Holy Week

Palm Sunday | 13 April – On Palm Sunday we recall Jesus’ journey into Jerusalem on a donkey. The crowd waved palm leaves and covered his path with them. We remember this with  crosses made from palm leaves. Today also marks the beginning of Holy Week.

Maundy Thursday | 17 April – It is the day that commemorates Jesus Christ’s Last Supper with his disciples and reminds us of the importance of humility, selflessness, and service to others. The word Maundy comes from the Latin, mandatum, or command, which refers to the instructions Jesus gave his disciples at the Last Supper. Jesus commanded that people should love one another, and then washed the feet of his disciples as an act of kindness.

Good Friday | 18 April – it is the day Christ was sacrificed on the cross, a day for sorrow, penance, and fasting. When Jesus was executed he sacrificed his own life so that everyone can be forgiven for their sins.

Holy Saturday | 19 April – it ends the Lenten season, falling on the day before Easter Sunday. It marks a time of waiting and preparation. Today, the sorrow of Jesus dying is replaced by a quiet hope. Today is a day to imagine you are waiting at the tomb with Jesus. We are told that today “all creation holds its breath”. There is a stillness about this day.

Easter Sunday | 20th April – Easter Sunday marks Jesus’s resurrection. After Jesus was crucified on the Friday his body was taken down from the cross and buried in a cave tomb. The tomb was guarded by Roman soldiers and an enormous stone was put over the entrance. On Sunday Mary Magdalene and some of Jesus’s disciples visited the tomb. They found the  stone had been moved and that Jesus’s body had gone. Jesus was seen later that day by Mary and the disciples, and for forty days afterwards by many people.