Holy Week at Home, part 2
Holy Week at Home, part 1 covered Palm Sunday through Maundy Thursday. Now we move to the Easter Triduum. The Easter Triduum, triduum meaning simply “the space of three days,” includes Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday.
Like in part 1, I’ll outline each day with a scripture and a tradition or suggested practice/activity.
Here we go —
Good Friday
We remember Jesus’ crucifixion, death, and burial.
Scripture
The Revised Common Lectionary gives us a lot to ponder on Good Friday. Find all five selections here. You can find the passion narrative at John 18:13-19:42.
Tradition: Hot Crossed Buns + Fasting
It’s an odd pairing, but hot crossed buns and fasting are both traditional for Good Friday. In olden days, if you were fasting, you could eat one meal and two snacks (that together do not add up to one meal) in one day, so bakers and families would prepare snack buns for the masses on Good Friday.
Fasting and quiet are often recommended during the three hours that the sky went dark while Jesus was on the cross (see Matthew 27:45). Often churches hold special services during these hours to help us sit with the memory of Jesus’ pain, even as he sits with us in our own.
Ideas:
Bake hot crossed buns. I’ve never done this before, but here’s the recipe we’re going to attempt.
Fast and/or keep a hush from noon to three o’clock. Perhaps switch off your electric lights. Make space for prayer.
Eat fish for supper. Christians have for centuries fasted from meat on Fridays in honor of Jesus’ death. Many continue in this tradition and eat fist instead.
It could be meaningful to eat fish with the disciples in mind on Good Friday this year. These dear ones, called to “fish for people,” were shattered and afraid on this night so long ago. Let’s eat with them, knowing Sunday is coming, but letting their huddled state teach us something about our own.
Experience the Stations of the Cross. If you have an artistic bent or children who like to color, consider arranging a scriptural Stations of the Cross practice for yourselves. The stations commemorate Jesus’ journey to the cross and resurrection. People pray at these stations or simply contemplate the passion of our Brother. Print and color these, design your own art, or arrange vignettes to symbolize each step to the cross. Set them up inside or outside and then make your way through each station at some point during the day.
Station 1: Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36-41)
Station 2: Jesus, Betrayed by Judas, is Arrested (Mark 14:43-46)
Station 3: Jesus is Condemned by the Sanhedrin (Luke 22:66-71)
Station 4: Jesus is Denied by Peter (Matthew 26:69-75)
Station 5: Jesus is Judged by Pilate (Mark 15:1-5, 15)
Station 6: Jesus is Scourged and Crowned with Thorns (John 19:1-3)
Station 7: Jesus Bears the Cross (John 19:6, 15-17)
Station 8: Jesus is Helped by Simon the Cyrenian to Carry the Cross (Mark 15:21)
Station 9: Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem (Luke 23:27-31)
Station 10: Jesus is Crucified (Luke 23:33-34)
Station 11: Jesus Promises His Kingdom to the Good Thief (Luke 23:39-43)
Station 12: Jesus Speaks to His Mother and the Disciples (John 19:25-27)
Station 13: Jesus Dies on the Cross (Luke 23:44-46)
Station 14: Jesus is Placed in the Tomb (Matthew 27:57-60)
Station 15: The Resurrection of Jesus (Mark 16:1-6)
Consider the Seven Last Words of Christ. My church is developing a video guide to this practice. I’ll update with a link when the video is released. You can also find the Seven Last Words here.
Make prayer beads. People have been using beads, knots, and rocks for a long time to help them pray. At a recent retreat, I found stringing beads to be comforting and centering. In case you already have materials on hand, here’s a link to one way to make Prayer Beads.
Holy Saturday
Also called Easter Eve, Holy Saturday is a day of preparation, waiting, and letting ourselves be with both Jesus in the tomb – where he accomplished the “harrowing of hell” – and the disciples in their bewilderment.
Scripture
From Job, Lamentations, Psalms, 1 Peter, Matthew, and John here.
Traditions: Easter Vigil + Day of Preparation
An Easter Vigil service is traditionally when the church baptizes new Christians after their long Lent of preparation. It is a joyous evening outside after dark with a fire big enough to light the night. Everyone present gets splashed with water from the baptistry, and there are usually sweet treats of some kind.
I love the imagery of the fire. Baptist don’t often recite creeds, but in a very old one, the Apostles’ Creed (390 CE), we profess that Jesus,
“who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried.
He descended into hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven,
and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father almighty.
From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.”
That “descended into hell” part is something that we celebrate on Holy Saturday. It is called the “harrowing of hell,” Jesus’ triumphal descent to liberate the righteous from the shadows, bringing them into his glorious light. This is gospel, beloveds, good news. Just like the lost coin and the lost sheep Jesus told us about in his parables, God’s love will stop at nothing to find us and bring us home – not even death or the flames of any hell.
So, fire is ironic in the best way on Holy Saturday.
Also, Holy Saturday introduces Christianity’s Day of Preparation.
Our beloved Jewish siblings keep the Sabbath Friday night through Saturday sundown. Work comes to a deep pause, so Friday is a Day of Preparation for that deep pause. On the Sabbath, instead of laboring and producing, people commune and rest with God and one another. They are renewed.
