Great and Holy Saturday Great and Holy Saturday is the day on which Christ reposed in the tomb. The Church calls this day the Blessed Sabbath.  “The great Moses mystically foreshadowed this day when he said:God blessed the seventh day.This is the blessed SabbathThis is the day of rest,on which the only-begotten Son of God…

Great and Holy Friday Great and Holy Friday On Great and Holy Friday, Christ died on the Cross. He gave up His spirit with the words: “It is finished” (John 19:30). These words are better understood when rendered: “It is consummated.” He had accomplished the work for which His heavenly Father had sent Him into…

Holy and Great Thursday THURSDAY: The Last Supper Two events shape the liturgy of Great and Holy Thursday: the Last Supper of Christ with His disciples, and the betrayal of Judas. The meaning of both is in love. The Last Supper is the ultimate revelation of God’s redeeming love for man, of love as the…

Holy and Great Wednesday On Great and Holy Wednesday, the hymns of the Bridegroom Service remind us of the sinful woman who poured precious ointment on Christ’s head at Simon the leper’s house (Mt. 26:7).  The disciples complained about the wasteful extravagance, for the myrrh could have been sold and the money given to the…

Holy Tuesday Holy Week: A Liturgical Explanation for the Days of Holy Week 3. MONDAY, TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY: THE END These three days, which the Church calls Great and Holy have within the liturgical development of the Holy Week a very definite purpose. They place all its celebrations in the perspective of End Times; they remind…

Great and Holy Monday Holy Week: A Liturgical Explanation for the Days of Holy Week 3. MONDAY, TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY: THE END These three days, which the Church calls Great and Holy have within the liturgical development of the Holy Week a very definite purpose. They place all its celebrations in the perspective of End Times;…

Entry of Our Lord into Jerusalem Palm Sunday Palm Sunday is the celebration of the triumphant entrance of Christ into the royal city of Jerusalem. He rode on a colt for which He Himself had sent, and He permitted the people to hail Him publicly as a king. A large crowd met Him in a…

The Raising of Lazarus Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday Visible triumphs are few in the earthly life of our Lord Jesus Christ. He preached a kingdom “not of this world.” At His nativity in the flesh there was “no room at the inn.” For nearly thirty years, while He grew “in wisdom and in stature,…