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Easter: Three Special Days

For Christians, the days from Maundy Thursday night to the morning of Easter Day are the most special days of the whole Christian year.   In those three days in our worship we follow the great events of the last few days of the life of Jesus and the great victory of his resurrection from death.  In the early Church, the worship from Maundy Thursday to Easter Day was continuous.  Today, even where worship over these three days is not continuous, we follow the great events in Jesus’ life during these three days.

The special three days (or tridiuum as it often called) begins on the evening of Maundy Thursday when Jesus and his disciples met for the Passover Meal when the whole  Israelite community celebrated how God rescued their ancestors from Egypt and brought them into the land he promised to give them.  Everything they ate at the meal had a symbolic meaning.   Jesus gave this meal new meaning. The word Maundy is derived from the Latin “mandatum”  meaning mandatory or a command.   Jesus gave two commands at the last supper.  The first was “Love one another as I have loved you,  by this shall everyone know you are my disciples.”    It was at this meal that Jesus taught the lesson of humility when he washed the disciples’ feet. This was always the custom at a meal but it was the servant of the household who would do this. It was at this meal that Jesus gave another command.  They all shared the bread as was the custom and Jesus said that just as the bread is broken and shared, so his body will be “broken” on the cross and just as they share the cup of wine so his blood will be shed for the forgiveness of sins.  The command Jesus gave “Do this in remembrance of me.”  has been obeyed ever since. It is obeyed each time the church meets for its principal act of worship, which has many names,  the Eucharist, the Lord’s Supper, the Mass, the Holy Communion.  On the evening of Maundy Thursday, church congregations meet together to commemorate the Last Supper and to remember the commands of Jesus.

Also at this service, all the cloths and fittings are removed from the altar as a symbol of the end of the Last Supper.  The Eucharist will not be celebrated between Maundy Thursday and Easter Day. As the Eucharist of the Last Supper ends, thoughts are turned to Jesus and the disciples going to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray.  It is while they are there that Jesus is arrested in the middle of the night and as Thursday night turns to Friday morning, he is tried before the Temple Court and then take to Pilate, the Roman Governor who condemns him to death.  By midday Jesus is on the cross and by mid afternoon he is dead.   These are the events that we recall in our worship on Good Friday which includes the reading of the accounts of Jesus trial and crucifixion.  On the evening of Good Friday we recall how Jesus was buried  in the tomb.

Holy Saturday, or Easter Eve  (sometimes wrongly called Easter Saturday),  is a day of quietness and rest when we recall in our prayers how Jesus rested in the tomb.   On Saturday evening in church worship we prepare for the great celebration of Easter by keeping an Easter Vigil.  The Paschal Candle is lit and we give thanks for Christ’s resurrection.

On Easter morning, we celebrate the Resurrection by the Eucharist. Easter Day services are full of special joy and it is a wonderful experience to worship at Easter.  We invite you to our churches at this special time to join in our worship.  You will be warmly welcomed.

Church Services in the Deanery of Dyffryn Clwyd from Maundy Thursday to Easter Day 2008