The Sacred Triduum
The heart of the church year is the Sacred Triduum. Triduum means three days. It is also called the Paschal Triduum. Paschal refers to Passover, Christ's passage from life through death to new life. From sundown Holy Thursday until sundown on Easter Sunday, we enter the great Triduum, the three days of Christ's passion, death, burial, and resurrection. Over these three days, we are part of the continuous flow of Christ laying down his life and being raised by the Father. Within this flow, there is a multitude of moments that reveal the work of God in reuniting with the human family and bringing forth new life within us. The liturgy of the Church over these days is one great movement with pauses in between the liturgical services.
Over these days, the Church observes the ancient practice of counting the days from sunset to sunset, as presented in the book of Genesis. While our common vocabulary speaks of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday, the liturgy of the Church presents the days differently. Lent ends as evening begins on Holy Thursday. Thus, Thursday evening until Friday evening is the day of the Lord’s passion and death. Friday evening until Saturday evening is the day of Christ’s rest in the tomb. Saturday evening until Sunday evening is the day of the resurrection. This is the highpoint of the Church’s year.
The liturgy of the first day begins with the celebration of the Lord's Supper that is usually celebrated in the evening. Since it is the only mass of the day, it is often concelebrated with several priests. It connects us with the last supper that Jesus had with his disciples, where he gave himself to them under the signs of bread and wine. This self-giving is emphasized by his washing the feet of the disciples. The central theme of the evening is God's love for us and is captured in the phrase, "Where charity and love prevail, there God is ever found." This liturgy concludes not with the normal dismissal but with a procession of the Eucharist to a place of reservation. All are then invited to watch and pray, just as Jesus asked the apostles to watch and pray with him.
On Friday afternoon, the second service of the first day of the Triduum is the Celebration of the Lord's Passion. It is not a mass but a somber contemplation of Christ's passion and death. It has four sections: scripture readings, solemn intercessions, veneration of the cross, and distribution of Holy Communion. The intercessions bring us into the ministry of Christ, who interceded for all of humanity. They begin with naming the focus of the intercession and then a formal prayer for the person or group. The veneration of the cross allows for each person to come forward and acknowledge the cross that was integral to our salvation. It reminds us that it is not by our efforts that we experience salvation but through the faithful love of Christ that salvation is open before us. Following this, Christ's continuing gift of himself is offered in Holy Communion. This service also ends without a dismissal.
The second day of the Triduum, from evening on Friday until evening on Saturday, is the great Sabbath, the day on which Christ rested in the tomb. It is a day of silence and reflection. The sacraments are not offered except to the dying. As Christ waited in the tomb, we wait for God to act. Our conversion process involves letting go of the old and beginning to walk in a new direction. The time between letting go and starting the new way is a time of waiting, anxiety, and questioning. One knows the old way well and is uncertain about the new. This in-between time demands that we wait on God to act and to show us the way. It is a time to recognize that one is not in control of life and to surrender our future to God.
The third day of the Triduum, from evening on Saturday until evening on Sunday, is the day of the Resurrection. After dark on Saturday evening, the Church normally gathers for the Easter Vigil. A vigil is a time of waiting and anticipation. In some monastic communities, the vigil is observed all night and ends with Eucharist at dawn. There are four parts to the vigil service. Gathered in the dark, a fire is lit, a new candle is lit from the fire, and the Easter proclamation is announced. Then the history of salvation is recalled through numerous Old Testament passages leading up to the proclamation of Christ's resurrection in the Gospel. Following the Liturgy of the Word, the sacraments of initiation are celebrated. Then the whole assembly is invited to renew their baptismal commitment. Following the celebration of the Eucharist, the community is solemnly dismissed to live the new life that we have been given and to share the Good News with others.
The celebration of the Resurrection continues Sunday morning to include all who could not come to the Vigil. We hear again of the empty tomb and our challenge to live in newness of life and in communion with God and one another.
These three days offer us the opportunity to connect with the central message of God's love for us, the gift of salvation, and the challenge to live in newness of life. These messages are ritualized with gestures, silence, and actions so that we can take them to heart again and again. This year when we are unable to gather as a community, allow the music, prayer, symbols, and scriptures to lead you on the journey from the common way of life in our culture into a deeper experience of the reign of God in your life. Each day there will be opportunities on this website that will invite you into the mysteries that we celebrate and the journey we take during the Sacred Triduum.