Co-missioners,
On this third day of April we are ten days away from the beginning of Holy Week. With this in mind we send you a little gift we got from Steven Kuhl recently. It’s a piece he wrote thirty years ago for the ELCA’s Greater Milwaukee Synod. There were lots of questions in those days about the Holy Week practices that the liturgical cognoscenti had been urging on Lutheran congregations since at least the late ‘70s, when the Lutheran Book of Worship was published. Steve’s objective in the mid-‘90s was presumably to keep encouraging the adoption of these LBW rites. Classic and ancient they may have been. Even so they were striking lots of people in lots of congregations as newfangled and heady and “not what we grew up with.” Best avoided to put it bluntly.
As you read today, you’ll find Steve laying out the rationale of the Holy Week Triduum. Much of what he says could well be helpful for Lutheran congregations in 2025. If nothing else, it gives all of us a quick and useful preview of what we’ll be hearing and thinking and praying about when we arrive at those days. And since Steve grasps that in most places the Easter Vigil (if there is one) will not be what it’s “supposed” to be, i.e. the congregation’s go-to Easter event, he provides a very useful way of connecting Good Friday to the Sunday morning festival celebrations that continue to be the norm for most U.S. Lutherans.
Peace and Joy,
The Crossings Community
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The Triduum:
Worship Notes on the “Three-day” Service of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil
by Steven C. Kuhl
From the beginning, the Church has seen the event of Christ’s suffering, death and resurrection as the centerpiece of its faith. Accordingly, the Church’s worship reflects this and does so most ingeniously in its classic Holy Week worship. To show the unity of Christ’s redemptive work, the “three services” on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday (the “Vigil of Easter”) are actually designed as s single extended service, called the Triduum. (This word, pronounced “Tri-doo-um,” is how you say “The Three Days” in Latin.)
To strengthen your appreciation of this observance, I want to share the Triduum’s logical outline and the meaning of the symbols and liturgical actions that comprise it. The liturgy for the entire service can be found these days in Evangelical Lutheran Worship, the so-called “cranberry” hymnbook, 258-270.
The Maundy Thursday Liturgy
Holy Land 2016 P0735 Cenacle Maundy Thursday ceremony
From Wikimedia Commons
On Ash Wednesday, the season of Lent began with the imposition of ashes and a foreboding reminder of a terminally “dusty future.” Consequently, that day set into motion a season of penitence and self-examination and reflection in the hope of an alternative future in Christ. To underscore the penitential character of Lent, traditionally, no formal pronouncement of absolution is given in the liturgical gatherings. Conspicuously then, the first distinguishing feature of the Maundy Thursday liturgy, is the formal giving of the absolution, signaling the end of the season of penitence and the birth pangs of the great salvation to be secured for us by Christ on Easter. Just as on Ash Wednesday we were invited to receive, individually and personally, the ashes on the forehead as a sign of our penitence; so on Maundy Thursday we are invited to receive the laying on of hands and the pronouncement of our long-awaited forgiveness in as equally a personal manner.
The second feature of the Maundy Thursday liturgy is the foot washing ceremony. Not necessarily the whole congregation, but representatives of the congregation (perhaps the council leadership or representatives of different age groups and genders) may be invited (selected in advance) to come forward and participate in this “object lesson” on the servant-nature of Christ. This object lesson interprets the whole of the work of Christ and the subsequent servant-nature of the Church and gives this Thursday its name: “Maundy.” “Maundy” comes from the Latin word “mandatum.” It means “mandate” or “commandment” and is given in reference to the Gospel reading for the day: “A new commandment I give you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, so you love one another.” (St. John 13:34)
The third feature of this liturgy, of course, is the Holy Communion itself, through which Jesus perpetually pours out his very body and blood as that which is the seal and true bearer of his love and forgiveness and life. This is the Meal that sustains the Church by keeping it united as one in Christ and which the Church celebrates every Lord’s day in thanksgiving (=Eucharist) for that which Christ has accomplished.
The fourth feature of the Maundy Thursday liturgy is called “the stripping of the Altar.” Everything that is in chancel area (candles, paraments, fair linen, missal stand, etc.) is taken away. This symbolic action prepares us for the transition from the Eucharist to the observance of the crucifixion and death of Christ. Symbolically, Christ, stripped of his power and glory (Philippians 2:6-8), is now in the hands of his captors. The Maundy Thursday liturgy ends with the people leaving in silence. No benediction is given because this is not the end of the Triduum, the three-day long observance of the paschal mystery. It is only a pause until the congregation gathers again the next day on Good Friday.
The Good Friday Liturgy
From Canva
The Good Friday liturgy has three main elements. First and foremost, the entire Passion story from St. John’s Gospel is read, as has been done from earliest times. St. John’s Passion emphasizes the glory of the crucified Jesus, triumphant even in death. Indeed, the cross is Jesus’ hour of glory. As such, the focus of the liturgy is not one of mourning Jesus’ death, that is, on our grief. Rather, the focus is one of standing in awe of Jesus’ sacrifice. In a real sense, we are this day “celebrating” the depths to which Jesus goes to secure our salvation by standing dumbfounded.
