The Easter Triduum

Christ redeemed us all and gave perfect glory to God principally through his Paschal Mystery: dying he destroyed our death and rising he restored our life. Therefore the Easter triduum of the passion and resurrection of Christ is the culmination of the entire Liturgical Year. Thus the solemnity of Easter has the same kind of pre-eminence in the Liturgical Year that Sunday has in the week (GNLY 18).

The Easter Triduum begins with the evening Mass of the Lord's Supper, reaches its high point in the Easter Vigil, and closes with Evening Prayer on Easter Sunday (GNLY 19).

While every Sunday is a little Easter, the Easter Triduum is the pivot of the whole Church year: the great annual commemoration of the Paschal Mystery. The word Triduum means three days. Originally it was celebrated on one night, then gradually developed into the three days which run from sunset on Holy Thursday to sunset on Easter Sunday.

These are days of one continuous celebration with three main moments:

• Mass of the Lord’s Supper on the evening of Holy Thursday. There is no formal dismissal or conclusion to this since it leads into
• the Celebration of the Lord’s Passion usually in the afternoon of Good Friday. This celebration has no formal beginning or ending since it will flow into
• the Easter Vigil which does conclude with a dismissal.

This continuity is also true for the Liturgy of the Hours over these days. The moments of celebration are so interconnected that to attend only one of them is to miss out on the whole. Easter Sunday is a crossover day: the last day of the Triduum and the first day of the Easter season.

The Lenten period of fasting finishes on Holy  Thursday. However, On Good Friday and, if possible, also on Holy Saturday until the Easter Vigil the Easter fast is observed everywhere (GN 20). This fast is one of yearning and preparation for the great Easter Vigil rather than the fast of repentance and conversion which characterises that of Lent.

Holy Thursday: Mass of the Lord’s Supper

At the start of the Triduum we remember, as we do in every Eucharist, the night when Jesus joined with his disciples in his Last Supper during which he shared his Body and Blood with them and left the lasting memorial which is at the heart of the Church.

The account of the first Passover of the Hebrews from the slavery of Egypt helps us to grasp the significance of the shedding of the blood of Jesus for our salvation. We listen to Paul’s letter reminding the Corinthians and us of the gift which Jesus gave as a pledge of the new and everlasting covenant. The context of this account is the failure of the Corinthians to treat one another with the great hospitality of Christ in this sacrament.

John’s account of the Last Supper omits the details of the Eucharist but highlights its meaning through the example of Jesus doing the work of a servant and washing the feet of his disciples. After the homily the priest demonstrates the example of Jesus by washing the feet of some of the members of the assembly. While this is optional, it has become customary in most parishes.

At the beginning of the celebration the tabernacle is empty but extra breads are consecrated to allow for the distribution of communion at the Good Friday liturgy. Following the Prayer after Communion the Blessed Sacrament is moved to the Eucharist chapel or other appropriate place and the community is encouraged to keep watch in prayer. The altar is stripped quietly and any crosses are removed or covered in purple in preparation for the Good Friday celebration. The community is encouraged to stay and pray until midnight.

In many parishes the oils brought from the Chrism Mass are received into the local assembly at this liturgy. If the Rite of Christian Initiation is taking place two of these oils will be used during the Triduum.

Good Friday: Celebration of the Lord’s Passion

There are four main parts to this ritual. It begins with the altar  bare since there will be no celebration of Eucharist. The ministers enter in silence and prostrate themselves at the foot of the altar. The priest prays that we may ‘put on the likeness of our Lord in heaven.’ This is followed immediately by the Liturgy of the Word.

The first reading is from Isaiah and puts before the assembly the figure  of  the  suffering   servant   who   carried   our   sorrows   (Is 52:13 – 53:12). After praying with Christ, ‘into your hands I commend my spirit’ (Ps 30), the letter to the Hebrews describes the obedience of Christ through suffering which is the source of eternal salvation (Heb 4:14-16; 5:7-9).

The major focus is the reading of the Passion account from the Gospel of John. This is often done with several readers taking different voices.

A brief homily is followed by an ancient form of the General Intercessions which includes ten petitions ranging from prayer for the Church through to those who do not believe in God. Each intercession is announced and followed by silent prayer after which the priest collects the assembly’s thoughts in prayer. The priest may adapt these intercessions in line with the pattern given in GIRM.

