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Holy Thursday
(Maundy Thursday)
The feast of Maundy (or Holy) Thursday
solemnly commemorates the institution of the Eucharist and is the oldest of
the observances peculiar to Holy Week. In Rome various accessory ceremonies
were early added to this commemoration, namely the consecration of the holy
oils and the reconciliation of penitents, ceremonies obviously practical in
character and readily explained by the proximity of the Christian Easter and
the necessity of preparing for it. Holy Thursday could not but be a day of
liturgical reunion since, in the cycle of movable feasts, it brings around
the anniversary of the institution of the Liturgy. On that day, whilst the
preparation of candidates was being completed, the Church celebrated the
Missa chrismalis of which we have already described the rite and, moreover, proceeded to the reconciliation of penitents. In Rome
everything was carried on in daylight, whereas in Africa on Holy Thursday
the Eucharist was celebrated after the evening meal, in view of more exact
conformity with the circumstances of the
Last Supper.
Canon 24 of the Council of Carthage dispenses the faithful from fast
before communion on Holy Thursday, because, on that day, it was customary
take a bath, and the bath and fast were considered incompatible. St.
Augustine, too, speaks of this custom; he
even says that as certain persons did not fast on that day, the oblation was
made twice, morning and evening, and in this way those who did not observe
the fast could partake of the Eucharist after the morning meal, whilst those
who fasted awaited the evening repast.
Holy Thursday was taken up with a succession of ceremonies
of a joyful character. the baptism of neophytes, the reconciliation of
penitents, the consecration of the holy oils, the washing of the feet, and
commemoration of the Blessed Eucharist, and because of all these ceremonies,
the day received different names, all of which allude to one or another of
solemnities.
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The
Last Supper:
The meal held by Christ and His
disciples on the eve of His Passion at which He instituted the Holy
Eucharist. |
Good Friday
Good Friday, called Feria VI in Parasceve
in the Roman Missal, he hagia kai megale paraskeue (the Holy and Great
Friday) in the Greek Liturgy, Holy Friday in Romance Languages, Charfreitag
(Sorrowful Friday) in German, is the English designation of Friday in Holy
Week -- that is, the Friday on which the Church keeps the anniversary of the
Crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
Adoration of the Cross: The dramatic
unveiling and adoration of the Cross, which was introduced into the Latin
Liturgy in the seventh or eighth century, had its origin in the Church of
Jerusalem. The "Peregrinatio Sylviae" (the real name is Etheria) contains a
description of the ceremony as it took place in Jerusalem towards the close
of the fourth century.
Then a chair is placed for the Bishop in Golgotha behind the
Cross... a table covered with a linen cloth is placed before him; the
Deacons stand around the table, and a silver-gilt casket is brought in
which is the wood of the holy Cross. The casket is opened and (the wood)
is taken out, and both the wood of the Cross and the Title are placed upon
the table. Now, when it has been put upon the table, the Bishop, as he
sits, holds the extremities of the sacred wood firmly in his hands, while
the Deacons who stand around guard it. It is guarded thus because the
custom is that the people, both faithful and catechumens, come one by one
and, bowing down at the table, kiss the sacred wood and pass on.
(Duchesne, tr. McClure, 564)
Our present ceremony is an obvious
development of this, the manner of worshipping the True Cross on Good Friday
observed at Jerusalem. A veiled image of the Crucifix is gradually exposed
to view, while the celebrant, accompanied by his assistants, sings three
times the "Ecce lignum Crucis", etc. (Behold the wood of the Cross on which
hung the salvation of the world), to which the choir answers, each time, "Venite
adoremus" (Come let us adore).
During the singing of this response the whole assembly (except the
celebrant) kneel in adoration. When the Cross is completely unveiled the
celebrant carries it to the foot of the altar, and places it in a cushion
prepared for it. He then takes off his shoes and approaches the Cross
(genuflecting three times on the way) and kisses it.
The deacon and subdeacon also divest themselves of their shoes (the
deacon and subdeacon may take off their shoes, if that be the custom of the
place), and act in like manner. The clergy two
and two follow, while one or two priests vested in surplice and black stole
take crosses and present them to the faithful present to be kissed.
