A Guide to Holy Week

Thorns take the shape of a crown.

Popular acclaim turns to public execution.

Sorrow and love flow mingled down.

Life ends and begins.

Holy Week tells a story like no other, a powerful story of change—a story that continues to change the world, and to change people’s lives.

It’s possible to fast-forward to the great celebration of Easter and hear only the story of joy that came on that resurrection morning. But the impact, indeed the change, is deeper and more powerful when we walk through these holy days together.

• We begin with the power of the triumphal entry with the Liturgy of Palms on Palm Sunday.
• We join the disciples gathered for the last supper on Maundy Thursday and discover something about what it means to serve.
• Come and answer for yourself what is “good” about Good Friday.
• Catch the first rays of hope on Easter Day.

Holy Week celebrations are marked with honesty. The measured pace of the week helps us to absorb the intense meaning of the events being celebrated. Life, of course, cannot be put on hold—but this week, above all others, is an invitation to pause and reflect on the gifts of faith and community.

You can simply attend Palm Sunday and Easter, but you are deeply encouraged to make time to enter deeply into the entirety of the liturgy of Holy Week as described below.This guide to Holy Week is offered as a way to encourage you to find your own path through these important days.

You may find more than you can ask for or imagine.

Palm Sunday, March 24^th

Our Palm Sunday procession and service for both churches will be in Rhostyllen this year

10am           Meet at Rhostyllen schoolyard for Liturgy of the Palms and procession to Holy Trinity Church

10:30am      The passion and Eucharist at Holy Trinity

Join us in the celebration of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem as we process around the church with palms and sing “Hosanna!” Begin the drama of Holy Week as we recount the story of the crowds who welcomed Jesus, only to turn on him a few days later.

6pm            Holy Trinity, TenebraeAn ancient, quiet candlelit Holy Week service that helps us sit with both the sadness and the hope of Holy Week.

Monday of Holy Week, 25^th March

10:30am   – 4pm –    All Saints, Hands-on Holy Week A drop-in session with prayer stations to think about what happened to Jesus in Holy Week, and what that means for us. There will be some short prayers together at 11am, 1:30pm, 3pm – but feel free to come at any point. Interactive and suitable for all ages.

5:30pm – All Saints, Eucharistwith Holy Week reflection

Tuesday of Holy Week, 26^th March2-5pm- Holy Trinity, Church open for prayer and the Sacrament of Reconciliation

5:30pm – All Saints, Eucharist with Holy Week reflection

Wednesday of Holy Week, 27^th March2-5pm- All Saints, Church open for prayer

and the Sacrament of Reconciliation

5:30pm – All Saints, Eucharistwith Holy Week reflection

Maundy Thursday, 28^th March

7pm            All Saints – Washing of Feet, Celebration of Eucharist, the Watch

We gather to hear the story of the Last Supper and the giving of the New Commandment to love and serve one another. Anyone who wishes is invited to come forward to have their feet washed as a sign of service. The Holy Eucharist—our weekly memorial of the Last Supper—is celebrated, and then the altars are stripped of their linens and the ornaments of the church are removed, leaving a stark and bare worship space. We are then invited to keep watch:

“Could you not stay awake with me for one hour?”

Maundy Thursday night we remember Christ’s agony as he was betrayed in the garden of Gethsemane. We will keep a watch from 8:30pm until midnight, finishing with compline at 11:45pm. It is common for people to watch for a short time, or to go and come back, some might stay for the whole time. Join us in this longstanding tradition of keeping watch with Christ.Jesus said to them:

“My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow…stay here and keep watch with me.

Good Friday, 29^th March

12 Noon       Holy Trinity, the three hours

Good Friday is the day we commemorate the death of Jesus. We remember his brutal death on the cross, the humiliating punishment favoured by the Romans for seditious and unsavoury criminals. This liturgy is solemn and penitential, but it is still a celebration because we know that through the cross of Jesus our sins are washed away and we are freed from our guilt. Through the outpouring of the love of Jesus on the cross, we claim our inheritance as children of God. The three hours devotion is broken up into three parts.You are welcome to join at any point.12pm – Stations of the cross1pm – Reflections2pm Liturgy of the Passion of our Lord

Walk with Jesus to the cross using the tradition of the Stations of the Cross, with readings, reflections, and quiet hymns. Spend some time in personal quiet reflection. Join with the liturgy of the day, when we hear again the Passion, Jesus’ suffering and death and give thanks for his love and sacrifice. We leave in silence, broken-hearted because he died for us, but, our broken heats are still full of hope because He Lives.

Holy Saturday, 30^th March

The Church waits in silence as Jesus lies in the grave.

Mission Area Easter Vigil, St James, 7pm

We join with the Mission Area to celebrate the Resurrection. Beginning with the kindling of the New Fire, from which is lit the Paschal Candle – the sign of the risen Christ. The candle is processed into the church and the ancient Easter proclamation “Exsultet” is chanted. We then recount the story of salvation, remembering how God is at work in human history. The Gospel of the Resurrection is proclaimed and we celebrate Eucharist together, sharing in the new life of the risen Lord.

Easter Sunday, 31^st March

9:30am Holy Trinity11am – All Saints

Easter Day is the greatest celebration in the entire year of the Church: the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection and, through God’s raising up of Jesus, the promise of new life for the Creation. In God all things are made new, and we celebrate this with great joy and happiness on the day of Resurrection. After a long season of Lent with no flowers or alleluias, the church is decorated with bright flowers—a sign of the Resurrection—and “Alleluia!” rings out in joyful praise of our God who raised Jesus from the dead.