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Liturgy: The Church's Spirituality
Bruce T. Morrill, S.J.
THE EASTER TRIDUUM:
HEART OF THE CHURCH’S LITURGY,
HIGHLIGHT OF ITS YEAR
So, when does Lent end?
While Roman Catholics would seem to be universally aware of Lent’s
start with Ash Wednesday, chances are that vast numbers would stumble
on this question, assuming—incorrectly—that Lent ends
with the arrival of Easter Sunday. On the contrary, Lent is over
when the Church begins its celebration of the Evening Mass of the
Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday night. With this Mass the Church
enters into a three-day liturgy, one great liturgical symphony with
several movements spanning Friday, Saturday, and ending with evening
prayer (vespers) on Easter Sunday. The Easter Triduum (three days)
comprises the most important ritual act of worship the Church does
and, thus, constitutes the highlight of the liturgical year. In
the course of the liturgies of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the
Easter Vigil, the people of God participate with solemn festivity
in the Church’s most intense expression of the paschal mystery,
that is, the revelation of Jesus’ passing over from death
into new life as the source and pattern of our lives.
Holy Thursday
Perhaps the biggest ritual
clue on Holy Thursday that we are no longer in the Season of Lent
comes early in the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper, when
the assembled faithful sing the Gloria, accompanied by the festive
ringing of bells. The Church raises its heart in joyous praise
to God for the incomparable gift of the Eucharist, which Jesus bequeathed
to us as the everlasting memorial of his life, death, and resurrection.
At every Eucharist, the gathered Church encounters Christ in the
mystery of Word and Sacrament until he comes again in glory. In
the special annual commemoration of the first Eucharist, the Church
manifests the meaning of Christ’s sacramental presence in terms
of charity, love, and service to one another. The gospel reading
is John’s account of Jesus’ washing his disciples feet.
At the conclusion of the homily, the presiding minister washes the
feet of several people from the assembly. The inextricable bond
between worshiping God in the Eucharist and worshiping God through
our daily lives is further highlighted at the beginning the Liturgy
of the Eucharist. The assembly takes up a collection exclusively
for the poor and, as the altar table is set, sings the ancient,
traditional hymn for this liturgy, “Where Charity and Love
Are Found, There Is God.”
That our celebration of
the Easter Triduum is one long, continuous liturgy becomes markedly
evident in the way the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper concludes
with the transfer of the Holy Eucharist to a special chapel of reservation.
Adequate supplies of the body and blood of Christ are consecrated
on Holy Thursday evening to provide for communion on Good Friday,
a day when the Church does not celebrate Mass, as well as to be
able to minister the Eucharist as viaticum, should any of the faithful
approach death in the coming two days. People may stay on Thursday
night to pray and meditate before the reserved Blessed Sacrament,
with the opportunity to do so continuing through the following day.
Good Friday is a solemn day of fasting, in penitential reverence
for Christ in his suffering and death. In confirming this great
fast the Second Vatican Council also encouraged those faithful who
are able to continue it through Holy Saturday. The latter is an
act not only of personal piety but also of solidarity with the
Elect,
who are keeping watch for their initiation into the Easter Sacraments
(baptism, confirmation, and Eucharist) at the Easter Vigil.
Good Friday
As already indicated, the
liturgy on Good Friday afternoon or evening is not a Mass. It is,
rather, a celebration of the Lord’s Passion, an act of solemn
intercession for the Church and the world, and a ritual of veneration
of the Cross as the tree of life, our salvation. The Liturgy of
the Word begins abruptly in silence and prayer. To the proclamation
of Christ’s Passion, the Church responds with ten profound
intercessions, taking an extended amount of time on its knees to
bring a Church and world so much in need of God’s grace confidently
to the God whose grace has been revealed as boundless mercy and
forgiveness in Christ. Human reverence for this divine mystery
overflows in ritual, as the assembly approaches one large cross
brought into its midst and venerates it with kisses or other gestures.
Holy communion is shared before departing in silence. The liturgy
of the Easter Triduum continues.
Easter Vigil
On Holy Saturday night
the Easter Vigil is precisely that—a night-watch for the dawning
of salvation in Christ’s resurrection. For this reason, the
Vigil is to start after dark (well after sunset). Comprised of
four consecutive liturgies, the Vigil is the greatest ritual act
of worship in the Church’s year—the climax of the Triduum.
The Vigil begins solemnly with the Service of Light. Gathered outside,
the Church blesses a great fire, powerfully drawing all into the
primordial origins of creation and redemption, light dispelling
darkness, Word creating world, Christ the Alpha (the world’s
origin) and the Omega (its end). The faithful process into the
church building, each carrying candles lit from the one flame of
Christ, and settle in for the Liturgy of the Word A series of
seven Old Testament readings, each followed by a psalm and prayer,
narrates the history of salvation. The Gloria is then sung to the
ringing of bells, followed by the proclamation of St. Paul’s
famous description (in Romans) of baptism as our dying with Christ
so as to rise with him. Alleluias greet the Gospel reading and
preaching. Then follows the Liturgy of Baptism, the profound sacramental
moment for the Elect who finally pass through the waters of death
into life, are sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit in the oil
of chrism, and lead the assembly to the Table of the Eucharist.
The Liturgy of the Eucharist is bright with the joy of the newly
baptized sharing for the first time in the sacramental body and
blood of the Lord. Done robustly and beautifully, the Easter Vigil
can last up to several hours.
During Easter Day
most parishes celebrate one or more Masses. While the Easter Triduum
closes with the celebration of Vespers or Evening Prayer on Sunday,
this liturgy of psalms and canticles has yet to be recovered widely
in the life of the American Catholic Church.
Jesuit Father Bruce
Morrill teaches in the Department of Theology at Boston
College.
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