What Happened During Holy Week?

What happened during Holy Week? According to the views of many in the Christian religion, Holy Week is one of the most religiously important times of the year, and numerous events happened and continue to happen during Holy Week or in celebration of Holy Week.

Holy Week is a specific time period honored by those of Christian faith, which takes place after the time known as Lent, and one week before the Easter holiday. In traditional religious celebrations and beliefs, each day is meant to be set aside for various ceremonies meant to honor specific events from the final week before Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection.

There are many different events that happen during Holy Week, each of which has its own meaning and purpose in the Christian faith.

• Palm Sunday opens the week, and is celebrated with a blessing of palm leaves. This day is meant to honor the day that Jesus first entered Jerusalem.
• Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday (all referred to as “Holy” Monday, etc.) each recount various events from Jesus’ life, although not necessarily in order or meant to be anniversaries of those events. The three days include the Anointing at Bethany and the Chrism Mass.
• Holy Thursday is the day of the Mass of the Lord’s Supper and commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus.
• Good Friday is a day of fasting for Roman Catholics and is a day of mourning for the death of Christ.
• Holy Saturday is a day of silence and prayer, for honoring the day Christ spent in the tomb.
• After sundown, the Easter liturgy begins, typically with a church service involving the lighting of a fire, or a Paschal candle, to symbolize salvation and light.

Easter Sunday

The final Sunday, i.e. one week after the Palm Sunday that opens Holy Week, is Easter, and is not included within Holy Week. Easter is meant to represent the day that Jesus was resurrected from the dead.

After the week of fasting and ceremony, Easter Sunday is meant to be a great feast, and the official end to Holy Week. For Christians it is also considered the turning point of the religious year, since the resurrection of Christ is a symbolization of the world beginning anew.

Easter Sunday is the most important holiday within the church, and is the root cause behind the idea of the Sabbath and the holiness of all Sundays throughout the year.