THE PASCHAL TRIDUUM

In speaking of the Triduum, the General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar say: Christ redeemed mankind and gave perfect glory to God principally through His paschal mystery—by dying he destroyed our death and by rising he restored our life. The Easter Triduum of the passion and resurrection of Christ is thus the culmination of the entire liturgical year. What Sunday is to the week, the solemnity of Easter is to the year.

The Easter Triduum begins with the evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper, reaches its high point in the Easter Vigil, and closes with Evening Prayer on Easter Sunday.

Note on Liturgy of the Hours: Evening Prayer is not said today by those who attend the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper. The Liturgy of the Hours closes with Night Prayer.

Holy Thursday:

Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper

Exodus 12: 1-8, 11-14

Psalm 116

I Corinthians 11: 23-26

John 13: 1-15

The Triduum begins with the Entrance Antiphon, “We should glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ!” (LBCR, “Holy Thurs. Entrance Antiphon) It is in this spirit of victory that the three-days-which-are-one commence with the Liturgy of the Lord’s Supper.

The tradition from the Synoptic Gospels is that the final meal Jesus ate with His disciples was a Passover seder. Whether this is true or not, the First Reading (Exodus) is absolutely essential to the understanding of the Last Supper (and, from there, to the Mass). The reading gives the shape of the Passover meal, and announces that its observance should be a zikkaron, a “memorial” of the wonderful work God did by bringing Israel out of Egypt. It is essential that Christian readers understand that zikkaron is not a mere ‘remembrance’ of a past event. The current Passover Haggadah (the narration and prayers that go with the Seder) insist that, for every Jew, it must be as if he or she was actually there. This understanding is then the underpinning for the concept of anamnesis which Paul uses in I Corinthians (tonight’s Second Reading). He says in his account, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until He comes again.” The Responsorial Psalm sings, “Our blessing cup is a communion with the blood of Christ,” and has overtones of the passion with “Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of His friends.” The lamb whose blood was placed on the doorposts and lintels of the Chosen People was sacrificed and eaten as part of the Passover meal; Paul uses this imagery (which we will hear on Easter Day), saying that “Christ our Passover [lamb] has been sacrificed for us!” The Gospel is the account of Jesus’ washing of the feet of His disciples. He removes His outer garments, washes and dries the feet of His disciples, reclothes Himself and then tells the disciples, “As I have done, so you must also do.” The sentence which begins the Gospel puts this into context for us: “Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that His hour had come to pass from this world to the Father. He loved His own in the world, and He loved them to the end.”

The ritual of the Washing of the Feet is at once one of the most poignant of actions and among the most divisive. It causes many of the same difficulties today that it caused when Jesus washed Peter’s feet that night long ago. The chants that accompany this action, as well as the hymns and motets that have grown up around it (MWS, “Jesu, Jesu;” MPT, “Lord of Lords Adored by Angels,” P. Bowman; LBCR, footwashing chants in English) help keep the notion of service in the foreground, rather than letting the footwashing become some sort of play.

O faithful, who shall enjoy the supreme kindness,

Let us hasten to the washing of feet,

Not only that our flesh may be washed,

But also that our souls may be mystically sanctified.

For Christ our Savior, who bends His gaze to the earth and makes it tremble,

Now bends Himself to grasp the feet of mortals:

Thus He grants that we may trample all the powers of the Enemy.

Therefore we cry out in thanksgiving to Him:

You show us humility as the best way to heaven:

Save us, O God of goodness, in your love for mankind.

