The Sacred Triduum
(We now enter) the most sacred week of the Church’s liturgical year: Holy Week. At the climax of this week, we will celebrate the Sacred Triduum, three days that form a single celebration: Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil.
Most of us tend to think of these days as three separate feasts, each independent of the other. But nothing could be further from the truth. The Sacred Triduum of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil form a single feast whereby we celebrate the Paschal Mystery. This means that the ideal is to attend all three celebrations rather than one or two of them. Moreover, the ideal is to celebrate the Sacred Triduum in the same church with the same congregation rather than in different churches with different congregations. Why is this so?
The Sacred Triduum is the way in which we enter into the Paschal Mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection. It is not a mere remembrance of something that happened in the past; it is our participation in the on-going mystery of Christ’s saving death and life-giving resurrection. By participating in the Sacred Triduum we sacramentally share in Christ’s death and resurrection. United with Christ, we die to the power of Sin over our life. United with Christ, we rise in the Spirit to his resurrection life.
The Sacred Triduum—our celebration of the Paschal Mystery—is the highpoint of the Church’s liturgical year. There is no other feast, not even Christmas, the is more important. The Sacred Triduum is a single feast that is interrupted at two points so that we can reflect upon what we are celebrating.
Good Friday is not a separate feast from Holy Thursday and the Easter Vigil, and the Easter Vigil is not a separate feast from Holy Thursday and Good Friday. These three days form a single feast that is interrupted at two moments (after Holy Thursday and after Good Friday) so that we can digest what we celebrating.
If we fully understood the importance of the Sacred Triduum, we would have to sell tickets to secure our seat! If we fully grasped the meaning of the Sacred Triduum there would not be sufficient space to accommodate us at St. Mary’s Church. This would be a happy problem. Unfortunately, it is not the reality in most parishes.
(I continue this column on the Sacred Triduum in my column dated March 19th) with a description of the three days that make up this single feast. Reserve your ticket to the most important feast of the church’s year. This is what we have been preparing for all Lent; this is the most profound celebration of our Christian life. This is our foretaste of what is to come.