Our faith as
Christians is centred around the Paschal Mystery: the
life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The
pinnacle of our worship that is bound to this mystery is the celebration of the Easter
Triduum.
The Triduum begins
with the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. It
is not a re-enactment of the Last Supper, but rather a celebration of all that stems from
the last meal that Jesus had with his friends and from which the Eucharist was instituted. When we celebrate this meal on Holy Thursday, it
is the only Mass allowed in the Church on that day and priests are can only celebrate that
one Mass on the day and so it is often concelebrated.
It does not end with a dismissal, but rather with a procession where
the Blessed Sacrament is taken to an altar of repose so that the tabernacle is left empty
to symbolise the painful end to Jesus’ life and the waiting, empty tomb.
The Solemn
Liturgical action of Good Friday begins where Holy Thursday finished, in silence. The priests enter and lie prostrate before the
altar as willing witnesses to Christ’s death. We
then hear the story and worship the Wood of the Cross where Christ died for us. This is followed by a Communion service and then
concluded in silence.
The Triduum ends
with the magnificent celebration of the Easter Vigil.
Again it commences in silence around the fire. The fire is blessed and the Paschal candle lit to
symbolise the light of Christ in the world through the resurrection. As it is carried and placed inside, the Church
resounds with the proclamation of the resurrection in the Exultet. We hear the story of our salvation history and
then begin the Mass and celebration of Baptism and reception into the Church of people who
have chosen to join our community.
The Vigil Mass ends with the joyful sung dismissal and alleluia in praise
of our Risen Lord. |
Good Friday
Many of us dressed in red,
the liturgical colour for Good Friday,
representing the blood of Christ.
The altar is decorated as the sealed tomb. |
This year's Pascal Candle.
