Holy Week

Holy Week, in the Christian church, the week between Palm Sunday and Easter, observed with special solemnity as a time of devotion to the Passion of Jesus Christ. Commemorating the final days of Jesus’ earthly life, Holy Week traces events from his triumphal entry into Jerusalem through his suffering, crucifixion, and burial, culminating in the anticipation of the Resurrection on Easter. Marked by distinctive liturgies, processions, observances, and acts of reflection that vary across Christian traditions, the week serves as the most sacred period of the liturgical year. The days of Holy Week are:

• Palm Sunday, commemorating Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem
• Holy Monday, commemorating Jesus’ cleansing of the temple
• Holy Tuesday, commemorating Jesus’ teaching in parables
• Holy Wednesday (also called Good Wednesday or Spy Wednesday), commemorating Judas’s betrayal
• Maundy Thursday (also called Holy Thursday), commemorating the institution of the Eucharist
• Good Friday, commemorating the Passion and death of Christ
• Holy Saturday, commemorating Christ’s burial and his triumphant descent into hell

History

Originally, only Good Friday and Holy Saturday were observed as holy days. Later, Wednesday was added, in commemoration of the day on which Judas Iscariot plotted to betray Jesus. By the beginning of the 3rd century the other days of the week had been added as holy days. The pre-Nicene church—i.e., before the First Council of Nicaea in 325—concentrated its attention on the celebration of one great feast on the night between Saturday and Easter Sunday morning. This feast was celebrated as the Christian Passover, the Jewish holiday commemorating the Hebrews’ liberation from slavery in Egypt.

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By the later 4th century the practice had begun of separating the various events of the final week of Jesus’ life and commemorating them on the days on which they occurred. The name Holy Week was used in the 4th century by St. Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, and St. Epiphanius of Constantia. In the Greek and Roman liturgical books, it is called the Great Week because great deeds were done by God during this week. In Eastern churches, Holy Week is preceded by Lazarus Saturday, which celebrates the raising of Lazarus of Bethany and marks the end of Great Lent.

On November 16, 1955, the Holy Week observances in the Roman Missal were revised according to the decree Maxima Redemptionis, issued by Pope Pius XII, to restore the services to the time of day corresponding to that of the events discussed in scripture. In 2016 the observances were revised again in the decree In Missa in Cena Domini, issued by Pope Francis, to allow women and girls to participate in the foot-washing ritual on Maundy Thursday. Prior to this decree, the ritual was restricted to men and boys.