Holy Thursday is the only day of the liturgical year that has a prescribed Preparation Hymn, the medieval “Ubi Caritas.” (MPT, “Ubi Caritas,” chant arr. B. Bradfield; LBCR, “Ubi Caritas,” chant in English). The procession that comes at the end of the Liturgy, with the transfer of the Blessed Sacrament to the altar of repose, is also accompanied by a traditional hymn, “Pange lingua gloriosi corporis mysterium” (OBL, “Pange lingua,” chant; LBCR, “Pange lingua, chant in English)

Melito of Sardis, in today’s Second Reading at the Office of Readings, sums up the typology of the Triduum: “It is [Christ] who endured every kind of suffering in all those who foreshadowed Him. In Abel, He was slain; in Isaac, bound; in Jacob, exiled; in Joseph, sold; in Moses, exposed to die. He was sacrificed in the Paschal lamb, persecuted in David, dishonored in the prophets…He is the One who rose from the dead, and who raised humanity from the depths of the tomb.” (Paschal Homily)

Let me this day, O Son of God,

Be a partaker of Your mystical supper,

For I will not reveal Your Mysteries to Your enemies,

Nor will I betray You with a kiss, as did Judas,

But like the repentant thief I openly profess You:

Remember me, O Lord, in Your kingdom! (MPT, “Accept Me This Day,” chant)

Propers from the Roman Gradaul

Introit: Nos autem gloriari (cf Gal. 6:14; Ps. 66:1)

Let us glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,

In whom we have our salvation, life, and resurrection;

Through whom we are saved and set free.

God, be merciful to us and bless us;

Let your face shine upon us, and be merciful to us.

During the Washing of the Feet:

Antiphon 1: Postquam surrexit Dominus (cf Jn. 13: 4,5,15)

After the Lord arose from supper, he poured water into a basin,

and washed the feet of his disciples:

This is the example he left to them.

Antiphon 2: Dominus Iesus (Jn. 13: 12, 13-15)

The Lord Jesus, after he had supped with his disciples,

washed their feet and said to them:

“Do you know what I have done for you,

I, your Lord and Master?

I have given you an example, that you may do likewise.”

Antiphon 3: Domine, tu mihi (Jn. 13:6-8)

“Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

Jesus answered and said to him,

“If I do not wash your feet, you shall have no part in me.”

He came then to Simon Peter, and Peter said to him:

“Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

What I am doing, you do not understand today,

but you will understand later.

“Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

Antiphon 4: Si ego Dominus (cf Jn. 13:14)

If I, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet,

Then surely, all the more, ought you to wash one another’s feet.

Antiphon 5: In hoc cognoscent omnes (cf Jn. 13:35)

By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples,

if you have love for one another.

This is what Jesus declared to his disciples:

By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples,

if you have love for one another.

Antiphon 6: Mandatum novum do vobis (Jn. 13:34)

I give you a new commandment:

that you love one another, as I have loved you, says the Lord.

Antiphon 7: Maneat in vobis (I Cor 13:13)

Let these three abide in you, faith, hope, and love;

but the greatest of these is love.

Now faith, hope, and love remain, these three;

but the greatest of these is love.

for the Offertory: Hymn, Ubi caritas

Communion: Hoc corpus (I Cor. 11:24-25)

“This is my body, which is given for you.

This is the cup of the new covenant in my blood.

When you eat of them, do this in memory of me.”

Hymn during the Procession: Pange lingua gloriosi, corporis mysterium

Propers from the Simple Gradual (all recorded on LBCR)

Entrance: BFW 118 (We should glory in the cross . . . )
or BFW 202 (Priest for ever, Jesus Christ . . . )
Response: BFW 120 (In green pastures the Lord gives me rest)
or BFW 204 (I will bless your name, O Lord)
The Washing of Feet: BFW 121 (A new commandment I give you)
Offertory: BFW 123 (Where we live as friends . . . )
Commnion: BFW 124 (I will take the cup of salvation . . . )
Transfer of the Blessed Sacrament: BFW 126/648 (Hail our Saviour’s glorious Body)

Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion

Isaiah 52:13-53:12 (TITF, “Surely He Has Borne Our Griefs,” R. Hillert)

(MPT, “A Lamb Goes Uncomplaining Forth, chorale)

Psalm 31 (LBCR, Psalm 31)

Hebrews 4:14-16, 5:7-9

John 18:1-19:42 (MPT, “Passion according to St. John,” R. Hillert)

The “Celebration of the Lord’s Passion” takes place today sometime in the afternoon around three o’clock, unless pastoral reasons suggest a later time. The priest and deacon enter in silence and prostrate themselves before the altar. After all pray in silence for a while, the priest and deacon stand. Going to the chair, the priest prays the Opening Prayer, and all are seated for the Liturgy of the Word.

