Holy Week: Maundy Thursday
Maundy Thursday, also known as Holy Thursday, Covenant Thursday, Great and Holy Thursday, and Thursday of Mysteries, is the Christian feast or holy day falling on the Thursday before Easter that commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles.
In the Christian Gospels, the Last Supper (also called the Mystical Supper) was the last meal Jesus shared with his Twelve Apostles and disciples before his death. According to what Paul the Apostle recounted in 1 Corinthians 11:23–26, in the course of the Last Supper, and with specific reference to eating bread and drinking from a cup, Jesus told his disciples, “Do
this in remembrance of me.” Christians describe this as the “Institution of the Eucharist.”
It is the fifth day of Holy Week, and followed by Good Friday. The date is always between 19 March and 22 April inclusive. These dates in the Julian calendar, on which Eastern churches in general base their calculations of the date of Easter, correspond throughout the twenty-first century to 1 April and 5 May in the more commonly used Gregorian calendar. In 2010 it falls on 1 April.
The Mass of the Lord’s Supper initiates the Easter Triduum, the three days of Friday, Saturday and Sunday that commemorate the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus. It is normally celebrated in the evening when, according to Jewish tradition, Friday begins.
The Washing of the Feet is a traditional component of the celebration in many Christian Churches. After the homily, the washing of feet may be performed. The service concludes with a procession taking the Blessed Sacrament to the place of reposition (Altar of Repose) — the place where the Communion hosts, consecrated in the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, are reserved
for Holy Communion on the following day, which is Good Friday. This is the day on which the death of Christ is observed liturgically and Mass is not celebrated, so communion must be given from Hosts consecrated on the previous day.
The altar is later stripped bare. The altar remains completely bare, without cross, candlesticks, or altar cloths. In pre-1970 editions, the Roman Missal envisages this being done ceremonially, to the accompaniment of Psalm 21/22, a practice which continues in many Anglican churches. In other Christian denominations, such as the Lutheran Church or Methodist
Church, the stripping of the altar, and other items on the chancel, also occurs, as a preparation for the somber Good Friday service.
Holy Week: Good Friday
Good Friday, also called Holy Friday, Black Friday, Great Friday, is a holiday observed by Christians commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, his death at Calvary. The holiday is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday, and often coincides with the Jewish observance of Passover.
Based on the scriptural details of the Sanhedrin Trial of Jesus, the Crucifixion of Jesus was most probably on a Friday. The estimated year of Good Friday is AD 33, by two different groups, and originally as AD 34 by Isaac Newton via the differences between the Biblical and Julian calendars and the crescent of the moon.
A third method, using a completely different astronomical approach based on a lunar Crucifixion darkness and eclipse model (consistent with Apostle Peter’s reference to a “moon of blood” in Acts 2:20) arrives at the same date, namely Friday April 3, AD 33.
After an all night trial before Jewish authorities condemning Jesus to death, the Roman Governor Pontius Pilate has Jesus flogged. and then brings him out to the crowd to release him. The charges did support any further punishment, and Pilate view the charges as being false, anyway. However, the chief priests informed Pilate of a new charge, demanding Jesus be sentenced
to death “because he claimed to be God’s son.”
Coming before the crowd one last time, Pilate declares Jesus innocent, washing his own hands in water to show he has no part in this condemnation.
Nevertheless, Pilate hands Jesus over to be crucified in order to forestall a riot (Matthew 27:24-26), and ultimately to keep his job. The sentence written is “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.”
During his last 3 hours on the cross, from noon to 3pm, there is darkness over the whole land. With a loud cry, Jesus gives up his spirit. There is an earthquake, tombs break open, and the curtain in the Temple is torn from top to bottom. The centurion on guard at the site of crucifixion declares, “Truly this was God’s Son!” (Matthew 27:45-54).
Joseph of Arimathea takes the body of Jesus, wraps it in a clean linen shroud, and places it in his own new tomb that had been carved in the rock (Matthew 27:59-60) in a garden near the site of crucifixion. Nicodemus (John 3:1) also came bringing 75 pounds of myrrh and aloes, and places them in the linen with the body of Jesus, according to Jewish burial customs (John 19:39-40).
They rolled a large rock over the entrance of the tomb (Matthew 27:60). Then they returned home and rested, because at sunset began Shabbat (Luke 23:54-56). On the third day, Sunday, which is now known as Easter Sunday (or Pascha), Jesus rose from the dead.
See Special Report: Is There A Case For The Resurrection of Jesus? http://www.majorreligions.com/book_special_reports_major_religions.php
Holy Week: Easter Day
HE IS RISEN!
Go to the link below for an article on Easter:
http://www.majorreligions.com/christianity_easter.php
As seen on a sign attached to a small church somewhere in England:
Happy Easter to our Christian friends
Happy Passover to our Jewish friends
To our atheist friends: GOOD LUCK!
