Okay, now that we’ve had a few days to recover, but while memory is still somewhat fresh, how was Holy Week for you? What was great? What are you thinking about? Share in the comments!
Tagged holyweek, openthreads
We had our wake on Friday (see earlier posts here and here for more background). It was attended by a small handful of folks, most of whom came later in the evening. We ended up hosting it in our living room once again, as the other available spaces seemed too big, and having it at home simplified our childcare logistics considerably. (As it worked out, the boy was soundly asleep before anyone else even arrived, so we were both able to be present for the whole time that anyone else was there).
I did end up rearranging the room considerably, putting the two couches facing each other, with the icon at the far end, and a good chunk of open space in the middle, which made the room feel much less claustrophobic than last year. That and baking significant quantities of hot cross buns took most of the day, but I was really happy with how things came out.
This year, people used the sharing time to process the main holy week liturgies that they had been to so far in the week, and to work through some of the thoughts and feelings that those liturgies had brought up.
I mentioned before that I think of this as a supplemental liturgy, perhaps akin to the more familiar Maundy Thursday vigil that some churches keep overnight. It struck me this year that it might be a helpful thing to offer to a core Holy Week liturgy team in a parish, to give them some calmer time to process without having to be doing anything. It could also work well (perhaps with light modification) as an open chapel during the day on Holy Saturday, or possibly even spanning the time between the end of the main Good Friday liturgy and the beginning of the Easter Vigil.
If you’re interested, there’s a few more pictures on the new Doing Public Work Flickr account.
All in all, I’m very happy with how it came out this year. Next year, we’ll be somewhere new, likely somewhere with it’s own way of doing Holy Week. It will be interesting to see if and how this might fit into a new context.
Addendum: My friend Terry has a post up with a picture of another burial icon by Miranda, made for the Episcopal Church of the Advocate in Chapel Hill/Carrboro, NC. In addition to the wake, they use the icon at last station of a stations of the cross which walks through Carrboro and ends at in the town cemetery. Afterwards the flowers are distributed to the graves around.
Tagged burial icon, good friday, good friday wake, holyweek, meditationWe went to a Maundy thursday dinner and liturgy at a church where M. did a field study, and where she still occasionally preaches and tells Godly Play stories. There was a simple dinner at six, and then the liturgy at seven, starting in the fellowship hall with readings followed by foot washing, and then moving into the sanctuary for the Eucharist, which was followed by stripping the altar.
Our son G., who is nearly 3, loved it because there were a lot of other–mostly bigger–kids there. Continue reading ›
Tagged children, children in liturgy, communion, eucharist, exclusion, Maundy ThursdayContinuing with Egeria’s description of of Holy week in Jerusalem, c. 380.
Tagged early christianity, Egeria, Holy Week, holyweek, liturgies, Maundy ThursdayAs (Western) Christians head into Pascha next week, our Jewish brothers and sisters will be celebrating Purim, and the Velveteen Rabbi shares a lovely reflection on Purim, Pesach, and the cycles of the Jewish Festival year. I really liked this bit at the end:
Tagged calendar, cycles, Judaism, Passover, Pesach, Purim“We begin our festival year by relying on God to save us; we end our festival year by owning our own capacity to transform our world ourselves. And each year we recapitulate the journey from one to the other. In that sense, Purim is the ultimate celebration of human agency. Maybe that’s why the sages of Jewish tradition suggested that in the World to Come, when creation is redeemed, all other festivals will fall away but Purim will remain: it’s the quintessential messianic holiday, because it celebrates our ability to create a redeemed future with our own hands. “
A draft script (PDF download) is now available. This will continue to change over the next several days, but I wanted to share what I’m working with right now. Feedback is certainly appreciated, please add comments to the most recent post on the wake.
Tagged good friday, good friday wake, liturgy scriptsNow that Holy Week is here, I was going to have only very light blogging, as this is pretty much the busiest week of the year for this blog’s target audience. Then I remembered that I’ve been meaning for a while to take a close look at Egeria’s description of Holy Week Liturgies in Jerusalem, c. 380, and I thought–why not blog it day by day, alongside what we ourselves are doing in 21st century whereever we may be?
So here’s Palm Sunday. Note that Egeria actually begins with a liturgy on Saturday in Bethany, commemorating Lazarus. I love her description of the procession of the Palms.
Continue reading ›
The bulletins are probably all on their way to being printed/copied, your plans are likely pretty much set, so here’s a quick reminder of the Holy Week open threads–some interesting discussion on a few, but there’s plenty of room for lots more. What are you excited about? Anxious about?
Blessings on your final preparations!
Tagged openthreadsAs we enter into the final approach to Holy Week, a few thoughts on procession management. It’s a little tricky to give general tips for many of the kinds of processions we see in the coming weeks, because the spaces and groups that are involved can vary so widely. (In other words, your milage may vary.)
The greatest difficulty I’ve seen in most processions is singing in procession and keeping it together. This is especially difficult when processions are long and skinny, and especially if those processions pass through choke points–like doorways, or even corners. If you can, a big crowd works much better than a long line.
Generally, the cantor, choir, and whatever other strong singers best support everyone else by bringing up the rear, where their sound will project forwards.
It can help to have some percussion or other means of keeping time that will carry the length of the procession. The best time keepers are either very high pitched and sharp, like claves, the edges of a small djembe or doumbek, or a high pitched snare or tenor drum; or very low and capable of establishing a pulse, like a bass drum, a surdo, or the center of a large Djembe. Other percussion, like shakers and bells can add color, but you want to avoid having too many drums filling up the space for the vocal range, unless you just want all percussion. A large palm branch can be a shaken percussion instrument, especially if it’s a little dry.
The music makes a difference. The standard Palm Sunday processional, All Glory, Laud, and Honor, is not well suited to outdoor procession, in my opinion. It can take some drums and can even work redone with a little syncopation into something more like a medieval dance (significantly uptempo from the usual) speed, but I’m not convinced it’s worth the effort, when there are other excellent choices out there. I’m very partial to the South African Freedom is Coming–it’s easy to learn, loops indefinitely, and I think captures the hopeful expectation of the Triumphal Entry (light modification may be needed to change “Alleluia” to “Hosana”). In the Palm Sunday Open thread, Pamela suggested Prepare ye the way of the Lord (from Godspell), which is also easy to learn and processes well.
I’ve not even heard it done, but a call & response format could also work well with a sufficiently loud cantor; it would also be interesting to try shouting or spoken chants, almost in the style of a street protest, or maybe sports fans?
Share your best tips for managing processions in the comments!
Tagged holyweek, Liturgical Movement, music, palm sunday, percussion, processions
