The final week of Lent is called Holy Week. It begins the day after Palm Sunday, which memorializes Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Matt. 21:1-11). Holy Week commemorates the events immediately preceding the crucifixion. This is the most solemn time during the church year. Many churches conduct services nightly.
Maundy Thursday honors the memory of the final Passover Jesus celebrated as His Last Supper with His disciples. Maundy Thursday gets its name from a Latin church anthem, the first line of which reads, "Mandatum novum do vobis," or "a new commandment I give to you" (John 13:34). The Latin "Mandatum" is corrupted to the English "Maundy." Holy Thursday is called "Green Thursday" in Germany, after the green branch given by pastors to penitents on this day to signify that God has heard their prayers and will give them new life. It is called "Sheer Thursday" in some countries to signify that it is by the body and blood of Christ that we are made "clean" or "sheer" from our sins. Most churches celebrate communion on Maundy Thursday. Some re-enact Jesus' washing the feet of the disciples.
Good Friday Commemorates the crucifixion and death of Christ. Many churches conduct quiet services from noon until three (called Tre Ore, or "Three Hours"), focusing on the events of the crucifixion and the words of Christ from the cross. In some churches (most notably the Eastern Orthodox), the altar itself and the encased representation of Christ's burial, called the epitaphion, are covered in black cloth. (Often the Eastern Orthodox churches do this on Holy Thursday instead.) Many Good Friday services conclude with draping the altar cross with black cloth, extinguishing all sanctuary lights (except the eternal flame signifying the Holy Spirit), ceasing all music, and having the congregation exit without speaking to symbolize the imminent (commemoration of the) death of Christ. As early as the second century A.D., Christians commonly celebrated each Friday in commemoration of the crucifixion, with fasting or other penance as its most notable feature.
Easter is an English corruption from the proto-Germanic root word meaning "to rise." (We see this in the contemporary German cognate "öst-" and the English cognate "east," the direction from which the sun rises in the morning.) It refers not only to Christ rising from the dead, but also to his ascension to heaven and to our future rising with him at his Second Coming for final judgment. It is not true that it derives from the pagan Germanic goddess Oestar or from the Babylonian goddess Ishtar -- both fertility symbols signifying the coming of spring images of fertility, new life, and renewal. A corruption of Ishtar is found in the Bible as the name of the heroic Jewish woman, Esther, who risked her own life to save the lives of her people. Many Christians prefer to use the designation "the Resurrection of our Lord," "Sunday of the Resurrection," or even Pasch or Paschal Sunday ("the Sunday of our Passover Lamb Sacrifice").
The first Easter occurred on the first day of the week after the Passover Sabbath. The first day of the week became the Christian's "sabbath rest" (Heb. 4:1-11), the time of weekly Christian celebration of the resurrection. Annually, the Lord's Day immediately subsequent to the Jewish Passover was a day of special resurrection celebration. Today Easter is celebrated at The final week of Lent is called Holy Week. It begins the day after Palm Sunday, which memorializes Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Matt. 21:1-11). Holy Week commemorates the events immediately preceding the crucifixion. This is the most solemn time during the church year. Many churches conduct services nightly.
Maundy Thursday honors the memory of the final Passover Jesus celebrated as His Last Supper with His disciples. Maundy Thursday gets its name from a Latin church anthem, the first line of which reads, "Mandatum novum do vobis," or "a new commandment I give to you" (John 13:34). The Latin "Mandatum" is corrupted to the English "Maundy." Holy Thursday is called "Green Thursday" in Germany, after the green branch given by pastors to penitents on this day to signify that God has heard their prayers and will give them new life. It is called "Sheer Thursday" in some countries to signify that it is by the body and blood of Christ that we are made "clean" or "sheer" from our sins. Most churches celebrate communion on Maundy Thursday. Some re-enact Jesus' washing the feet of the disciples.
Good Friday Commemorates the crucifixion and death of Christ. Many churches conduct quiet services from noon until three (called Tre Ore, or "Three Hours"), focusing on the events of the crucifixion and the words of Christ from the cross. In some churches (most notably the Eastern Orthodox), the altar itself and the encased representation of Christ's burial, called the epitaphion, are covered in black cloth. (Often the Eastern Orthodox churches do this on Holy Thursday instead.) Many Good Friday services conclude with draping the altar cross with black cloth, extinguishing all sanctuary lights (except the eternal flame signifying the Holy Spirit), ceasing all music, and having the congregation exit without speaking to symbolize the imminent (commemoration of the) death of Christ. As early as the second century A.D., Christians commonly celebrated each Friday in commemoration of the crucifixion, with fasting or other penance as its most notable feature.
Easter is an English corruption from the proto-Germanic root word meaning "to rise." (We see this in the contemporary German cognate "öst-" and the English cognate "east," the direction from which the sun rises in the morning.) It refers not only to Christ rising from the dead, but also to his ascension to heaven and to our future rising with him at his Second Coming for final judgment. It is not true that it derives from the pagan Germanic goddess Oestar or from the Babylonian goddess Ishtar -- both fertility symbols signifying the coming of spring images of fertility, new life, and renewal. A corruption of Ishtar is found in the Bible as the name of the heroic Jewish woman, Esther, who risked her own life to save the lives of her people. Many Christians prefer to use the designation "the Resurrection of our Lord," "Sunday of the Resurrection," or even Pasch or Paschal Sunday ("the Sunday of our Passover Lamb Sacrifice").
The first Easter occurred on the first day of the week after the Passover Sabbath. The first day of the week became the Christian's "sabbath rest" (Heb. 4:1-11), the time of weekly Christian celebration of the resurrection. Annually, the Lord's Day immediately subsequent to the Jewish Passover was a day of special resurrection celebration. Today Easter is celebrated at
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