Celebrating Holy Week and Easter at home

The study of Church history reveals that there were many times throughout the ages when Catholics were forced to celebrate their faith and their holy days in their private homes, “underground” if you will. For various reasons, these Christians were shut out of public access to their churches, the Sacraments, public worship of the Church and easy access to fellow believers. In our time, we’re tempted to think that what we’re going through with coronavirus quarantine is unique and that our Church is without living memory of the practice of Christianity-in-private. For example, not so very long ago, during the years of Communist repression, European Catholics kept their faith alive in unique and creative ways, away from public scrutiny. It’s amazing that their faith didn’t falter during those difficult times. They kept on practicing, kept their prayer and traditions alive, and they waited for days of liberation.

What they did was to keep closely to the liturgical calendar of the Church. They kept alive Advent, Christmas, Lent, Holy Week and Easter traditions at home, as individuals and families. They read the slated Scriptures that would have been publicly proclaimed in their parishes if public worship had been allowed. They had special dinners and baked special treats connected to feast days. They fasted when they should have. They taught their children about the meaning of these things. Most importantly, they took all that they could for discussion and prayer from the scheduled texts and rites from the Sunday and Feast Day Masses as they were prescribed in the Church calendar.

This coming Holy Week and Easter Triduum will be very different for us Catholics. We find ourselves in the same situation as the “underground Church” although for a more benign reason. In spite of it, we should take a tip from these persecuted Catholics and do the same as they did.
Get hold of a Missal that contains the Scripture readings for this upcoming Paschal season. You can also access many liturgical resources online. Try to secure resources ahead of time which contain the beautiful prayers and rites of each of the upcoming feasts. Be sure to secure renditions of the sacred music and hymns unique to this season. There are countless recordings available of the Eucharistic hymns for Holy Thursday, the somber melodies of Good Friday and the victorious hymns of Easter. (Who would not want to sing “Were you there when they crucified my Lord?” on Good Friday?)

I have another suggestion. Set up a “Home Worship Space” some place where you and your family can see it easily in your own home. Create a dedicated spot — maybe in the center of your dining room table — and there place a Bible, a crucifix, a large white candle, a container with water, a twig representing palm, a container of wine and a piece of bread and, if possible, a fresh flower in water. Each of these are symbols of the various events of Holy Week: the twig for Palm Sunday, the wine and bread for Holy Thursday, the crucifix for Good Friday, the large white candle, the water and the fresh flower for Easter Sunday. Specific passages from the Scriptures should be bookmarked so they can be read as each Feast Day is celebrated.

As we all long for the time when we can gather around the Table of the Lord for Mass in our parish churches once again, we Catholics soldier on. The astounding beauty of the upcoming Paschal Feasts cries out for celebration. We have been saved by an act of incredible grace! Jesus, our Savior, died and rose for us!  How can we keep our hearts from singing — even if we have to sing at home this year?!

Father Thomas Morrette is pastor at St. Mary’s, Glens Falls.