The second part of the liturgy is the Veneration of the Cross which may take two forms, depending on the pastoral situation.

The cross, either veiled or bare, is carried in procession through the Church. As it is unveiled or held up the minister sings: ‘This is the wood of the cross on which hung the Saviour of the world’. The people respond: ‘Come, let us worship.’ This custom derives from earlier times when a sliver of the true cross was placed in the local cross.

The people are then invited to reverence the cross either by a procession or a general time of reverence accompanied by suitable songs. The missal indicates a variety of appropriate antiphons.

The final segment of the celebration is a simple rite of distribution of Holy Communion using consecrated hosts from the celebration of the previous evening. The Prayer after Communion accents that this day is part of the whole Paschal Mystery:

Almighty and eternal God, you have restored us to life by the triumphant death and resurrection of Christ. Continue this  healing work within us. May we who participate in this mystery never cease to serve you. We ask this….

The liturgy concludes in silence after a prayer over the people.

The Stations of the Cross is a devotional practice that started in Jerusalem where people would take some time on Good Friday to walk the path of Jesus. This is a worthy way to enter into the  spirit of the day. However, it is not the official liturgy and needs  to be placed in perspective.

Holy Saturday: Easter Vigil

The Easter Vigil, during the holy night when Christ rose from the dead, ranks as "the mother of all vigils." Keeping watch, the Church awaits Christ's resurrection and celebrates it in the sacraments. Accordingly, the entire celebration of this Vigil should take place at night, that is, should either begin after nightfall or end before the dawn of Sunday (GNLY 21).

The Vigil begins with a Service of Light. The lights in the Church are extinguished to highlight the significance of the new light of Christ which is rising upon us. If possible the assembly gathers around a large fire which is lit outside the Church. The whole of this rite may be adapted to local circumstances.

We pray that we may share in the light of Christ’s glory and come one day to the feast of eternal light. After the fire is blessed the Paschal Candle is prepared: a cross is cut into the candle and alpha and omega the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet are placed at either end of the vertical arms while the current year is placed around the centre. The accompanying words indicate that kairos time of God – ‘Christ yesterday and today, the beginning and the end, Alpha and Omega, all time belongs to him and all the ages, to him be glory and power through every age for ever. Amen’ (Liturgy of Easter Vigil). Five grains of incense are inserted into the candle in the form of a cross to remember the glorious wounds of Christ. Then the candle is lit from the fire so that the light of Christ rising in glory may dispel the darkness of our hearts and minds.

The lit candle is carried in procession to the triple sung acclamation: ‘Christ our light. Thanks be to God.’ If possible, members of the assembly light candles from the Easter candle. When all are in the Church, the candle is placed in the centre of the sanctuary near the ambo while the Easter Proclamation, the Exsultet, is sung.

The Liturgy of the Word follows. On this night the readings take us through the history of God’s people from the story of creation as told in the Book of Genesis to the story of the new creation in Christ Jesus. There are seven Old Testament readings, each of which is followed by a sung Responsorial Psalm and a Collect. The psalm may be replaced by silent reflection. For pastoral reasons the number of these readings may be reduced to three, but that of Exodus 14 and its sung response must never be omitted.

After the Old Testament readings are finished the Gloria is sung, breaking the Lenten fast.

The baptismal character of the Vigil comes through in the Letter of Paul. The Alleluia is sung once again to herald the gospel reading which focuses on the resurrection.

After the homily the Liturgy of Baptism begins.

The waters of the font are blessed and the litany of the saints is sung to invoke their blessing on those who are to be baptised and confirmed. Strengthened by their Lenten practices the assembly renews their own baptismal promises.

The Liturgy of the Eucharist follows ‘when the whole Church is called to the table which the Lord has prepared for his people through his death and resurrection’ (Easter Vigil Rubrics 2). We praise God with great joy for Christ, our paschal sacrifice, ‘the true Lamb who took away the sins of the world’ and who restores our life through his dying and rising (Preface of Easter 1).

Nourished with the Easter Sacraments we are dismissed with the singing of the triple Alleluia.