Sacred Roots Workshop

140 Sacred Roots Workshop: Retr ieving the Great Tradi t ion in the Contemporary Church

B. The Cycle of Life: Lent-Easter-Pentecost

1. Lent : A time for reflection on the suffering and death of Jesus. Lent also emphasizes “death to self” so that, like Jesus, we prepare ourselves to obey God no matter what sacrifice it involves. Lenten observance calls for people to fast as a way of affirming this attitude of obedience, Luke 5.35; 1 Cor. 9.27; 2 Tim. 2.4; Heb. 11.1-3. 2. Holy Week : This is the final week of Lent, that special period where Christians re-live and participate in the events of Jesus’ final week on earth: his triumphal entry in Jerusalem, his cleansing of the Temple, teaching the peoples, and answering the challenges of the scribes, priests and Pharisees, his Last Supper with the disciples, prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, betrayal, trial before the Jewish leaders, Herod and Pilate, his crucifixion, death, and burial.

a. Palm Sunday : the Sunday before Easter which commemorates the Triumphal Entry of Christ, John 12.12-18

b. The Great Three Days, or “ Paschal Triduum ”

(1) Maundy Thursday : Maundy comes from the Latin mandatum meaning “commandment.” The Thursday before Easter which commemorates the giving of the New Commandment and the Lord’s Supper prior to Christ’s death, Mark 14.12-26; John 13. (2) Good Friday : the Friday before Easter which commemorates the crucifixion of Christ, John 18-19 (3) Holy Saturday : the day our Lord lay in the tomb, which in the ancient Church was connected to a prayer vigil which began on Good Friday and lasted until the first service on Easter morning