What’s Holy Week?

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Holy Week is a Christian celebration that takes place in the days immediately preceding Easter Sunday. It is the last week of Lent, as observed by many Christian denominations in different ways. Both Lent and Holy Week are meant to commemorate the last days of the life of Jesus Christ. Holy Week includes several significant days in the Christian tradition, including Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. Easter itself is not considered part of the week’s events, but rather the start of a new year of Christian celebrations.

The events of Jesus’ last days, recorded in the first four books of the New Testament, form the basis of Holy Week. These dates, as well as those for Lent, were established by the Roman Catholic Church in a series of ecumenical councils. The rest of the Christian world generally follows his example, with some exceptions. Lent is supposed to correspond to the days Jesus spent wandering in the desert. Reverent Christians might fast to commemorate this time; non-Christians may be more familiar with the celebration that immediately precedes this fast, called Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras.

The Easter date is calculated using a complicated system and generally falls in late March or April. The Sunday immediately before Easter is Palm Sunday. According to Christian tradition and the Bible, this is the day Jesus and his disciples entered the city of Jerusalem. Tradition has it that Jesus rode a donkey, demonstrating his humility and his peaceful intentions, and that his devotees welcomed him by waving their palm fronds. Many churches pay homage to this event by distributing palm fronds during Palm Sunday services.

Jesus’ week in Jerusalem was very significant, as various authorities conspired to end his ministry. Thursday of Holy Week is celebrated as Maundy Thursday or Maundy Thursday. The word “maundy” is a term that refers to Jesus’ final commandment to his disciples, which was to love others regardless of differences. This occurred during the meal known as the Last Supper, an event recreated by various Christian denominations as a sacrament, sometimes called the Eucharist. Special celebrations for this day include the distribution of commemorative coins to Church of England parishioners by the reigning English monarch.

Good Friday is a memorial to Jesus’ arrest, torture, crucifixion, and death. Many churches adopt a tradition of mourning, removing ornaments from altars, displaying dark colors, and extinguishing candles and other lights. According to tradition, Jesus’ body was buried for three days before emerging at the Resurrection. This is the occasion celebrated as Easter Sunday. Christians celebrate this day as the beginning of a new era and a significant event in a religion that, for better or for worse, has transformed the entire world.

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