Holy Week is the observance of the Passion of Jesus Christ–from his triumphant entry into Jerusalem, to his death and resurrection. These holy days mark the culmination of Christ’s work here on earth and each has a different theme and significance. We invite you to attend each service: experience the celebration of Palm Sunday, the shock of the Messiah washing your feet, the institution of the Lord’s supper, the waiting in the Garden of Gethsemane, the mockery of his trial, the despair of his execution, and the joy that comes with his Resurrection.

Holy Week 2024

3/23 – Palm Sunday

• 4PM Palm Sunday Service
  Takes place Saturday
  

3/28 – Maundy Thursday

• 6PM, Upper Room Meal
• Eucharist to follow
• Service ends in silence
  

3/29 – Good Friday

• 7PM, Good Friday Service

All services above take place at The Furnace House of Prayer, Kenosha.

3/30 – Holy Saturday

• No service this year

3/31 – Easter Sunday

• 9:30AM, Service followed by brunch at Olsen home

lightofchristkenosha.org/holyweek

Palm Sunday

The service begins with the Blessing of the Palms and the processional, which includes the entire congregation. The tone of the service is celebratory and it involves the people in a coronation-like ceremony. We receive our King as we commemorate His entrance into Jerusalem. We wave palms before Him as signs of the acclaim we mean to give Him with our lives. The joyful coronation quickly turns to the paradox of a thorny crown as we learn in the Passion Reading that our Lord’s Kingdom is inaugurated through His suffering and death. His Kingdom is not of this world’s order and indeed, this world has misunderstood and rejected Him. The same who received Him as King, nail Him to a cross that is derisively labeled, “King of the Jews.” We, likewise, by our own sin, show a fundamental misunderstanding and rebellion. Our understanding and humility are grown only through the remembrance of His passion, which is now begun in earnest. To everything else we must die as we follow Jesus in His sufferings.

What you need to know

• This year, rather than processing, we will dance with our palms!

Maundy Thursday

This day takes its name from the Latin word for commandment (“mandatum”), and it refers to the New Commandment of Christ to His disciples: to love one another. Maundy Thursday starts the Triduum–the 3 days of Christ’s Passion–and and is itself full of new riches for the Church. We follow Christ from the last supper with his disciples to his agonized prayer at Gethsemane and his painful arrest where the disciples scatter.

Upper Room Meal

Jesus commands us to love as He has loved, and to remember His gift of body and blood in a new use of Passover bread and wine. We will meet for footwashing and share a modified Seder meal before gathering at for Eucharist.

What you need to know

• Our meal is potluck, so contact Mary Seidl to bring food.
• Dress appropriately! We recommend sandals for footwashing.
• Your Seder booklet includes the Eucharist service.

Eucharist

Under the New Commandment of Christ to love one another, we share with his generous spirit in the Institution of the Eucharist with the commemoration of the Last Supper.

During the Eucharist, the Celebrant will bless enough bread to provide Eucharist to the church on Good Friday. These “presanctified” elements are processed from the sanctuary altar to the Altar of Repose where watch will be kept through the night. Following this, all silently retire from the sanctuary and are invited to “watch with Christ” before the Altar of Repose.

What you need to know

• This service is a simple Eucharist. All are welcome to attend, even if you didn’t attend the meal.
• The service ends in silence; there will be no overnight Watch this year.

Good Friday

Christ is in the hands of the authorities, He is condemned to die, led to the “place of the skull” and crucified for our sins. The Church has long considered this a day of strict fasting and even the Eucharist, which occurs in the evening service, is provided not by a new Celebration but from the reserved or presanctified elements of Maundy Thursday.

Stations of the Cross

Stations of the Cross is a brief service that follows Christ in his sufferings on the day of his Passion. Traditionally done by processing from one icon to the next, this devotional service can be done at any time during Holy Week, though between 1-3pm on Good Friday is most common.

What you need to know:

• Get an electronic copy of the bulletin here, or pick up a hard copy on Palm Sunday at the Information Table.
• Walk through the service with this YouTube video, or gather together and do it as a family.

Good Friday Service

The main service is in the evening and begins with the bare altar and the veiled cross. The Liturgy of the Word breaks the silence and quickly focuses our attention on the objective fact of Christ’s sacrifice. The Liturgy is completed with the Solemn Collects, which translate the purpose of His sacrifice into the prayers of the Church.

The service then moves to the Veneration of the Cross. The Cross is processed into the church stopping at three stations. These are the same stations at which the risen “Light of Christ” will be proclaimed on the following night (the Easter Vigil). At each station the Deacon proclaims: “Behold the wood of the Cross on which was hung the world’s salvation.” The people respond, “Come, let us adore him.” A period of veneration, prayer and prostration begins; this year, this portion of the service will take place in silence.

The service is completed with the nourishing provision of Christ’s “Last Supper.”

What you need to know

• The service starts in silence.
• Our offering at this service goes to our Good Friday Gift.

Good Friday Gift

Each year at the conclusion of our service we take an offering for the worldwide church. This year, your donations will go to a priest in the Anglican church in Nigeria. Give here.

Holy Saturday

The day is a quiet one. We remember our Lord’s death, entombment, and the “Harrowing of Hell” for our salvation. The fast is in its final hours as we remember that by His dying, death is destroyed. We are heirs now to an indestructible life because of His destroyed one. But, like the earth and the heavens at the crucifixion, the places “below the earth” tremble because they cannot hold Him.

Keep Holy Saturday as may be best for your family; Light of Christ will not be holding any services. Consider attending Church of the Resurrections Light and Lessons service at 2 or 7pm.

Easter Sunday

We celebrate Jesus’ resurrection from the dead with the disciples, with joyful music, a Eucharistic celebration and an Easter morning brunch. Please RSVP with Lisa Traylor or Mary Seidl if you plan to join us for the meal.

Image Credits

Photographs on this page: Eirik Olsen

Line drawings on /holyweek page: John Traylor

Holy Week quadrants image on this page and /holyweek page: Lisa Traylor