Easter Triduum

This weekend, we will be moving from our Lenten preparations to our Easter celebration! The Easter season begins with what is called the Easter Triduum: the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, the Commemoration of our Lord’s Passion on Good Friday and the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday night. This special and ancient liturgy celebrates the primary moment of our salvation: Jesus’ Passion and death on the Cross, paying the price for our sins and winning us freedom from the enemy, and His Resurrection, defeating Death itself once and for all. 

This occasion is so important to the Church that the celebration actually transcends time itself. It is not three separate celebrations, but one long liturgical celebration. The Liturgy begins with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, but if you pay close attention there is no final blessing or dismissal at this Mass; the Mass technically does not end. It continues into the next day with the Commemoration of our Lord’s Passion, wherein the priest prostrates before the altar and then goes right into the Collect, no Sign of the Cross to begin the Liturgy. It also ends without a blessing or dismissal. Finally, the Easter Vigil begins at the Easter fire with a simple greeting but no actual start. This is to signify that all three occasions are in fact one continuous celebration. This is meant to communicate the unity between the Last Supper, the Passion and Death, and the Resurrection. It is one whole moment of salvation; there is no separating one from the others. 

It is these kinds of small details that truly add beauty and depth to the Liturgy. Just about everything within the Mass has deeper meaning and purpose to it. Everything can be a means of being drawn in deeper and participating more fully in Christ’s saving work. May this Easter be an occasion for us to receive our salvation more completely and be drawn ever deeper into our Lord’s sacred Heart!