03/27/2026
Holy Week Worship - You are invited to join us for Holy Week Worship at Faith Lutheran Church.
Palm/Passion Sunday, March 19 at 10:30 am.
The Triduum
Holy Thursday - Divine Service at 7:00 pm.
Good Friday - The Office of Tenebrae at 7:30 pm.
Holy Saturday - The Easter Vigil at 7:30 pm.
Easter Sunday - The Resurrection of our Lord at 10:30 am.
(Also on Easter, a breakfast (freewill offering) will be served from 8 - 10 am)
The Triduum: The Heart of the Christian Year
The Triduum (Latin for “Three Days”) is the most sacred time in the Church’s calendar and has been observed by the church since the 4th century. It is not three separate services, but one continuous act of worship that stretches from Maundy Thursday evening through the Easter Vigil. In these holy days, we journey with Christ through His passion, death, and resurrection — from darkness to light, from death to life.
Part I – Maundy Thursday
“Maundy” comes from the Latin mandatum, meaning “commandment.” On this night we remember Jesus’ new commandment: “Just as I have loved you, so you also are to love one another” (John 13:34). It is also the night He instituted the Sacrament of the Altar — the Lord’s Supper — giving us His true body and blood for the forgiveness of sins. The service is filled with themes of forgiveness, love, service, and intimate fellowship. At the conclusion of the liturgy, the altar is quietly stripped bare while Psalm 22 is read or sung. The lights dim, and the church is left in solemn stillness — a powerful foreshadowing of the crucifixion we will remember the next day.
Part II – Good Friday
Good Friday continues the one great Triduum liturgy. On this day, Christians around the world gather in quiet reverence to contemplate the suffering and death of our Lord. The altar is draped in black, and the service focuses on the cross. At Faith, we use the ancient office of Tenebrae, also called the service of shadows, because of the extinguishing of candles and dimmed lights as we recall the life being drained out of Jesus on the cross. Here we stand at the foot of Calvary, beholding the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). We see Jesus bearing our sins in His own body, dying in our place, and offering the perfect sacrifice that reconciles us to God. It is a day of solemn reflection on the depth of God’s sacrificial love.
Part III – The Easter Vigil (Holy Saturday)
The Triduum reaches its joyful climax in the Easter Vigil — the Church’s great candlelight service. This is the night we celebrate Christ’s victorious passage from death to life. The service begins outdoors with the lighting of the new fire. From that fire the Paschal (Christ) Candle is kindled, and from it our individual candles are lit — a beautiful symbol of Christ’s light overcoming the darkness. We remember our Baptism, hear the great stories of salvation history, and receive the first Easter Eucharist.
The Triduum stands at the very center of the Church year. It is far more than a historical reenactment. Through these sacred days, we encounter the living Christ. By faith, we are drawn into His death and resurrection. Maundy Thursday calls us to love and serve as He loved and served us, and strengthens us with His body and blood. Good Friday anchors us in the cross as the source of our forgiveness and peace with God. The Easter Vigil floods us with the new life and light that are ours in the risen Lord — a light that changes everything.
And then…on Easter morn, the cry goes out “Christ is Risen”!
