The Hidden Days of Holy Week

The Hidden Days of Holy Week

By Colleen Dean, Contributing Writer

As Lent comes to a close, our hearts and minds are naturally drawn toward the solemn Mass of Holy Thursday, which marks the beginning of the sacred Triduum and culminates in the celebration of Easter Sunday.

But there is more to Holy Week than just these final three days. The Church gives us several days beforehand to spiritually reflect on the mysteries we are about to enter. So how do we prepare our hearts in between to adjust from the joy of Palm Sunday to the tragedy of the Passion?

In these last few days of the Lenten season, the Gospel readings guide us through Christ’s final moments before His Passion and death. During this time, we are encouraged to recommit ourselves to fasting, prayer, and almsgiving as a way of drawing nearer to Jesus as His earthly ministry comes to a close.

Holy Monday: Almsgiving

It begins with a return to Scripture, for it is always through God’s Word that we find both intentionality and deeper symbolic meaning in our faith.

The Gospel on Holy Monday tells of Mary and Martha tending to Jesus, the apostles, and the newly raised Lazarus. This gathering takes place in Bethany, a place of rest for Jesus before entering Jerusalem for His Passion. The presence of Lazarus during this meeting is immediately indicative of what is to come, as Christ’s death and Resurrection would bring many souls to life again, including those who were literally raised from the dead.

During the meal, Mary anoints Jesus’ feet with a costly perfume and is criticized by the covetous Judas Iscariot, who asks why she did not sell it for money instead of wasting it on Jesus. This foreshadows his greed and ambition when he thinks so little of his master that he would sell Him for thirty pieces of silver.

Jesus’ reply to Judas is brief but foretelling:

Jesus’ words speak volumes about what is to come, and moreover how we can prepare ourselves for His death and departure from this life.

Even after His Resurrection, He remains present only for a short time before returning to His Father. When He ascends into Heaven, He charges His followers to be His witnesses to the ends of the earth.

Holy Tuesday: Fasting

Holy Tuesday brings the foreshadowing of Peter’s denial of Christ. In the Gospel, Jesus gives him the infamous warning:

Jesus calls us this Lent to fast from temptations or near occasions of sin that lead us away from Him. By laying down our lives of material comfort and turning instead toward His outstretched arms, we embrace a life made not for this world, but for the next.

St. Peter is a wonderful example of this for us, as we persevere in our final days of Lenten fasting. A saint known for his shortcomings, he often fell victim to temptation, doubt, and fear. But each time he sinned, he turned back to the Lord and sought forgiveness, repenting of his offenses.

Even after he denied Christ on the night of His Passion, he returned to strengthen the apostles and lead them after Christ’s Resurrection and Ascension. It is through St. Peter’s struggles that he finds his greatest strength—and where we too can find hope for ourselves. 

Though we may have fallen down once or twice this Lent in our resolutions, it is important that we dust ourselves off and strive for one final push to remain faithful in our intention to draw closer to the Lord through our fasting and self-denial.

Holy Wednesday: Prayer

Many churches today offer what is called a Tenebrae service on Holy Wednesday. Latin for “darkness,” the Tenebrae service was historically a time of prayer said every night of the Triduum and is indicative of Christ’s upcoming death.

During the service, a Tenebrae hearse holding fifteen candles is gradually extinguished, until one candle remains. Each light is put out in sequence with the readings, which follow the chronology of the Triduum, beginning with the Matins and Lauds prayers of the Divine Office, including psalms, antiphons, and readings that foretell the events of Holy Week.

After the final lesson, the lone candle is extinguished, leaving the church in complete darkness. A loud noise is often made, usually by the priest closing a book or the altar servers knocking on pews. This is to symbolize the earthquake that occurred at the moment of Christ’s death and His descent into Hell.

It is a truly beautiful and symbolic prayer service, unlike any other experience the Church offers. Tenebrae provides us with one more chance to meditate on Christ’s Passion and to draw closer to the Lord in a time of reverence and prayer before He is taken from the world.

This Lent, let us all be intentional through almsgiving, fasting, and prayer to prepare our hearts for the coming of the holiest of days: our sacred Triduum.

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Colleen Dean is passionate about evangelizing secular culture through the written word. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and a master’s degree in Catholic Studies from Franciscan University of Steubenville. Her work has been published in The Washington Examiner, The College Fix, and Lone Conservative.

Colleen lives in Ohio with her husband and son. In her free time, she enjoys exploring nature and spending time with her family.