While many churches recognize Good Friday and Maundy Thursday, an ancient tradition dating back to the early Church has been largely lost. That is, “The Great Three Days”. The Great Three Days are the holiest of times in the Christian calendar and could even be considered the point from which the rest of the year is based. They start with Maundy Thursday, the day the Last Supper and the trial of Jesus are commemorated. Next, Good Friday is a very solemn occasion remembering Christ’s death on the cross. Lastly, Holy Saturday ends with a service at night (sometimes ending after midnight), which is also known as the Easter Vigil, celebrating Christ’s return from the dead.
What looks like three very different services are in fact, one continuing service—“the Great Triduum”—with breaks between them for rest, prayer, and necessary activities. Because the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus are not three separate events, but one event, integral and indivisible, the services of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday/Easter Day are not three separate services but one service, integral and indivisible, celebrated over three days. The word triduum (“three days”) was first used by Augustine to express the essential unity of this single, three-day service. There is no better spiritual or emotional preparation for the joy of Easter than to participate fully in the Great Triduum. All of the meaning and drama of the liturgy throughout the year find their primary source in Holy Week.
Preparing three services in a row (four, including Easter Sunday) is A LOT for a pastor, and it is a lot for a congregation as well. Sermons should be kept short, with a laser-like focus on each days’ events. Hymns should be just as focused—no singing Easter hymns before the Easter Vigil. Build the sense of yearning in the congregation. It might help to ease the strain if all other church events are cancelled during Holy Week. The congregation needs to know that the Great Triduum is of special import. As part of the triduum, the services of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday are not optional extras for the very devout, but essential elements of the entire service, just as opening worship and prayers are to any regular service.
