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HOLY WEEK AT ALL
SAINTS' CHURCH
Sunday 16th March
- Saturday 22nd March 2008
Holy week is the week preceding
Easter, beginning with Palm (Passion) Sunday. It marks the
Church's annual celebration of the events of Christ's
Passion, death, and Resurrection, culminating in the Paschal
Mystery on Holy Saturday. Explore each day in Holy Week in
more detail by clicking on the links below each image.
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Palm Sunday |
Sunday 16th March
2008 |
 Palm
Sunday marks the beginning of the most solemn
week of the Christian year.
The Mass began with
the singing of the Introit as the Altar entered
through the West Door, the Priests clothed in red
vestments, indicating the sacrificial aspect of the
occasion. At the head of the nave, the Gospel
was read and the Palms were blessed. As the organ
sounded the opening bars of the ancient Palm Sunday
hymn, ‘All Glory, laud and honour’, the procession
of the faithful, which is obligatory on this day,
set out and made a ‘figure of eight’ pattern all
around the church.
[Read
the full article] |
HOLY WEEK: The
Tridiuum
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Maundy Thursday:
Watch Until Midnight |
Thursday 20th
March 2008 |
 The
final three days of Holy Week are considered to be
the most solemn days of the Christian calendar.
The Tridiuum, as it is known, begins on Maundy
Thursday with the celebration of the Mass of the
Lord’s Supper. This is the remembrance of the final
meal which Our Lord Jesus ate with His disciples
and during which He instituted the sacrament of the
Holy Eucharist.
At All Saints’, the Mass is solemn and dignified.
An altar is set at the head of the nave, in order to
eliminate any feeling of distance or remoteness and
to draw the congregation into an intimate
celebration, reflecting the event of the Last
Supper.
[Read
the full article] |
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Good Friday |
Friday 21st March 2008 |
 Desolation
and confusion are perfect descriptions for the
feelings of those who comes into All Saints’ Church
on Good Friday. That which is familiar,
tangible and comforting, is gone – no statues, no
crosses or crucifixes, no ornaments, candles or
altar frontals. No focus for devotion is to be seen
and the building looks bare. The Blessed Sacrament,
‘tabernacled’ within the enclosure of the mediaeval
Anchorhold, is hidden away.
The Stations of the
Cross, sometimes so easily overlooked, advance
across the walls of the North and South Aisles and
remain as some huge demonstrative reminder as to the
significance of the day – the suffering and death of
the Lord.
[Read
the full article] |
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Holy Saturday:
The Easter Vigil |
Saturday 22nd
March 2008 |
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 The
Easter Vigil began with the sound of footsteps in
the darkness as the Serving party and the
Priests made their way to the back of the church.
The weather had made it impossible to safely light
the new fire outside. The fire was lit from a spark
struck from a flint and the words of blessing were
spoken. The Paschal Candle, having been inscribed
with a cross, the date and the symbols Alpha and
Omega, was lit from the new fire and, as it was
raised, its’ light caught the faces of the
congregation who had been waiting patiently in the
darkness of the South Aisle. The Candle moved to
the area of the font where the first proclamation
was made and more candles were lit.
[Read
the full article] |
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