The Sacred Triduum

Tomorrow is Holy Thursday.

The three days from Holy Thursday to Easter Sunday – which we call the Sacred Triduum – are the holiest days of the Church year for the Catholic Church.  And I have always thought the Triduum liturgies are the most beautiful of any services I have attended.

I should say “liturgy” rather than “liturgies.”  As my friend Fr. Dan Griffith explained in a letter to parishioners of Our Lady of Lourdes, “The Triduum is one feast and one continuous liturgy that takes place at the beginning of Holy Thursday and culminates with the Easter Vigil.  The days are meant to be experienced together as continuous.” (This is why there is no final blessing and sending forth after the Holy Thursday and Good Friday services.)

Many people, I know, have jobs that prevent them from participating in the entire Triduum.  But for those who are able to do so, give yourself the gift of attending your parish’s Triduum service this year.  I agree with Fr. Dan that, “For those who have experience the Triduum, the joy of Easter takes on a new meaning when we have journeyed from the upper room, to the foot of the cross to the empty tomb on Sunday morning.

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