Let us also go : that we may die with HIM

Holy Week & Easter at the Red Roof

Palm Sunday, April 13

9:45 AM
Palm Sunday Matins

10:30 AM
Procession with palms & High Mass

Service times

Maundy Thursday, April 17

5:45 PM
High Mass, with footwashing and stripping of the Altar

From 7:00 PM
Vigil at the Altar of Repose

Good Friday, April 18

12:00 PM
Good Friday Matins, with reflection

1:00 PM
Stations of the Cross

1:45 PM
Mass of the Presanctified,
with veneration of the Cross

Holy Saturday, April 19

8:00 PM
The Great Vigil of Easter, with lighting of new fire, prophecies, blessing of the font, and first Mass of Easter

Easter Day, April 20

9:45 AM
Easter Matins

10:30 AM
Procession & High Mass

I AM the Resurrection and the Life : Believest thou this ?

What is Holy Week?

During this most sacred week of the year, Christians observe the events of Jesus Christ’s betrayal, passion (suffering), death, and resurrection from the dead. At St. John’s, we give thanks to God for these events with special services. Many elements of these services are ancient, practiced by the earliest Christians more than a thousand years ago! We invite you to any and all of our Holy Week services, whether you would like to celebrate with us or simply watch and listen. Every Holy Week is a journey that, though passing through grief, culminates in joy.

Palm Sunday

We remember…

  • Jesus triumphantly entering Jerusalem, where He will be crucified, riding on a donkey

  • Jesus’ abandonment by the crowds who call for His crucifixion

We celebrate by…

  • Distributing palm leaves to the congregation

  • Walking in procession around the church

  • Listening to the story of the Passion (suffering) of Jesus, with the role of the crowds in focus

Maundy Thursday

We remember…

  • Jesus instituting the sacrament of Holy Communion with His disciples at the Last Supper

  • Jesus washing His disciples’ feet as an example of love

  • Jesus’ betrayal and abandonment by His disciples

  • Jesus’ nighttime agony in the Garden of Gethsemane in the face of His impending death

We celebrate by…

  • Receiving Holy Communion with special prayers

  • Washing the feet of 12 volunteers from the congregation

  • Stripping the Altar and sanctuary of all their beautiful decorations

  • Praying at the Altar of Repose throughout the night

Good Friday

We remember…

  • Jesus’ Passion (suffering), crucifixion, death, and burial, which he suffered out of love for the whole world

  • The sorrow, darkness, silence, and emptiness that covered the world when God the Son was put to death

We celebrate by…

  • Receiving Holy Communion from bread and wine set apart the night before

  • Venerating a cross, the symbol of our redemption

  • Praying special prayers for the whole world

  • Listening to the story of the Passion of Jesus, with Jesus’ last words and actions in focus

Holy Saturday

We remember…

  • Jesus’ descent to hell (the place of the dead), where He rescued the captive dead

  • Our, and our forebears’, long anticipation of Jesus’ resurrection, as foreshadowed through many biblical events

  • The moment when the joyful news of Jesus’ resurrection was first discovered

We celebrate by…

  • Lighting a new fire in a smoking pit inside the darkened church

  • Hearing stories by candlelight of God acting to rescue many people in the past

  • Blessing the baptismal font, where people pass from death to life

  • Joyfully and dramatically proclaiming Jesus’ resurrection with loud music, bright lights, incense, and sprinkling of baptismal water

Easter Day

We remember…

  • The women’s discovery of Jesus’ empty tomb

  • The joyous news of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead

We celebrate by…

  • Processing around the church with incense, candles, banners, and the finest designs possible

  • Playing joyful loud music in the church restored to beautiful and extravagant decorations

  • Sprinkling of baptismal water

  • Including the word “alleluia”, not said since before Lent, in many special prayers

Now is CHRIST risen from the dead and become the firstfruits of them that slept