Holy Week and the Triduum

We've gathered some resources to help your family can celebrate Holy Week and the Triduum at home here.

The Liturgy of Light

The Resurrection is such a great mystery that a celebration is required if we are to really begin to grasp its meaning. 

The Easter Season

Did you know that Easter is not just one day?  Easter is such a great feast it's been said that we can't fit it all into one day, and so our Church has generously given us eight days to celebrate Our Lord's resurrection!

The Octave of Easter refers to the eight days from Easter Sunday to the end of the following Sunday, which is known as Divine Mercy Sunday, or the Second Sunday of Easter. Octave means ‘eight.’ So Easter is a whole week. Each day of this Easter week is a solemnity, each is considered to be another Easter, and thus a feast day! Even the abstinence typically observed on Fridays during the year is suspended on Easter Friday!

We also speak of the Season of Easter, or Eastertide.  This refers to the 50 days from Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of Our Lord until Pentecost Sunday, the birthday of the Church. The Paschal candle is kept near the altar and lit for Mass during the Season of Easter.  After Pentecost Sunday it is moved to its permanent location, usually near the Baptismal Font, where it remains until next Easter Sunday.

So remember - Easter is not just one day!  It is eight days of feasting and it is 50 days of joyful celebration!