Solemn Days, Unusual Ceremonies

By Fr. Patrick Arens

For the days of his saving passion and glorious Resurrection are approaching.” These words are from the preface to the Eucharistic Prayer for Masses during Holy Week. With these words, we acknowledge the greatest days of the liturgical year are upon us.

In order to be prepared for these days and our participation in the Sacred Triduum (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday) leading to Easter Sunday, it’s good for us to review some of the unique ceremonies of these most hallowed days and think about what the liturgy is trying to reveal to us and inspire in us through these rituals.

A focal point for these days is the Altar of Sacrifice. The altar is a primary symbol of Christ and is always covered with at least one white cloth except during the Triduum.

Mass begins as usual on Holy Thursday, but the Mass ends in quite an unusual way. After Mass, the Holy Eucharist is carried in procession to the Altar of Repose. Here, all are invited to spend time in prayer with our Lord and commemorate His prayer in the garden on the eve of His suffering.

Then something happens that is also unique on this liturgical day. After the procession, the altar is stripped, and its cloths, candles and cross are removed. The altar remains bare after the Mass until the Communion Rite of the Good Friday liturgy.

Through the centuries, liturgical commentators have speculated as to the meaning of this gesture. On Holy Thursday night, Christ was abandoned by his followers. The stripping of the altar symbolizes that Christ is now deserted as He faces His persecutors, and everything is taken away from him. Christ himself will be denied His last earthly possession as he goes to the cross and in doing so will reveal that his true glory is not in the things of this world.

Another very familiar liturgical element that is modified during the Sacred Triduum is the use of bells. Throughout the centuries, bells have called people to prayer, announced feast days and celebrations, and focused the attention of worshippers on the consecration of the Host and Chalice at Mass.

At the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, the church bells are rung during the signing of the Gloria and the whole community is alerted to the beginning of the Sacred Triduum. Then, they are silenced. Both church bells and altar bells will not be used again until the Gloria of the Easter Vigil Mass.

The quieting of the bells evokes a sense of mourning. The Church silences one of its most recognizable symbols of festivity and celebration. There is an eerie stillness that befalls the neighborhood when the familiar bells are not heard at the usual times. Everyone knows something is different about these most sacred days.

In some places, a wooden clacker or noisemaker replaces the use of the bells at the elevation of the Host and Chalice during the Holy Thursday Mass. Here, the beautiful and harmonious sound of the bells is replaced with a noise that resembles nails being driven into wood. It is another striking symbol which impresses upon us the somber tone of these solemn days.

Finally, one of the most notable features of the Triduum is its use of the tabernacle. The liturgy directs that the tabernacle be empty at the beginning of the Mass for Holy Thursday. This is a powerful reminder that the Last Supper was indeed the first Mass, and before this, the sacramental presence of the Eucharist did not exist. After the Good Friday service, the tabernacle remains empty, symbolizing that on Good Friday our Lord died and descended into hell. Coming into church and seeing the tabernacle empty with its door open is a feature that most will notice immediately and may be the first indicator that these days are different from all others.

Here we treat just three liturgical prescriptions for the Sacred Triduum and they teach us much about the sacrifice of our Lord. The more we are aware of these things, the deeper we can enter into the reality of what is taking place before our eyes.

Using these sacred signs, the mystery of God’s presence becomes tangible for us and we can participate in the very same events that brought us salvation. May the Sacred Triduum be for us all a fruitful and glorious celebration, as we are truly present at the suffering, death, and resurrection of our Lord.

Fr. Patrick Arens is the Director of Divine Worship for the Diocese of Winona-Rochester.