For Christians, Sunday is a New Day altogether – an 8th day, crazy as that sounds – where we encounter the Resurrected One. It is the day we proclaim Jesus as Lord and step with him into a new Reality that shares tones with Sabbath and Jubilee but does not erase or supersede them. Sunday is a New Day. It is Christ’s Day.
Thus, we prepare on Saturday for the coming of the Lord’s Day.
It is interesting that the disciples were held in the arms of shabbat during that harrowing first Holy Saturday. Being Jewish, they were steeped in the rhythm of Sabbath; no matter what, their bodies knew to be still and to listen, and their community helped them do this.
I wonder what kind of Day of Preparation you need this year. Is it an excited and scurrying Saturday of laying out clothes, prepping Easter baskets, and dying eggs? Or is it a long and luscious nap in the arms of shabbat?
Wherever you find yourself, may it prepare you for the Risen One.
Ideas:
Prepare for Easter.:
Knock out any lingering housekeeping needs.
Switch out Lent decorations for Easter décor.
Dying eggs this year?
Maybe go ahead and prep lunch for tomorrow and lay out any special clothes you want to wear.
Fill Easter baskets — which might be extra creative this year since we’re not able to run out to the store!
Make cards for those you love. Sending cards in the mail would be especially sweet this year. Remember that we have 50 days of Easter to send greetings and messages of hope.
Perhaps put a sign in your window or car window to encourage your neighbors?
Have an Easter Vigil bonfire. Sit up by the fire for a while. Share stories — with those in your house or beloveds over video conferencing. Talk about what’s buried right now and what might come to bloom soon. It’s a great night to tell children stories from your own life, maybe about how you came to be baptized or what Jesus means to you. It’s also a great night to hear some of theirs. Have fun and eat something sweet – a foretaste of tomorrow.
Easter Sunday
Christ is risen – alleluia!
Scripture
“I have seen the Lord,” Mary Magdalene proclaimed. Find all scriptures for Easter Sunday here.
Tradition: Today is just the beginning + Alleluia!
Easter Sunday is the beginning of an 8-day celebration and a 50-day season of joy!
Easter is our longest season in the Year. During this time, we are invited to live into Christ’s resurrection like never before. We are invited to trust ourselves to his new order, his new Kingdom taking hold in our lives and the whole world.
Traditionally, churches would celebrate Easter non-stop for 8 days, a time called the “Easter Octave.” The Easter season continues after that with lots of special days and themes. It culminates in Pentecost Sunday (May 31st this year), which is always 50 days after Easter.
Easter Sunday marks the return of the “alleluia.” Traditionally, churches refrain from using that particular expression of praise during the season of Lent. Sometimes churches or households bury a symbol of their alleluia – like a stone or banner – in the yard and then dig it up first thing Easter morning. “God be praised!” it means.
“We are the Easter people, and Alleluia is our song.” – St. Augustine
There are many, many traditions associated with Easter. I’ll hit on the ones that make the most sense at home, and especially the ones that can help us keep the spirit of the season all 50 days.
Ideas:
Catch the sunrise. Many communities have a sunrise service on Easter to embody Mary Magdalene’s visit to the empty tomb where she encountered the Lord. The first sunrise service in the United States was in Winston-Salem, NC where the Moravians (c. 1772) gathered in their graveyard to welcome the good news of Jesus’ resurrection. We can do this at home. Let’s welcome the Lord’s Day and let Christ’s hope dawn in our hearts anew. A hymn of praise would not be amiss. This could easily be a sweet regular practice of hope on Sundays in Easter.
Exchange Easter baskets and cards (even adults!). Virtual gifties count this year, for sure.
Easter bunny buns anyone? My mom made these for us last year and I intend to make it tradition. ;) Made with just a can of Annie’s Organic Cinnamon Rolls. Pull off some of each roll and shape into ears. Gently pinch the dough so that it holds its shape. Bake according to the package directions.
Use a special prayer or table blessing during Easter. We don’t use magic words when we pray, and prayer is not something you have to “get right.” Sometimes, however, it can feel extra special to plan or coordinate or even say a prayer in unison with others. Consider adding a simple prayer into your routine during Easter and Eastertide. I remember this one from growing up (I added the alleluias for Easter).
This is the Day
the Lord has made;
let us rejoice
and be glad in it —
Alleluia, alleluia, allelu!
With children you could say each line and ask them to repeat it in a call and response fashion. Hand motions and/or clapping could also help younger ones participate.
Still dress up (if you want) and go on parade in your neighborhood. Maybe put an Easter greeting in your window. You could even pray gratitude for your neighborhood and offer prayers for your neighbors’ well-being as you stroll in your “Easter finest.”
Hunt for Easter Eggs. Eggs represent hidden new life and their shells represent the empty tomb. Eggs are a traditional spring feasting food as hens just return to laying again in the Northern Hemisphere this time of year. Martin Luther popularized the egg hunt in the 16th century when men would hide eggs for women and children to find – because it was a woman who first found Jesus’ empty tomb.
I also know of a friend who writes prayers on egg-shaped slips of paper and sticks them in her Bible. When she notices an answered prayer, she “cracks” the egg, ripping the paper into confetti in gratitude. That could be fun for Eastertide.
Simply enjoy. Breathe deep. You don’t have to do anything for Easter to be Easter. It simply is, and you are invited to show up however you need.
Christ is risen :: He is risen indeed!
How are you going to celebrate this year?
Thanks for being here, beloveds.