Holy Week is the week the whole liturgical year is built around. It opens with Palm Sunday, when the Church enters Jerusalem with Christ and then hears the story of his Passion, and it culminates in the Easter Triduum, the three days from the evening of Holy Thursday to Easter Sunday evening that the Church celebrates as one single liturgy of the Lord's death and resurrection. Nothing else in the year is like it, and no one who has kept it fully is unmoved. This guide walks through the week in order so that you can arrange your life around it rather than fitting it in.

What you need

• Your parish's Holy Week schedule, including the Chrism Mass at the cathedral
• Time off or an early finish on Holy Thursday and Good Friday if you can arrange it
• A plan for the Good Friday fast and, if possible, the Holy Saturday fast
• Comfortable shoes; several of the liturgies involve standing and processions

When to pray it

From Palm Sunday to Holy Saturday. The Triduum liturgies are the evening Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday, the Celebration of the Passion on Good Friday (usually around three in the afternoon), and the Easter Vigil after nightfall on Holy Saturday.

Steps

1. 1

   Step 1: Palm Sunday: enter Jerusalem and hear the Passion

   Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord begins, where possible, outside or at the church door with the blessing of palms and the Gospel of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, followed by a procession into the church while the people sing. Hold your palm up during the blessing and carry it in the procession. The Mass then turns sharply: the Passion according to Matthew, Mark or Luke, depending on the year, is read, often with the congregation taking the crowd's lines. Take your palm home and place it behind a crucifix or holy picture; it is a blessed object, and when it is replaced it should be burned or buried, not thrown away.

Tips

• The three Triduum liturgies are one celebration. Try to attend all three; if you can only manage one, most priests would point you to the Easter Vigil.
• There is no Mass on Good Friday or during the day on Holy Saturday anywhere in the Church; do not be surprised by the empty tabernacle and the bare altar.
• Go to confession early in the week. Many parishes offer extended hours on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and few or none from Thursday on.
• Bring last year's palms back to the parish before Lent; they are burned to make the ashes of Ash Wednesday.

Related devotions

• Stations of the Cross
• The Seven Sorrows of Mary

Related practices

• Fasting