SCHEDULE OF HOLY WEEK AND EASTER SERVICES 2024

 Passion/Palm Sunday 24th March

8.00am Liturgy of the Palms and Sung Eucharist

9.30am Liturgy of the Palms and Holy Eucharist

 Maundy Thursday 28th March

7.00pm Liturgy of the Lord’s Supper

 Good Friday 29th March

9.00am Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion and Death

 Holy Saturday 30th March

7.00pm The Great Vigil of Easter (incense will be used)

 Easter Day 31st March

8.00am Sung Eucharist (incense will be used)

9.30am Holy Eucharist

HOLY WEEK AND EASTER LITURGIES EXPLAINED 

At the end of Lent, we observe Holy Week as a time of special attention given to the commemoration of Our Lord’s Passion. 

Liturgy is more about celebration and commemoration than re-enactment.  The rich use of symbols helps us do this.  

The Eucharist, the celebration of Christ’s saving death, is the primary focus of our liturgies this week.  The liturgies of the Easter Triduum: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and the Great Vigil of Easter, comprise one great liturgy rather than three separate events, as they together celebrate the great drama of our salvation in Christ.  This is why the Liturgies for Maundy Thursday and Good Friday do not conclude with a Blessing, as is normally the case at the Sunday Eucharist. 

It is therefore far more meaningful if we attend all three major liturgies in order to enter more fully into the movement of the Paschal Mystery.  

PASSION (PALM) SUNDAY                        

There are two main emphases on this Day: the Procession with Palms commemorating Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, and the Eucharist, which includes the dramatic reading of the Passion.  Palm crosses are blessed and distributed to the congregation.  Our liturgies are at 8.00am and 9.30am. 

This pattern had its origin in Jerusalem, when pilgrims processed from the Mount of Olives into the Great Church in Jerusalem.  The dramatic reading of the Passion sets the major theme for the rest of Holy Week.

 MAUNDY THURSDAY           

The name ‘maundy’ comes from the Latin mandatum, which means ‘commandment’.  This is the day Jesus gave his disciples the new commandment that they love one another, and washed their feet as a sign of that love.

The liturgy we use is full of rich symbolism.  The Gospel reading speaks of love and service, which are vividly expressed in the washing of the feet of twelve people, remembering Jesus’ washing the feet of the twelve disciples.

This is also the night we remember Jesus’ Last Supper with his disciples, when he instituted the Holy Eucharist.  This is why the service is held in the evening (the service at Terrigal will be at 7pm).  At the conclusion, the Altar and Sanctuary are stripped of their ornaments as a sign of the desolation of the cross.  The Blessed Sacrament (the consecrated bread and wine left from communion) is carried to the Founders’ Chapel and placed on the altar – the ‘Altar of Repose’ - and stays there all night.  A Vigil of Prayer is kept before the Blessed Sacrament as a way of sharing with Jesus who prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane before his arrest. You may stay for as long or as short a time as you wish. The sacrament is then used for communion on Good Friday.

GOOD FRIDAY                               

Over the years a variety of services have been held on Good Friday in Australian Anglican communities.  These have expressed different aspects of Christian belief. 

At 9:00am  the Good FridayLiturgy provides an opportunity to meditate on the cross as well as to pray for the world and the church for which Jesus died.  The service is one of great simplicity and austerity, but it is important not to see it as Jesus’ ‘funeral’.  We celebrate the Lord’s triumph on the cross and call the day Good Friday – something which is only possible if we see Jesus’ death from the perspective of his resurrection.

The service has four main parts: the Ministry of the Word, the Solemn Prayers, the Veneration of the Cross, and Holy Communion from bread and wine consecrated at the Maundy Thursday Liturgy the night before. 

In the afternoon at 2.00pm we gather for prayers, readings and short meditations on the seven last words of Christ on the cross.  

HOLY SATURDAY – THE GREAT VIGIL OF EASTER

This is the climax of the whole church year, celebrating the Christian Passover, the victory of Christ over the powers of darkness.  Light is a prominent theme in the symbols, readings and hymns.

The liturgy begins at 7pm.  The new fire is kindled, the paschal candle lit from the fire, then carried into the church.  All this reminds us that the rest of the Easter celebration is seen in the light of the presence of the Risen Christ.

The Ministry of the Word includes readings that rehearse God’s saving acts in the history of Israel, preparing for the presence of Christ.

In the early church, Easter was the time for baptisms, so the water in the font is blessed, we renew our baptismal promises, and are sprinkled with water to remember our baptism.  The service continues with the celebration of the Easter Eucharist.  The Liturgy will include an offering of incense.

The Easter Season lasts for fifty days, until Pentecost.  During this time, the Paschal Candle is alight at all liturgies, the Alleluia is sung again, a festive form of the Great Thanksgiving is used, and we sing hymns and songs of joy.

EASTER DAY          

On Easter Day we gather for two joyful celebrations of the Eucharist: at 8.00am the Easter garden will be blessed, the Eucharist will be sung. At 9.30am the Eucharist will feature the Trinity Band and Singers.

You are warmly invited to enter into these special days with prayerful expectancy, experiencing the presence of the crucified and raised Jesus as he transforms us through word and sacrament.

Fr Mark Watson

Rector