Holy Week
Maundy Thursday
Maundy Thursday
April 6, 2023
7:30 p.m.
Holy Eucharist and Stripping of the Altar
Maundy Thursday is the service in which we recall and celebrate the night Christ instituted a New Covenant with His Church during the Last Supper.
The service ends in a somber tone as we relive the betrayl and arrest of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. It is from this garden that Christ is led away to his trial and crucifixion. The service ends with the stripping of the Altar and all ornaments from the church. The vigil candle (which burns all year) is removed as the sacrament, which is normally reserved in the aumbry behind the altar, is removed and reserved in Side Chapel. The lights are then lowered and the congregation exits in silence, but the service does not end.
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The Altar of Repose
April 6 - April 7
9:00 P.M. – 10:00 A.M.
The worship service of Maundy Thursday continues all night as a vigil is kept in the Chapel. The vigil is meant to mimic Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane before his arrest. As he prays, Jesus finds His disciples asleep and says to Peter, “So, could you not stay awake with me one hour?" (Matthew 26:40). For this reason, as disciples of Christ, we stay awake with Jesus through the night, taking shifts, in which we pray and reflect on the mystery of the cross
The Altar of Repose
Good Friday
Good Friday
April 7
10:00 a.m. Stations of the Cross
Noon: Good Friday Service with Communion from the reserved sacrament
7:30 p.m. Good Friday Service
with the sung Good Friday Anthems with viola
and Communion from the reserved sacrament.
This is the day in which we reflect on the death of Christ on the cross and the meaning and power of that holy event.
At 10:00 a.m. we will observe the devotional of the Stations of the Cross. This is a short interactive service where we will walk around the church as a group and relive the path that Jesus took as he walked to his death.
At Noon and 7:30 p.m. there is an opportunity to participate in the Good Friday liturgy where we again recall the death of Christ on the Cross and pray for the Church and the world. During this service the remains of the Communion from the previous night are consumed.
The Easter Vigil
April 8
8:00 p.m.
The Great Vigil of Easter is considered to be one of the most Sacred services of the Church. As the first celebration of Easter, the Vigil symbolizes our movement from the darkness of Good Friday to the light of Easter Day. The Service is very elaborate, beginning with a large fire and the rekindling of the flame symbolic of the light of Christ. It continues with multiple readings by candlelight, incense, Baptism, chanting, asperges, and Holy Communion. A Chocolate and Champagne reception follows the service.
The Easter Vigil
Easter Day
Easter Day
April 9
6:30 a.m. Sunrise Service
with guitar and hymns
(in the parish hall facing the garden
due to weather)
8:45 a.m. Festive Choral Eucharist
with Brass, choir, and hymns
10:15 a.m. Egg Hunt
(postponed until April 16 following the 10:15 service - due to weather)
11:15 a.m. Festive Choral Eucharist
with Brass, choir, and hymns
The celebration of Easter is certainly the holiest and most powerful service we celebrate in the life of the Church. It is the day we remember the story does not simply end with the grave but continues in the resurrection of Jesus. It is a moment for us to give thanks for all our Lord did for us when he suffered on the cross and to remember that, “if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his” (Romans 6:5).