Easter Week Services

Next week is Holy Week - a very special time for Christians and the Church. It begins with Palm Sunday and ends on Easter Day, following the journey of Jesus Christ to Jerusalem, where he eventually dies and then rose from the grave. The services are filled with drama, movement, symbolism and ritual.

Palm Sunday

This is the first day of Holy Week, marking the day Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey. A donkey was a symbol of peace, whereas horses were symbols of war. Many people, pilgrims, gathered in the streets of Jerusalem, for the Jewish feast of Passover. The people chanted as Jesus rode in ‘Hosannah to the Son of David’. Clergy robes are red.

Chrism Eucharist

This is held on Tuesday, where priests and deacons gather with the Bishop in the Cathedral church to renew their vows. It is also a time when the Bishop bless three oils for anointing, at baptism, for the sick and dying, and for anointing kings, queens and priests at their ordination. Clergy robes are white.

Maundy Thursday

This is the night Jesus met with hie friends, the disciples, for the last meal with them. It’s called the Last Supper, before his death. This is where he instituted the Eucharist, sometimes called Holy Communion, the Sacrament or Mass, which is eating bread and drinking wine, as Christians do every Sunday. Clergy robes are white. After this service, the furnishings in the Cathedral are taken away, no altar coverings, cushions, nothing. The church is stripped marking Christ being stripped of his clothes on Good Friday, before his crucifixion.

Maundy Thursday Watch until Midnight

After The Maundy Thursday service, the sacrament is processed to a side chapel, decorated with flowers and greenery. This marks Jesus last night in the garden of Gethsemane before his death. His friends, the disciples kept falling asleep, and he reminded them many times to stay awake with him, for his last night.

Good Friday

The service includes the veneration of the crucifix, where the congregation come forward to bow or kiss the feet of Jesus, before it is processed to the high altar, where it stays until Holy Saturday night. Those leading the service where red vestments (clergy robes). A most solemn day of mourning for Christians and the Church.

Holy Saturday Vigil

The service begins outside with the lighting of a fire, from which a large candle is lit, called the Paschal candle, and is processed into the Cathedral in darkness. Three times the priest sings ‘the light of Christ’ as processing through, and al other candles held by the congregation are lit. We then sit in darkness to hear readings of the story of creation and salvation, before reaching the Gloria, when all lights are switched on, and Christians sing the Gloria for the first time since before Lent (pancake day to most). This marks the start of Easter, when Christians can say/sing ‘alleluia’ for the first time since before Lent. This is the most holiest of nights for the Church, celebrating the resurrection of Christ from the dead.

Easter Day

The bishop leads the Easter service, beginning with the blessing of the Easter Garden, built near the north door of the Cathedral. Priests wear white robes and receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion, which the Cathedral calls ‘Eucharist’, which means ‘Thanksgiving’. The Dean likes to give Easter eggs to children after the service. But some adults like to take one as well, even though meant for children!

This week ends the forty days of Lent, when Christians would have either given up a treat or luxury, or taken something on like acts of service and help for others. The Paschal Candle is now lit at every service through the weeks of Easter, until Pentecost (Whitsun). The Church can now baptise and marry again, which is prohibited during Lent.

The Very Revd Dr Paul Shackerley

Dean of Brecon

Holy Week 2024