3 tips to live Holy Week
Holy Week is the most important liturgical event of the Catholic Church because it is in this week that Jesus Christ redeemed us with his Passion - “Easter is not simply one feast among others, but the "Feast of feasts," the "Solemnity of solemnities" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1169)
For many of us reading this blog post, we will not be able to attend any Ceremonies because of the COVID-19 restrictions. Our ability therefore to truly immerse ourselves in Holy Week is difficult, but where difficulties arise grace abounds all the more (paraphrasing here, Romans 5:20: “where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more”).
St Josemaría had this line where he would say: “Through the mountains, the waters will pass”. Which basically means that even if there might be insurmountable obstacles in our way, the waters will pass and in this case, the waters of God’s grace. So let’s open our arms to this unique moment this year and live Holy Week as best we can. Perhaps because of its own uniqueness, Our Lord will be particularly close to us.
TIP 1 - look at the crucifix
The image of Our Lord’s crucifixion has helped many a saint to be truly and miraculously closer to Jesus Christ.
Place a Crucifix on your desk as you work, or an image on your device and contemplate it slowly, realising more and more the true reality of Christ’s self-giving for love of you. It is a reality. Give yourself time to pray before this Crucifix and read the Passion of Our Lord, slowly savouring the words.
Padre Pio conjures up a beautiful image of Calvary and the many souls united to Christ’s Cross:
“We must keep the eye of faith fixed on Jesus Christ who climbs the hill of Calvary loaded with his Cross, and as he toils painfully up the steep slope of Golgotha we should see him followed by an immense throng of souls carrying their own crosses and treading the same path. Oh, what a beautiful sight this is. Let us fix our mental gaze firmly on it. We see close behind Jesus our most holy Mother, who follows him perfectly, loaded with her own cross. Then comes the Apostles, Martyrs, Doctors, Virgins and Confessors. . .Jesus himself, despite all our unworthiness, has associated us with this beautiful company.” – St Pio of Pietrelcina.
TIP 2 - Do the stations of the Cross
We all know what it’s like to see people - generally older - move around the Church as they do the Stations of the Cross. We may never have done it ourselves, perhaps because of embarrassment or simply because we don’t know how to do it. It is an absolutely beautiful devotion, dating back to the mid-15th Century where pilgrims would follow the footsteps of Christ in Jerusalem.
It is particularly poignant to do it on Good Friday as it truly marks the occasion when Our Lord completed his Passion. Some people like to do it at 3pm on Friday which according to tradition was the time that Christ “bowing his head, he handed over the spirit” (Jn 19:30).
There are some beautiful texts to help you immerse yourself in each scene. The ones that are particularly well known are those that Popes down through the years have asked different people to do every year on Good Friday and would be recited at the Colosseum.
The Stations of the Cross written by Padua Prison (2020) - Link to Text / Link to Media
The Year 2000 Stations of the Cross written by Saint John Paul II are particularly poignant. Link to Text
And then also:
An Audio recitation of The Way of Cross by Fr. Donncha Ó hAodha on St Josemaría Institute website.
TIP 3 - Immerse yourself visually
Holy Week is particularly visual: the washing of the feet and the Last Supper on Holy Thursday, our Lord’s prayer at Getsemani and his Crucifixion on Good Friday, the waiting with our Lady on Holy Saturday and finally the glorious Resurrection of our Lord on Sunday. All this is represented beautifully in the liturgy. As we cannot experience it fully right now because of the various curtailments we are experiencing, we need to try to immerse ourselves in other ways.
The Passion of the Christ (2004) - Film. This is obviously terrible to watch but sometimes we need to be cognisant of the harrowing reality of the Passion. We can sometimes sanitise it but it was the worst suffering that any human being could have suffered both physically and morally. Nothing can compare to it.
The Chosen (2017) - Film. This is free. You can watch it on their App, YouTube (you can skip the commentary from the director which is at the beginning of every episode) or VidAngel.
Rejoice!
And when you reach Easter Sunday, rejoice! Christ is victorious. Not metaphorically speaking or just a lovely idea to console us, but the Truth. It is a reality, more real than any reality we will ever experience in this life. Christ has won our Heaven. We have nothing to be sad about but only reasons to rejoice! Because only the best is yet to come!
Other Resources
The Way of the Cross by St Josemaría Escriva
St Josemaría Institute is offering a beautiful selection of podcasts, articles, and reflection questions to help guide our prayer during Holy Week, called “Contemplating the Mystery of Christ”. Really nice!