'Trust in the Lord with all your heart; In all your ways acknowledge Him; and He will direct your paths.' Proverbs 3:5-6

 St Mary's Anglican Church, Appledore

                     A warm welcome to our website!  We hope you find it interesting and informative.
History of St Mary's Anglican Church, Appledore
Services at St Mary's Anglican Church, Appledore
Who's Who at St Mary's Anglican Church, Appledore
How to contact St Mary's Anglican Church, Appledore
About St Mary Mother of Jesus
Calendar of forthcoming events
Page for jokes and lightheartedness

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Holy Week

The week before Easter Day is known as Holy Week. It begins on Palm Sunday and ends on Saturday, the day before Easter Day. Maundy Thursday and Good Friday are also in Holy Week.

 

Palm Sunday is the Sunday before Easter Day

Palm Sunday remembers the time when Jesus went into Jerusalem riding on the back of a donkey. The people welcomed Him like a King and threw coats and palm leaves on the ground for the donkey to walk over, just as a red carpet would be put on the ground for a King or Queen today. This occasion is sometimes known as the Triumphal Entry to Jerusalem and the story can be found in The Bible: Matthew Chapter 21 and Mark Chapter 11.

Jesus went to Jerusalem because it was the time of the Jewish feast of Passover. Many Jews travelled to Jerusalem to celebrate this feast together.

To celebrate Palm Sunday, in some churches palm branches or palm crosses, made from palm leaves, are given out to everyone. In some other churches the children will make palm crosses from strips of paper. Many churches will have a procession in or around the church while people sing songs of praise and wave palm leaves. This is to help them imagine what Jesus' entry into Jerusalem might have been like.

The last week of Lent is one of special devotion as we remember Christ's Passion. The word "Passion" comes from the Latin word patior, meaning "I suffer".  Athanasius, in his Festal Letter of 330, referred to it as "holy Paschal week."

Greek and Roman worship books called it the "Great Week" because great deeds were done by God during this week. In the 4th century, Bishops Athanasius of Alexandria and Epiphanius of Constantia used the name "Holy Week".

At first only Friday and Saturday were observed as holy days.  Wednesday was added later as the day on which Judas plotted to betray Jesus.  And by the start of the 3rd century the other days of the week had been added.

The pre-Nicene Church celebrated just one great feast, the Christian Passover, on the night between Saturday and Easter Sunday morning, but by late in the 4th century the various events had been separated and people began commemorating them on the days of the week on which they had occurred: