The Way of the Cross

A Brief Explanation of Holy Week

The week between Palm Sunday and Holy Week is the richest week in the Christian calendar. It is filled with opportunities for everyone—including children—to learn more about Jesus’ walk to the cross and his resurrection. The services of Holy Week are all experiential services in that they are filled with things that will bring all your senses into communion with God: water, flowers, fragrant oils, darkness, color, light, candles, and music. There is a great drama going on this week at St Mark’s. Come be a part of it.

The Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday  

(March 24, 8AM, 9AM, and 10AM)

On this day, we re-enact Jesus’ humble entry to 

Jerusalem on a donkey. We begin the service with 

a festive procession with our children. This procession recalls how crowds of people greeted Jesus with enthusiasm. Yet there is an edge of foreboding to the day, since Jesus knows what his fate will be. We will read in parts the gripping story of the arrest and the crucifixion at this service.



Maundy Thursday   

(March 28, 6PM)

On Holy Thursday evening, Jesus gave to his disciples the new commandment to “love one another as I have loved you.” Hence the name of this day, 

Maundy Thursday, from the Latin “mandatum,” meaning “commandment.”

This is a most moving service. During it we recall the last meal Jesus shared with his friends which we now know as Holy Communion. We also have the washing of feet for those who wish it, in devotional imitation of Jesus, who washed his disciples’ feet as a sign of his love. We wash each other’s feet in a beautiful ritual with warm water and essential oils against a musical backdrop of ancient plain chant. Children love this! Parishioners who have 

experienced it speak of how moved they are. 

At the end of the service, the altar is ritually stripped of its cloths and vessels to prepare for the starkness of Good Friday. The Blessed Sacrament is carried to the chapel altar, which has been adorned with plants to remind us of the Garden of Gethsemane. The Sacrament stays in the chapel all through the night, just as Jesus spent this night in the Garden awaiting his arrest.

All Night Vigil  

Everyone is invited to spend some time in the chapel after the service, or anytime through the night and into the next morning. This is a quiet time for prayer and reflection. We will have Bibles and devotional materials there for you. Bring children; they will never forget it. The vigil ends at 11:45AM on the morning of Good Friday.

Good Friday   

(March 29, 12 Noon and 6PM)

This day was original known as “God Friday” to signify the mighty acts which God performed on this day to save and redeem the world. At the Good Friday service, we read the story of Jesus’ trial and crucifixion. The solemn reading of the story of the cross allows us all to absorb the story in the moving words of the Bible. Some of the most moving hymns in our tradition are sung at this service. In addition, we bring a large wooden cross into the church, and everyone is invited to venerate it in silent prayer and devotion if they wish. While the Good Friday service is solemn, it is not a funeral for Jesus, but a time to kneel in prayer and be spiritually present to our living Lord, who gave himself up for us (Ephesians 5:2).

Holy Saturday

(March 30, 8AM)

The Apostles’ Creed, which we reaffirm at services of the Daily Office and Holy Baptism, says that after Jesus died, “He descended into hell.” The starkness of the brief liturgy of Holy Saturday bespeaks both the silence of Jesus’ tomb and the gravity of God’s plumbing the depths of the human condition all the way to depths of hell. Readings from the Bible evoke this awesome and mysterious feat of divine love, and we gather in quietude before the holy uproar of Easter preparation. 

The Easter Vigil   

(March 30, Saturday night at 7:30PM)

This service, which begins in darkness and ends in light, briefly traces the journey of God’s liberating relationship with us through time and also Jesus’ journey from death to resurrected life. The new light of Easter is kindled in a dramatic ceremony at the front doors of the church, and the service begins in candlelit darkness. Some of the most memorable passages in Scripture are read, concluding with the story of Jesus’ women friends encountering the angels at the empty tomb and hearing the news of the resurrection. The choir will provide special music.

Easter Day 

(March 31, 7AM, 9AM and 11AM)

St. Mark’s never looks more beautiful than on this day. Come celebrate the resurrection and God’s promise of new and eternal life in a service with heart-lifting music, gorgeous flowers, a beautiful and renewing service of Holy Communion. A brass quartet and timpani will accompany our congregational hymns, as well as festive music sung by the Choir. A wonderful coffee hour is offered after each service.