During this ceremony the choir sings what are called
Improperia,
the Trisagion (in Greek as well as Latin), if time permits the hymn Crux
fidelis ...(Oh, Cross, our hope...). The Improperia are a series of
reproaches supposed to be addressed by Christ to the Jews. They are not
found in the old Roman Ordines. Duchesne (249) detects, he thinks, a
Gallican ring in them; while Martene (III, 136) has found some of them
alternating with the Trisagion in ninth century Gallican documents. They
appear in a Roman Ordo, for the first time, in the fourteenth century, but
the retention of the Trisagion in Greek goes to show that it had found a
place in the Roman Good Friday service before the Photian schism (ninth
century).
Mass of the Presanctified. To return to the Roman Rite, when the
ceremony of adoring and kissing the Cross is concluded, the Cross is placed
aloft on the altar between lighted candles, a procession is formed which
proceeds to the chapel of repose,
where the second sacred host consecrated in yesterday's Mass has since lain
entombed in a gorgeously decorated urn and surrounded by lights and flowers.
This urn represents the sepulchre of Christ. The Most Holy Sacrament is now
carried back to the altar in solemn procession, during which is sung the
hymn "Vexilla Regis prodeunt" (The standards of the King advance). Arrived
in the sanctuary the clergy go to their places retaining lighted candles,
while the celebrant and his ministers ascend the altar and celebrate what is
called the Mass of the Presanctified. This is not a Mass in the strict sense
of the word, as there is no consecration of the sacred species. The host
which was consecrated in yesterday's Mass (hence the word presanctified)
is placed on the altar,
incensed, elevated ("that it may be seen by the people"), and
consumed by the celebrant. It is substantially the Communion part of the
Mass, beginning with the
"Pater noster" or
the "Lord's Prayer," which marks the end of the Canon. From the very
earliest times it was the custom not to celebrate the Mass proper on Good
Friday. Speaking about this ceremony Duchesne (249) says,
It is merely the Communion separated from the liturgical celebration
of the Eucharist properly so called. The details of the ceremony are not
found earlier than in books of the eighth or ninth century, but the
service must belong to a much earlier period. At the time when synaxes
without liturgy were frequent, the 'Mass of the Presanctified' must have
been frequent also. In the Greek Church it was celebrated every day in
Lent except on Saturdays and Sundays, but in the Latin Church it was
confined to Good Friday.
At present [1909] the celebrant alone
communicates, but it appears from the old Roman Ordines that formerly all
present communicated (Martene, III, 367). The omission of the Mass proper
marks in the mind of the Church the deep sorrow with which she keeps the
anniversary of the Sacrifice of Calvary. Good
Friday is a feast of grief. A black fast, black vestments, a
denuded altar, the slow and solemn chanting of the sufferings of Christ,
prayers for all those for whom He died, the unveiling and reverencing of the
Crucifix, these take the place of the usual festal liturgy; while the lights
in the chapel of repose
and the Mass of the Presanctified is followed by the recital of vespers, and
the removal of the linen cloth from the altar ("Vespers are recited without
chant and the altar is denuded").
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Improperia:
The
Improperia are the reproaches which in the liturgy of the Office of Good
Friday the Saviour is made to utter against the Jews, who, in requital
for all the Divine favours and particularly for the delivery from the
bondage of Egypt and safe conduct into the Promised Land, inflicted on
Him the ignominies of the Passion and a cruel death. It is during the
Adoration of the Cross that these touching remonstrances are rendered by
the choir. In all they consist of three distinct parts. Of these the
third -- composed of the antiphon "Crucem tuam adoramus", the first
verse of Psalm lxvi, the versicle "Crux fidelis", and the hymn "Pange
lingua gloriosi lauream" -- does not belong to the Improperia strictly
so called. The first part consists of three reproaches, namely,
the Popule meus" (Mich., vi, 3), "Ego eduxi" (Jer., ii, 21) and "Quid
ultra" (Is., v, 2, 40), the Trisagion (Sanctus Deus, Santus fortis,
Sanctus immortalis) being repeated after each in the Latin and Greek
languages. The second part contains nine reproaches pervaded by
the same strain of remonstrance. Each of these is a verse taken from
some portion of the Scriptures and followed in every instance by the "Popule
meus" as a sort of refrain. Office sang the verses of
the reproaches, while the people joined in the responses or refrain.
