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HOLY WEEK 2022 'The Stuff of Salvation - Materials of Redemption and Hope'

It is a pleasure to welcome The Revd Elizabeth Birch, to lead Holy Week 2022, here at St Michael’s. Elizabeth will give a series addresses on the above title and introduces them below:

The materials I look at through the course of Holy Week are as follows:

Monday – Perfume Tuesday – Bread Wednesday – Metal Maundy Thursday - Water and Wine

Good Friday – Stone Holy Saturday - Linen

This series of addresses for Holy Week is based on looking at some of the materials that are part of the events of Passiontide in a sacramental kind of way. Christianity is a deeply sacramental faith – it is based fundamentally on the idea that the ordinary, the everyday and the perishable stuff of our world can, and does, communicate, and take us close to, the extraordinary, the holy and the imperishable. Our belief in Jesus, as God made human, tangible and physical instead of remote and intangible, is the most important lynch pin of that; but the bread and wine we share in Communion is close behind. If we’re willing to look with open eyes we find other things have this quality too.

This week, as we follow the narrative of Jesus’s last days on earth we are invited, as at no other time, not just to recall but to relive, in some sense, the drama that unfolds. It is arguably not enough just to read the narrative, hear the words, or even simply repeat them ourselves, parrot-fashion; if we want to experience the transforming truth of Christianity we must be willing to enter the drama ourselves; we must be prepared to get our feet wet and our hands dirty. To feel it, as well as hear and see it.

There is an ancient Chinese proverb that goes, “I hear and I forget; I see and I remember; I do and I understand.” There is a lot of truth in that. Holy Week, for Christians, just as Passover has always been for Jewish people, is a time when we get a chance to do that more graphically than at other times. I hope these addresses and the acts of worship in which they are set, may help us along the way’

As a very gifted and engaging preacher, I know Elizabeth will bring us a rich experience this Holy Week. Below you will find the times and details of all our worship. So please don’t miss out. Come, that we may walk with hope towards the cross, which leads to our redemption. Then we can indeed celebrate the light and life of Easter. With my prayers for us all, Father Paul

THE HOLY WEEK LITURGIES

Our liturgies this year follow closely our normal pattern, but with some simplifications brought about by the current situation.

PALM SUNDAY 9.30 am

Today we recall the Lord’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem. We gather in the park to process to church as a sign of our intention to follow Jesus in the Way of the Cross. Before our journey begins, Palm Crosses are held high; they are blessed by the priest, as a sign that we too hail Jesus as King. We will walk in silence from the park and sing as we enter church. The liturgy includes a dramatic reading of the Passion according to Luke. All are invited to join in the crowd parts marked in the Passion booklet.

MONDAY TO WEDNESDAY Said Mass with Address 7.00 pm

The Mass follows the pattern used for the Thursday Mass with addresses by The Revd Elizabeth Birch described above.

MAUNDY THURSDAY Said Mass at 12.30 pm; Maundy Thursday Liturgy at 8 pm.

The name comes from the Latin mandatum, meaning ‘commandment’, reflecting the reading from John’s gospel ‘I give you a new commandment, says the Lord: Love one another as I have loved you’.

Mass at lunchtime follows the normal Thursday pattern with the texts appointed for Maundy Thursday. There is no blessing at the end of Mass on Maundy Thursday.

The evening liturgy is normally rich in themes, the humble Christian service expressed through Christ’s washing of his disciples’ feet, the institution of the Eucharist, the perfection of Christ’s loving obedience through the agony of Gethsemane. This year the foot washing component of the liturgy will be omitted. At the end of the service, in silence, the deacon will transfer the Blessed Sacrament to the tabernacle, the altars will be stripped and a Vigil will be kept until 10pm, concluding with Compline.

The following sequence of readings may be used during the Vigil.

John 13.16-3John 15.18-16.4a
Psalm 113Psalm 117
John 13.31-38John 16.4b-15
Psalm 114Psalm 118.1-9
John 14.1-14John 16.16-33
Psalm 115Psalm 118.10-18
John 14.15-endJohn 17.1-19
Psalm 116.1-9Psalm 118.19-end
John 15.1-7John 17.20-end
Psalm 116.1-end

GOOD FRIDAY Children’s Service 10 am

A simple interactive act of worship for families. Listen to the Easter story and then enjoy a range of craft activities as we share refreshments together after the service.

GOOD FRIDAY LITURGY OF THE PASSION 2pm

Good Friday is the darkest day in the Church's year when we 'celebrate' the Lord's Passion and are reminded that His death has redeemed the world. In view of this silence is a prominent feature in the liturgy. The service is a continuation of the Maundy Thursday liturgy and hence the silence is continued from the night before. The liturgy is in four distinct parts:

First, the ministers and servers enter in silence and we begin with the Collect of the Day. The Liturgy of the Word follows which has a distinct focus on the Passion. The Passion according to John is read dramatically. All are invited to join in the crowd parts marked in the Passion booklet.

Second, after the reading of the Passion there is an extended form of Intercession.

Third, we have the proclamation of the Cross when a veiled Cross is processed from the West end of the Church and brought into the Nave, and stands in front of the uncovered Altar, and people are invited to bow at the foot of the Cross in deep prayer to the Crucified Lord as a response to the love He has poured out for us. Please do not kiss the Cross.

Fourth, and lastly, a fair linen cloth is laid on the altar and the Blessed Sacrament (the remaining consecrated hosts from the night before) is brought to the altar and we are invited to receive Holy Communion.

The Liturgy concludes after the distribution and the priest ends with a short prayer. There is no blessing or dismissal. We leave as we arrived, in silence, awaiting the great celebration the following evening as we welcome the Risen Christ in the Easter Liturgy.

EASTER VIGIL AND FIRST MASS OF EASTER, Saturday 8pm

This is arguably the most important liturgy in the Church’s year. It can be thought of as a liturgy with several parts.

Easter Ceremonies in which a new fire is kindled outside the church, the Paschal Candle, symbolising the light of Christ, is blessed and lit and processed into church, pausing three times to proclaim: The Light of Christ, Thanks be to God. This year we hope to be joined by members of Trinity Church who will bring their Paschal Candle to be lit at the same time as ours.

The Exultet – the great Paschal Proclamation – sung by the deacon, recalling in brief the history of salvation and telling of the triumph of Christ’s conquest over death.

With the church still in darkness, lit only by the Paschal Candle and the acolytes candles, the Vigil follows. This is a series of readings, psalms or canticles and collects, that tell from Old Testament scriptures the story of salvation. We hear familiar stories, but told by the light of the Paschal Candle, the symbol of the Risen Christ. This year each reading will be followed by a period of silence rather than a psalm or canticle.

At the end of the Vigil the altar candles are lit, the bells ring out for the first time since the Gloria on Maundy Thursday, the organ thunders, and we sing the Gloria. The Liturgy of the Word follows.

The ministers then process to the font for the Liturgy of Initiation, recalling the tradition in the early church of baptising and confirming but once a year in the Easter Liturgy, and we renew the promises we made, or were made for us, at our own baptism.

The Liturgy of the Eucharist continues as usual, concluding with the great Easter alleluia!



Page last modified 22nd March 2022 by David Duce