The First Reading is from the book of the Prophet Isaiah, the fourth of the “servant songs.” This passage has colored our understanding of Jesus’ sufferings from the earliest New Testament times. Untold amounts of music have been written, using this reading as the source for text. While the grief and suffering of the Servant are palpable, so is the hope that is shot through the text: “If he gives his life as an offering for sin, he shall see his descendants in a long life, and the will of the Lord shall be accomplished through him.” The Responsorial Psalm is quoted in one of the Passions (though Luke, not John), with its refrain on Jesus’ lips: “Father, into Your hands I commend My spirit.” Like the First Reading, the Responsorial Psalm is equal parts despair and hope. The Second Reading is from the Letter to the Hebrews. The author, speaking of Jesus as the true high priest, explains: “We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin.” Having established this, he goes on to hold Christ not just as a priest, but as an example for all of us: “Son though He was, [Jesus] learned obedience from what He suffered; and when He was made perfect (i.e., when He had accomplished His task), He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him.” The Passion according to St. John, like the Synoptic passions, has its own perspective. Reginald Fuller says, “John’s perspective is that the kingship of Jesus constantly shines through His humiliation. All the way through, Jesus is in command of the situation. He sets the passion in motion, voluntarily…the passion narrative is a commentary on the saying, “I lay down My life, that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord.” At the beginning of the Gospel, John the Baptist proclaimed Jesus “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.” At the time of the Savior’s death, the paschal lambs are being slaughtered at the Temple. He Himself declares the ending: “It is accomplished.” (“Consummatum est.”)

The One who is clothed with light as with a cloak

Stood naked before His judges;

He receives slaps on His cheeks from the hands He had created;

His own people nail to the cross the God of glory, their Lord.

The veil of the Temple is torn in two;

The sun is covered in darkness,

So that it does not see the humiliation of the Creator

Before whom the whole world trembles.

Let us bow in worship before Him!

After the homily, the service continues with the General Intercessions: ten biddings to prayer, followed by ten collects. We pray for the church, for the pope, for the clergy and laity of the church, for those preparing for baptism, for the unity of Christians, for the Jewish people, for those who do not believe in Christ, for those who do not believe in God, for all in public office, and for those in special needs.

When the General Intercessions are concluded, the service continues with the Veneration of the Cross. The chant for this portion of the service is very ancient (LBCR). After the Veneration is complete, then Holy Communion is distributed, and the service ends abruptly.

Your cross is the symbol of Life and Resurrection for Your people;

Having placed our hope in it, we cry out to You:

O our crucified God, have mercy on us!

Propers from the Roman Gradual

Chant during the Veneration of the Cross

1. Antiphon: Crucem tuam

We adore your cross, O Lord,

And we praise and glorify your holy resurrection,

Behold, because of the wood of the cross,

Joy has come into the whole world.

God, be merciful to us, and bless us;

Let your face shine upon us, and be merciful to us.

2. Improperia (Reproaches)

3. Hymn: Crux fidelis

4. Hymn: Pange lingua gloriosi, proelium certaminis

Propers from the Simple Gradual (all recorded on LBCR)
Response: BFW 127 (Father, I put my life into your hands)
or BFW 232 (My Savior and my God)
Veneration of the Cross: BFW 129 (O my people, what have I done to you)
and/or BFW 130 (Your cross, O Lord . . . )
Communion: BFW 219 (One of the soldiers pierced his side . . . )