Thus the representative character of these moving words seems to have
been more effectively observed. |
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Altar of Repose:
(Sometimes called less properly sepulchre or tomb,
more frequently repository). The altar where the Sacred Host,
consecrated in the Mass on Holy Thursday, is reserved until the Mass of
the Presanctified on the following day. It is prescribed that the
altar of repose be in the church and other than the one where Mass is
celebrated. In the Mass on Holy Thursday two hosts are consecrated;
after the consumption of the first, the second Host is placed in a
chalice, which is covered with a pall and inverted paten; over the whole
is placed a white veil, tied with a ribbon. This remains on the corporal
in the centre of the altar till the end of Mass, when it is carried in
solemn procession to the altar of repose, there to remain in the
tabernacle or in an urn placed in a prominent position above the altar.
Individual churches vie with one another in rendering these altars of
repose with their respective chapels ornate in the extreme, with rich
hangings, beautiful flowers, and numerous lights. Catholic piety has
made Holy Thursday a day of exceptional devotion to the Blessed
Sacrament, and the repository is the centre of the love and aspirations
of the faithful. Mention of the altar of repose and the procession
thereto is not found before the close of the fifteenth century. The
reservation of the Consecrated Species in the Mass of Holy Thursday,
spoken of in earlier liturgical works, was for the distribution of Holy
Communion, not for the service on the following day. |
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Incense: (Lat.
thus, Gr. thumiama), an aromatic substance which is obtained
from certain resinous trees and largely employed for purposes of
religious worship. The word is also used to signify the smoke or perfume
arising from incense when burned. |
In the primitive Church Holy Saturday was known as Great,
or Grand, Saturday, Holy Saturday, the Angelic Night, the Vigil of Easter,
etc. It is no longer, like
Maundy Thursday, a day of joy, but one
of joy and sadness intermingled; it is the close of the season of Lent and
penance, and the beginning of paschal time, which is one of rejoicing.
By a noteworthy exception, in the early Church this was the only
Saturday on which fasting was permitted, and the fast was one of special
severity. Dating from the time of St. Irenaeus, an absolute fast from every
kind of food was observed for the forty hours preceding the feast of Easter,
and although the moment assigned for breaking the fast at dawn on Sunday
varied according to time and country, the abstinence from food on Holy
Saturday was general.
The night of the vigil of Easter has undergone a strange
displacement. During the first six or seven centuries, ceremonies were in
progress throughout the entire night, so that the Alleluia coincided with
the day and moment of the Resurrection. In the eighth century these same
ceremonies were held on Saturday afternoon and, by a singular anachronism,
were later on conducted on Saturday morning, thus the time for carrying out
the solemnity was advanced almost a whole day. Thanks to this change,
special services were now assigned to Holy Saturday whereas, beforehand, it
had had none until the late hour of the vigil.
This vigil opened with the blessing of the new fire, the lighting
of lamps and candles and of the paschal candle, ceremonies that have lost
much of their symbolism by being anticipated and advanced from twilight to
broad daylight. The assembled faithful gave themselves up to common prayer,
the singing of psalms and hymns, and the reading of the Scriptures
commentated by the bishop or priests. The vigil of Easter was especially
devoted to the baptism of
catechumens who, in the more
important churches, were very numerous.
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Catechumen:
"Catechumen," in the early Church, was the name applied to
one who had not yet been initiated into the sacred mysteries, but was
undergoing a course of preparation for that purpose. The word occurs in
Gal. vi, 6: "Let him that is instructed in the word, communicate to him
that instructeth him in all good things." |
Easter Sunday
The Greek
term for Easter, pascha, has nothing in common with the verb
paschein, "to suffer," although by the later symbolic writers it was
connected with it; it is the Aramaic form of the Hebrew word pesach (transitus,
passover). The Greeks called Easter the pascha anastasimon;
Good Friday the
pascha staurosimon. The respective terms used by the Latins are
Pascha resurrectionis and Pascha crucifixionis.
The Romance languages have adopted the Hebrew-Greek term: Latin,
Pascha; Italian, Pasqua; Spanish, Pascua; French,
Also some Celtic and Teutonic nations use it:
Scottish, Pask; Dutch, Paschen; Danish, Paaske;
Swedish, Pask; even in the German provinces of the Lower Rhine the
people call the feast Paisken not Ostern.
