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The Easter Season

Triduum

The Easter Triduum is the period of times that traces the final days of the life of Jesus Christ – His Passion, Death, and Resurrection, when the Lamb of God laid down His life in atonement for our sins. It is taken from the Latin root that means “three days”.

It is known as the "Paschal Mystery" because it is the ultimate fulfillment of the ancient Jewish Passover (or Pasch), which itself was a recollection of how God brought the Jews out of their slavery in Egypt.

The spotless lamb was slaughtered at the Passover meal and consumed—that same night the destroying angel "passed over" the homes marked with the blood of the Passover Lamb, and those covered by the Blood were saved. This was the Old Testament prefigurement of Jesus' work at the Last Supper—where he inserted himself as the Paschal Lamb—and Calvary, where the sacrifice was offered to save us from our slavery to sin. With the Holy Eucharist, we consume the victim that died for our sins.

The Paschal Mystery is, therefore, God's plan of redemption for the fallen human race through the passion, death, and resurrection of the God-man Jesus Christ.

Holy Thursday
The evening Mass on Holy Thursday is referred to as The Mass of the Lord's Supper.

It is known as the "Paschal Mystery" because it is the ultimate fulfillment of the ancient Jewish Passover (or Pasch), which itself was a recollection of how God brought the Jews out of their slavery in Egypt.

The spotless lamb was slaughtered at the Passover meal and consumed—that same night the destroying angel "passed over" the homes marked with the blood of the Passover Lamb, and those covered by the Blood were saved. This was the Old Testament prefigurement of Jesus' work at the Last Supper—where he inserted himself as the Paschal Lamb—and Calvary, where the sacrifice was offered to save us from our slavery to sin. With the Holy Eucharist, we consume the victim that died for our sins.

The Paschal Mystery is, therefore, God's plan of redemption for the fallen human race through the passion, death, and resurrection of the God-man Jesus Christ.

Good Friday
This is a mandatory day of fasting and abstinence. This is the day of the crucifixion, the day Jesus died for the sins of the world.

The parish altar looks very different on Good Friday: it is plain and bare. There is no consecrated Host in the tabernacle at the main altar of the church. The candle by the tabernacle is blown out, and the tabernacle doors are left open to show that it is empty. Jesus is gone. This is quite dramatic, reminding us that Good Friday is a solemn day of mourning and prayer.

The ceremony on Good Friday is not a Mass—it is a communion service using the consecrated hosts from Holy Thursday. Good Friday is the only day of the year on which no Masses are offered.

These Good Friday services often take place at 3 p.m., the hour that Jesus breathed his last on the cross. The priest will begin the service by prostrating himself in front of the altar. Veneration of the Cross usually takes place at this service, in which the priest and the faithful kneel before a cross and kiss it.

Holy Saturday
On this day Christ is in the tomb. There is no daytime Mass on Holy Saturday. It is still a day of fasting and sorrow before the Easter Vigil begins in the evening.

We recall, with Mary and the disciples, that Jesus died and was separated from them for the first time as He lay in the tomb. The Good Friday fast is often through Holy Saturday.

In the Apostles Creed we pray "He descended into hell" (translated hades, that is, the temporary abode of the dead—not the eternal lake of fire) which describes what Jesus did in the time between his burial and Resurrection. Jesus descended to the realm of the dead on Holy Saturday to save the righteous souls—the Old Testament patriarchs, for example—who died before his crucifixion.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church calls Jesus' descent into the realm of the dead "the last phase of Jesus' messianic mission," during which he "opened heaven's gates for the just who had gone before him." Before Holy Saturday, there were no souls enjoying the beatific vision of God in heaven.

Christ's work on Holy Saturday is also known as the "Harrowing of Hell."

Easter Vigil/Easter Sunday
Vigil Mass is held after nightfall on Holy Saturday, or before dawn on Easter Sunday, in celebration of the resurrection of Jesus.

This is called the Easter Vigil: the most glorious, beautiful, and dramatic liturgy for the Church.

The vigil is divided into four parts: 1) the Service of Light, 2) the Liturgy of the Word, 3) the Liturgy of Baptism, and 4) the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

This is also the Mass in which many RCIA catechumens are brought into full communion with the Catholic Church.

The community will then gather again on Easter Sunday to celebrate Mass and continue to the joyous songs of celebration. Jesus Christ has risen. Humanity has been invited into that same trajectory through death to life.