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Join your parish family at the
Sacred Triduum
The Sacred Triduum follows Lent during Holy Week. Triduum means “three days” but is considered one liturgical day –
its own liturgical season. It commemorates Christ’s sacrifice, burial and resurrection, unfolding the Paschal Mystery in
the most sacred days of the church year.
We begin the Triduum by sharing in the sacrificial and banquet feast at the Lord’s Table at the Mass of the Lord’s
Supper on Holy Thursday at 7 p.m.
This liturgy includes feet washing, stemming from Jesus’ mandate to “love one another,”
which he demonstrated by washing his disciple’s feet that evening and the next day by dying
on the cross. This example of servanthood moves us to a profound Communion. After
Communion, the priest and assembly process with the Blessed Sacrament to the parish hall, where they watch with the
Lord in adoration until midnight.
The Triduum continues on Good Friday with the Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion at 7 p.m., which focuses on Christ’s
suffering, death and burial.
It begins in silence and ends in silence. No Mass is celebrated on Good Friday, a custom from the
earliest days of Christianity. This solemn liturgy begins with scripture, including Christ’s passion
according to St. John. The faithful venerate the cross, bringing their own lives to the foot of the
cross and offer themselves as Christ did for us. The liturgy ends with Holy Communion, reserved
from Holy Thursday.
Easter begins with the Easter Vigil at 7:30 p.m., the first celebration of Christ’s resurrection.
The people and the priest gather around the Easter fire, each lighting a candle from that fire
and processing into the dark church. A succession of scriptures proclaims the faith story from
creation in Genesis to Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, which explains that Christ’s death gave us
new life. The Rites of Initiation are celebrated with the entire congregation, which sings and
prays together in a way unlike other liturgies. The initiates then fully partake in the Liturgy of
the Eucharist with the entire congregation. The Triduum ends on Easter Sunday, which also
celebrates Christ’s resurrection. Easter Sunday Masses at 7, 9 and 11 a.m.
Pope Pius XII restored the Triduum in 1955 after years of disuse, returning to practices of the early church.