The second element of the liturgy consist of the “solemn” (meaning “formalized,” “dignified,” “awe-inspiring”) prayers offered by the Church, the Body of Christ, to God: prayers for the Church and its leaders, for the whole people of God, for those separated from the faith, and for the world. These prayers are summed up by the Lord’s Prayer.
The third element is the adoration of the cross. In total darkness, a rough wood-hewn cross, flanked by two torches, is brought before the altar in process to a responsive litany. When stationed, silence for meditation on the inestimable love of God and the sacrifice of Jesus is observed, along with hymns and a closing response. Once again, there is no benediction. The people are welcomed to come forward in silence and reverence the cross by touching it, kneeling before it, etc. All leave in silence, only to return again on the third day of the Triduum, Holy Saturday, for the Vigil of Easter.
The Great Vigil of Easter
From Canva
The great Vigil of Easter on Holy Saturday night is the climax of the entire Church year. It is the oldest, richest and most solemn of liturgies, drawing on a host of biblical themes and metaphors. In it the Church experiences with Christ the passage from darkness to light, from death to life. The vigil consists of four parts. In the first, called the Service of Light, the people gather outside the church where a fire is made and blessed, recalling God’s first act of creation, “Let there be light,” from which the Paschal (from the Hebrew for “Passover”) Candle is lit. The people are then led into the darkened church by this “pillar of fire” just as the children of Israel were led through the desert after their escape from Egypt. Once in the church the magnificent Easter Proclamation is intoned in anticipation of the good news of the resurrection.
The second part of the Vigil consists of 7 to 12 Old Testament readings. These readings recount the saving acts of God among his people and have provided the New Testament writers with a rich surplus of imagery for describing the significance of Jesus’ death and resurrection.
The third part of the Vigil focuses on the Sacrament of Holy Baptism and sets forth its meaning. To highlight the fact that baptism is nothing less than our immersion into the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Paschal Candle is dramatically dunked into the water three times during the baptismal prayer. To call the faithful to a renewed appreciation and living out of their baptisms, they are sprinkled with water as they recite the Apostles’ Creed. In the early Church, the Easter Vigil was the time when new adult Christians were baptized and received into the Church. This practice is still very meaningful.
After the service of Holy Baptism, a litany is said by the congregation as the ministers prepare for the fourth and final part of the Vigil, the Holy Eucharist. Up to this point in the service, everything has been conducted in total darkness. Only a few candles throughout the Church have been lit to aid the service of readings. When the litany is finished, the Assisting Minister announces, “Alleluia, Christ is Risen!” and the people respond, “Christ is risen indeed, Alleluia!” In this way they announce together the Good News of the resurrection of Christ. Suddenly, all the lights come on, bells begin to ring, and the congregation joins in singing the Hymn of Praise, “Glory to God in the Highest….” The Vigil Eucharist follows the traditional pattern of Sunday Morning liturgy, ending with the benediction. The benediction signals the end of the Triduum, the “three-day” observance of the death and resurrection of Christ that took us from deep darkness into the marvelous light of Christ. This event is the centerpiece of the Church’s faith which provides the pattern for its faith, worship and life.
Post-Script on Easter Sunday
From Canva
In the Triduum tradition, Easter Sunday marks the beginning of the Church’s regular worship practice. Every Sunday is seen as a celebration of the death and resurrection of Christ, even though the Sundays after the Triduum organized into “seasons” designed to “cycle” the people of God through various themes and different episodes in the life of Christ.
For various reasons many of the liturgical churches today do not do the whole Triduum. They tend to do Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, but not Holy Saturday. In light of that development, I would suggest finding a way to connect the opening rite of Easter Sunday to the silent dismissal of Good Friday. Here is how I have tried to do that.
The Good Friday Services ended with singing of the First three verses of “Were You There” as part of the Adoration of the Cross, followed by leaving in Silence. Easter Sunday began with a solo voice singing the last verse of “Were You There” followed by the Easter Acclamation, followed by a procession of the paschal candle and alleluia banner to the hymn “Jesus Christ is risen today.” Remember, the Alleluia was “buried” on Transfiguration Sunday. This is what the pattern looked like in the bulletin.
The Liturgy of Gathering
All rise as a solo voice sings “Were you there…” and the Paschal Candle enters the worship space.
Were you there when God raised him from the tomb?
Were you there when God raised him from the tomb?
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when God raised him from the tomb?
Celebrant: Alleluia! Christ is risen.
People: The Lord is risen, indeed. Alleluia!
+ Entrance Hymn: “Jesus Christ is risen today (ELW 207)
During the hymn the burial box is brought in and the “Alleluia” is attached across the altar frontal. “Alleluia” is our Easter word.
Paschal blessings, Easter joy.
