Easter Triduum is here

The forty days of Lent is almost over meaning that the Catholic Church is about to enter into another liturgical season, the Easter Triduum.  The Easter Triduum begins during the vigil on Holy Thursday.  The liturgical season continues through Good Friday and Holy Saturday, and it ends on the Easter Vigil.  Easter Sunday begins the Easter season in the Catholic Church.

Holy Thursday commemorates the Last Supper which was a Passover feast.  Do not be confused, the Last Supper is celebrated at every Mass during the Liturgy of the Eucharist, but the Mass on Holy Thursday focuses on the Last Supper more.  It was at the Last Supper that Jesus established the sacrament of Holy Communion and the sacerdotal priesthood.  Mass on Holy Thursday has the washing of the feet to reenact Jesus washing the feet of the disciples at the Last Supper.

Good Friday is the most solemn day in the liturgical year.  It is the only day that Mass does not take place.  Good Friday commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.  The morning after Judas’s betrayal, Jesus was brought to Jewish cleric Annas who charged him with blasphemy.  Jesus was then brought to Pontius Pilate, then King Herod, and back to Pontius Pilate.  Eventually, Jesus was sentence to execution by crucifixion by Pontius Pilate to prevent a riot by the enraged crowd.  In lieu of Mass, Catholics will often attend Stations of the Cross to commemorate Christ’s crucifixion.

Easter is the most important and happiest day of the liturgical year.  Easter celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ and therefore the fulfillment of God’s promise to mankind.  Many infants are baptized at Easter Vigil at Midnight, but people that went through the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults also become part of the Church by receiving the sacraments of baptism, communion, and confirmation.

During this time focus on your relationship with God and remember, “So for anyone who is in Christ, there is a new creation: the old order is gone and the new being is there to see,” (2 Cor. 5:17).

Story by Desirée Goodfellow