You may be new to the observance of the paschal Triduum. This is your invitation to follow Jesus’ journey from Maundy Thursday through good Friday to the telling of salvation’s story at the Vigil. do this and you will have an Easter like no other.
You might think of the Triduum as one liturgy in which there are three different acts of movements. These are our highest and holiest days in our church year.
Maundy Thursday
The washing of feet on Maundy Thursday is one of the most ancient and universal rites in the Christian Church. It is a reminder to us all of the humility necessary to be ministers with one another. The service concludes with the reserve sacrament, the outward and visible sign of the presence of Christ, being processed to the altar of repose where it will lie in state overnight. The altar is then stripped, and the Sanctuary Candle is extinguished.
Good Friday
As Maundy Thursday ends without a dismissal, Good Friday begins without an acclamation, and includes a solemn liturgy with Holy Communion from reserve sacrament. It again ends without a dismissal, holding ourselves within the entire Three Great Days of the Paschal Triduum.
The Great Vigil of Easter
Our Vigil is a journey – a metaphorical one and a physical one, with stations along the way. We come in from the dark and cold each bearing the light of Christ and rest a while around the campfire telling sacred stories. After renewing our baptismal vows, the light we kindled grows and our Alleluias ring out as we receive the risen Christ in the sacramental elements of bread and wine – our food for the journey – we carry that same light within us as we return to the world, living as Easter people.