Lent
at St. Francis
Holy Week The Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday Holy Week begins with the Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday. The dual, schizophrenic nature of the liturgy is evident from its title. A special liturgy begins with a procession of the congregation and the blessing of the palms, commemorating the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. The Gospel reading is the complete story of the the Passion. The service underlines the contrast between the crowd’s joyous greeting of their king and then their condemnation of him—the contrast between shouts of “Alleluia” and “Crucify him!” Posted to the calendar a few weeks before Holy Week. Stations of the Cross, or the Way of the Cross The term "Stations of the Cross" refers both to a
series of fourteen representations of events on Christ’s journey to
the Cross and the popular devotion of passing before them in
meditation on Christ’s sacrifice. The devotion reflects the
practice of pilgrims to Jerusalem who, from earliest times to the
current day, have followed the way of the Cross from the house of
Pilate to Calvary and wished to re-enact this journey on their
return home. Stations of the Cross may be part of a devotion at any time, and particularly during Holy Week, particularly on Palm Sunday or Good Friday. Posted to the calendar a few weeks before Holy Week. The Stations of the Cross in the main sanctuary of St. Francis are the work of Ken Jones, with some supplemental images created by the children of St. Francis. An online Way of the Cross Devotion and photo tour of the Via Dolorosa was created in 1996 by Dominic Barrington, St. Chad's College, Durham. There are also Way of the Cross Devotions with bronze sculptures presented by Trinity Episcopal Church, St. Louis. Stations:
This deeply moving service, usually held on Wednesday in Holy Week, takes us into the darkest days of the church year. The monastic nocturns - offices of matins and lauds (prayers in the pre-dawn and at daybreak) - are combined in a service of hymns, psalms sometimes sung in plainsong, spoken responsories, lessons, canticles and prayers led by the Choir. Tenebrae is Latin for "shadows" or "darkness." In the Roman Catholic Church, Tenebrae originally was the name given to the nocturns of the Easter Triduum. Originally, matins was sung shortly after midnight. During the middle ages, the time of the service was moved back to allow more people to attend. From about the fifth century it was the practice for the church to be brightly illuminated on the Thursday. During the Friday service all candles and lamps were gradually extinguished. On the Saturday the church was in complete darkness, save for a small candle near the lectern to read by. It is generally accepted that it was from this gradual extinguishing of the candles and lamps that the service later came to be known as Tenebrae. The number of candles used in the service has varied at different times and in different places. The observance of Tenebrae at St. Francis is relatively recent (a mere 10 years or so), but it has become one of the best attended events of Holy Week. While the other services of Holy Week deal with specific events of Christ's passion and death, Tenebrae deals more with the general themes of despair, frustration, and final resignation - all of which Jesus must have experienced during those last few hours and days. The liturgy includes the chant of the Lamentations (in which each verse is introduced by a letter of the Hebrew alphabet). As the service proceeds, there are moments of silence and candles are extinguished. At the end, only a single candle is left burning. All of this is meant to signify the removal of the light of Christ from the world. Toward the end of the service the remaining candle is hidden, typifying the apparent victory of the forces of darkness. At the very end, a loud noise is made, symbolizing the earthquake at the time of resurrection, the hidden candle is restored to its place, symbolizing Christ and the ultimate triumph of good over evil, and by its light all depart in silence. While some churches hold Tenebrae on Friday, we now hold Tenebrae on the eve of the Triduum - the Great Three Days- as do many other churches in the Anglican Communion, and it leaves us prepared to move through the events of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday to their glorious culmination when the light of Christ is joyously spread at the Easter Vigil on Saturday evening. Posted to the calendar a few weeks before Holy Week. The Easter Triduum - The Great Three Days "Triduum" means three days, and refers to the three days before a major feast. The Easter Triduum consists of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday - the Great Three Days - known collectively as Triduum Sacrum (triduum is Latin for "three days"), now often called the Easter Triduum. The Easter Triduum ends when the new fire is lit at the Easter Vigil. Thursday in Holy Week is called Maundy Thursday, from the Latin for mandatum novum, "a new commandment": John 13:34: After Jesus washed the feet of the disciples he said “A new commandment I give you, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” It marks the beginning the the Great Three Days leading up to the proclamation of the resurrection at the Easter Vigil. The day traditionally involved three liturgical acts: the reconciliation of penitents (a mass, not in common usage today, for those to be restored to communion at Easter); the blessing of Chrism (oils to be used for baptism, confirmation, ordination, and anointing are blessed by the bishop); and the evening mass beginning the three days of the Pascal celebration. The evening setting highlights the nearness of betrayal and the approaching passion of Jesus. From the Liturgical Notes of the Anglican Church in Australia, we learn that the Gospel speaks of love and service, which are expressed in the ceremony of Foot-washing. By washing his disciples' feet, Jesus displayed the self-emptying love God shows for the world -- a sacred example of love. Nothing and no one is to be beneath them. and by this undifferentiating love the world will know that the disciples belong to Jesus. The Eucharist commemorates the first Eucharist at the Last Supper and includes the reservation of sacrament for Good Friday. During the Easter Triduum, sacrament is not to be reserved at the main altar. So during the Maundy Thursday service, sacrament consecrated for use on Good Friday is "reposed" to a special altar set up in another part of the church, which is fittingly called "The Altar of Repose." The service traditionally includes an Agape meal, a simple feast that continues the commemoration of the Last Supper. The service ends in complete silence. The altar is stripped and all decorative furnishings are removed from the church in recognition of the despair and death to come. Posted to the calendar a few weeks before Holy Week. What about seders? Some believe that the Last Supper was a seder, but there is much evidence that it could not have been a seder, and was just a communal meal occurring close to the approach of the passover celebration. Many think that Passover seders should discouraged in Anglican churches because Anglicans are an Easter people who celebrate the passover from death into life at the great Easter Vigil. Others believe that Christians should hold seders, thinking that this was Paul's intent with the words 1 Corinthians 5:8: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened [bread] of sincerity and truth. One wonders why it's called Good Friday when it commemorates a very dark day, indeed. The name comes from "God's Friday," and on God's Friday, we commemorate the Crucifixion. It is a continuation of the Maundy Thursday service and begins in silence as the night before ended in silence. In the early church pieces of the True Cross were revered at this service, and the cross over the altar was draped in black. The Liturgy has four parts: the Word of God (with the Passion according to John), the Solemn Collects (which date back to the 4th century and are an early form of the Prayers of the People), the bringing in of the Cross and Veneration, and Communion from the Reserved Sacrament.. The Seven Last Words. Perhaps you have heard the phrase, "The Seven Last Words of Christ." This really refers to the last seven sentences Christ spoke as he hung from the cross. They are:
Posted to the calendar a few weeks before Holy Week.
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