercialised by today’s society, the traditions of Easter are still alive. Modern traditions like giving each other Easter eggs symbolise the new life that Jesus gave to us by dying on the cross.

There is evidence that the deeper meaning of Easter is dying out amongst the western society. Many children growing up in the twenty first century see Easter as a time for eating chocolate and celebrating the Easter bunny, when in actual fact this has nothing to do with the true meaning of Easter, and some adults see these few days as a opportunity for a small holiday from work. Many people reject the idea that Jesus resurrected from the dead, s science cannot prove that this event actually happened. Many people do not have faith in the Lord and need things to be proven to them.

However, the majority of people still do see Easter as a time to remember the great sacrifice that Jesus made for us and to spend time with their families. Christians believe in the resurrection of the Lord, we are told in the Bible that those who believe in the Lord will be rewarded with eternal life in heaven. The resurrection gives Christians hope that they will live eternally with the Lord, and reminds them the good always overcomes evil.

I think that Easter still does bear a great importance in society, even though less people may attend mass at this time than in previous years. In order to raise awareness of the real message of Easter, younger generations need to be educated and told the story of Jesus’ resurrection. If younger generations learn this at an early age, they can fulfil God’s plan by spreading the word of God to generations to come.