The word is, principally in Spain and Italy, identified with the
word "solemnity" and extended to other feasts, e.g. Sp., Pascua florida,
Palm Sunday; Pascua de Pentecostes, Pentecost; Pascua de la
Natividad, Christmas; Pascua de Epifania, Epiphany. In some parts
of France also First Communion is called Pâques, whatever time of the year
administered.
THE
FEAST
Easter is the principal feast of the
ecclesiastical year. Leo I calls it the greatest feast, and says that
Christmas is celebrated only in preparation for Easter. It is the centre of
the greater part of the ecclesiastical year. The order of Sundays from
Septuagesima to the last Sunday after Pentecost, the feast of the Ascension,
Pentecost, Corpus Christi, and all other movable feasts, from that of the
Prayer of Jesus in the Garden (Tuesday after Septuagesima) to the feast of
the Sacred Heart (Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi), depend upon
the Easter date.
Commemorating the slaying of the true Lamb of God and the
Resurrection of Christ, the corner-stone upon which faith is built, it is
also the oldest feast of the Christian Church, as old as Christianity, the
connecting link between the Old and New Testaments.
The connection between the Jewish Passover and the Christian feast
of Easter is real and ideal. Real, since Christ died on the first Jewish
Easter Day; ideal, like the relation between type and reality, because
Christ's death and Resurrection had its figures and types in the Old Law,
particularly in the paschal lamb, which was eaten towards evening of the
14th of Nisan. In fact, the Jewish feast was taken over into the Christian
Easter celebration; the liturgy (Exsultet) sings of the passing of
Israel through the Red Sea, the paschal lamb, the column of fire, etc.
Apart, however, from the Jewish feast, the Christians would have celebrated
the anniversary of the death and the Resurrection of Christ.
But for such a feast it was necessary to know the exact calendar
date of Christ's death. To know this day was very simple for the Jews; it
was the day after the 14th of the first month, the 15th of Nisan of their
calendar. Since Christ, the true Paschal Lamb, had been slain on the very
day when the Jews, in celebration of their Passover, immolated the
figurative lamb, the Jewish Christians in the Orient followed the Jewish
method, and commemorated the death of Christ on the 15th of Nisan and His
Resurrection on the 17th of Nisan, no matter on what day of the week they
fell. For this observance they claimed the authority of St. John and St.
Philip.
In the rest of the empire another consideration predominated. Every
Sunday of the year was a commemoration of the Resurrection of Christ, which
had occurred on a Sunday. Because the Sunday after 14 Nisan was the
historical day of the Resurrection, at Rome this Sunday became the Christian
feast of Easter.
Easter was celebrated in Rome and Alexandria on the first Sunday
after the first full moon after the spring equinox, and the Roman Church
claimed for this observance the authority of Sts. Peter and Paul. The spring
equinox in Rome fell on 25 March; in Alexandria on 21 March. At Antioch
Easter was kept on the Sunday after the Jewish Passover. In Gaul a number of
bishops, wishing to escape the difficulties of the paschal computation, seem
to have assigned Easter to a fixed date of the Roman calendar, celebrating
the death of Christ on 25 March, His Resurrection on 27 March, since already
in the third century 25 March was considered the day of the Crucifixion..
This practice was of short duration. Many calendars in the Middle
Ages contain these same dates (25 March, 27 March) for purely historical,
not liturgical, reasons. Those who continued to keep Easter with the Jews
were called Quartodecimans (14 Nisan) and were excluded from the Church. The
computus paschalis, the method of determining the date of Easter and
the dependent feasts, was of old considered so important that Durandus
declares a priest unworthy of the name who does not know the computus
paschalis.
For decades scientists and other people have worked in vain for a
simplification of the computus, assigning Easter to the first Sunday in
April or to the Sunday nearest the 7th of April. Some even wish to put every
Sunday to a certain date of the month, e.g. beginning with New Year's always
on a Sunday, etc.
