Bishop Weisenburger on Holy Week

From Bishop Edward J. Weisenburger:

The three sacred days of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter are best viewed as ONE great celebration, broken up in time. It’s a sort of slowing down of what we ordinarily celebrate every Sunday, spreading it out over three days so that we might enter more deeply into the mystery of our faith. You might note that as always, the Holy Thursday Mass begins with the sign of the Cross, but there is no formal ending for Holy Thursday’s liturgy. It is almost as though the liturgy is suspended until it resumes again the next day. On Good Friday the liturgy is resumed in silence and what might feel like an end (when all depart in silence) is really another suspension of the liturgy until the Easter Vigil begins the next evening. To break it down in more detail we begin with:  

Holy Thursday

This is the Mass that commemorates Jesus’ enduring gift of the Eucharist. It is also the Mass which always includes the Washing of Feet, reminding all Christians that SERVICE offered in love, is the hallmark of Jesus’ followers. At the end of Mass the Blessed Sacrament is processed out of every Catholic Church in the World and reserved in a special place for Adoration, which takes place throughout the evening. The great Triduum has now begun. The Church will be stripped of  candles, flowers, altar cloths, and all the other things we typically use to adorn the Church for worship. In essence, we are preparing the Church for the following day, Good Friday, which marks the death and absence of the Christ.

Good Friday

This is the one day of the year that the whole Church is required to fast from Mass. The only sacraments permitted are penance and anointing of the sick. No Mass can ever be permitted on Good Friday, which is why the liturgy on that one day of the year is so very different.  It begins with the priests and ministers laying prostrate on the floor in silence, before the stripped/barren altar. They arise, say a simple prayer, and the readings from Scripture follow. The Passion of Jesus Christ is perhaps the very heart of Good Friday’s Liturgy.  After extended intercessory prayers, prayed almost identical around the world, we have the adoration of the Holy Cross. I must note that I find the adoration of the Holy Cross to be one of the most moving liturgies of the Church year. The faithful process in lines, much as we do to receive Holy Communion, but in this instance we approach the Sanctuary to adore the Cross of Christ.  Following the adoration of the Cross, Holy Communion—which was consecrated the day before on Holy Thursday—is distributed to the faithful, and once again all depart in silence as the Church’s liturgy is suspended.  

Easter Vigil

With the setting of the sun on Holy Saturday we begin the most solemn Mass of the Church year. We begin by lighting and blessing the new Easter Fire, symbolizing the light of the risen Christ overcoming all darkness of sin and death. An extended liturgy of the word with many readings follows. After the homily the new adult converts to the Catholic Faith are baptized and confirmed. The Eucharistic Prayer follows, culminating in giving First Holy Communion to the new converts. With the final blessing at the end of the Mass, what began with a solemn signing of the cross at the opening of Holy Thursday’s Mass is now complete.


Brother and sisters, these are glorious and sacred days. They hold great grace and the potential to renew and deepen our faith. I pray that all Catholics will make the effort to enter into these sacred days with prayer and devotion.