PECULIAR CUSTOMS
OF EASTER TIME
1. The Easter Fire
The Easter Fire is lit on the top of mountains and must be
kindled from new fire, drawn from wood by friction; this is a custom of
pagan origin in vogue all over Europe, signifying the victory of spring over
winter. The bishops issued severe edicts against the sacrilegious Easter
fires, but did not succeed in abolishing them everywhere. The Church adopted
the observance into the Easter ceremonies, referring it to the fiery column
in the desert and to the Resurrection of Christ; the new fire on Holy
Saturday is drawn from flint, symbolizing the Resurrection of the Light of
the World from the tomb closed by a stone.
2. Blessing of food
In both the Oriental and Latin Churches, it is customary to
have those victuals which were prohibited during Lent blessed by the priests
before eating them on Easter Day, especially meat, eggs, butter, and cheese.
Those who ate before the food was blessed, according to popular belief, were
punished by God, sometimes instantaneously.
3. House blessings
On the eve of Easter the homes are blessed in memory of the
passing of the angel in Egypt and the signing of the door-posts with the
blood of the paschal lamb. The parish priest visits the houses of his
parish; the papal apartments are also blessed on this day. The room,
however, in which the pope is found by the visiting cardinal is blessed by
the pontiff himself.
4. The Easter Rabbit
The Easter Rabbit lays the eggs, for which reason they are
hidden in a nest or in the garden. The rabbit is a pagan symbol and has
always been an emblem of fertility
5. Easter Eggs
Because the use of eggs was forbidden during Lent, they were
brought to the table on Easter Day, coloured red to symbolize the Easter
joy. This custom is found not only in the Latin but also in the Oriental
Churches. The symbolic meaning of a new creation of mankind by Jesus risen
from the dead was probably an invention of later times. The custom may have
its origin in paganism, for a great many pagan customs, celebrating the
return of spring, gravitated to Easter. The egg is the emblem of the
germinating life of early spring. Easter eggs, the children are told, come
from Rome with the bells which on Thursday go to Rome and return Saturday
morning. The sponsors in some countries give Easter eggs to their
god-children. Coloured eggs are used by children at Easter in a sort of game
which consists in testing the strength of the shells. Both coloured and
uncoloured eggs are used in some parts of the United States for this game,
known as "egg-picking". Another practice is the "egg-rolling" by children on
Easter Monday on the lawn of the White House in Washington.
Mexican Tradition for Good Luck:
Cascarones
Cascarones are Colorful Mexican
egg shells with mixed confetti inside.
It's believed that Marco Polo brought them from Asia and eventually made it
to Spain, Americas and Mexico where they became known as "Cascarones".
(history below)
Today many say that the colorful confetti shower brings luck and good
fortune to those to whom an egg is broken over their head. Order
Cascarones here:
http://www.latinworksco.com/cascarones.html
or make your own:
What you need for this:
- raw eggs
- thumbtack
- butter knife
- bowl
- bowl of warm soapy water
- towel
- egg dye
- markers
- fine confetti
- spoon
- colored tissue paper
- scissors
- white glue
What you do for this:
- It's a tradition in Mexico to make cascarones, confetti filled eggs,
during Carnival, a big festival held every year. Cascarones are also
played with in other parts of the world like Spain and in the Southwest of
the United States. Breaking them is a tradition that is supposed to bring
good luck. Briana says that making cascarones is a custom she shares with
her family every year.
- Before you start, ask your parents for permission.
- On the top of the egg, poke a hole with a thumbtack. You may need an
adult to help you with this part. Be very careful not to poke your
fingers.
- On the bottom of the egg, make a hole about the size of a dime. Tap
the end gently on a table, or hit the end with a butter knife. You should
also use the thumbtack to break the yolk inside the egg. Shake the insides
of the egg into a bowl and save them for scrambled eggs!
- Wash your egg with warm water and dry it off. Make sure to wash your
hands well after you do this.
- Decorate your egg with egg dye or markers, or both.
- Then use a spoon to fill your eggs with confetti.
- Glue a small circle of tissue paper over the hole. You should pick a
tissue paper color that matches the color you made the egg. Then you can
disguise the hole! When the glue dries, you're ready to go.
- Remember, always play with your cascarones outside. Chase your friends
and shower them with confetti by gently breaking the eggs over but not on
- their heads.
- When the eggs are broken over your head, you are "Showered with good
fortune."
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