What is Holy Week?

Easter, celebration.

Holy Week or Major Week is the period of time that goes from the last days of Lent and the Easter Triduum of the Passion, Death, Burial and Resurrection of the Lord , which begins on Palm Sunday, has its center in the Easter Vigil, with the lighting of the Paschal Candle and ends with Easter Sunday.

This set of eight days includes a large number of celebrations linked to the different moments of the Passion and glorification of Jesus (in the Spanish geography there are numerous celebrations that have been declared as Holy Week of International Tourist Interest ).

Holy Week, origin.

Holy Week is born from the breakdown of the primitive and unique Christian Easter celebration that took place on the night of Saturday to Easter Sunday. In this celebration the initiation of the new Christians was carried out. A posteriori, the mystery of death and life that this festival encloses was celebrated, and the very hour of the Liturgy, at the moment in which night gave way to day, served as the setting.

After the liberation of the Christians, at the beginning of the 4th century, the Emperor Constantine and his mother Santa Elena built great basilicas or simple hermitages on the places where the most important moments in the life of Jesus had taken place. In these places increasingly massive celebrations began to take place.

The practice continued to grow. The pilgrims who arrived in the Holy Land wanted to visit the holy places of the Lord's Passion . Celebrations were held in these places on the same day and time that they occurred.   

Thus, Holy Week was born in Jerusalem and the pilgrims spread this use throughout the Churches.

As the Second Vatican Council teaches us: "Holy Mother Church... thus commemorating the mysteries of redemption opens the riches of the sanctifying power and merits of her Lord, in such a way that, in a way, these mysteries become present at all times so that the faithful can contact them and be filled with the grace of salvation" (Sacrosanctum Concilium no. 102). These celebrations receive with the greatest propriety the name of "liturgical mystery" and "Paschal mysteries or sacraments" .

The word mystery, speaking of Holy Week, does not mean something indecipherable. It refers to the main events of the life of Jesus Christ, in particular in his Death and Resurrection In addition to the role of the Church and the power of the Liturgy.

Holy Week, reconstruction of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus.

Holy Week is a liturgical reconstruction of the last days of Jesus. On Palm Sunday we remember his entry into Jerusalem.

On Holy Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we commemorate, respectively, the anointing at Bethany, the announcement of Judas' betrayal, and the fact of the betrayal itself.

On Holy Thursday the Eucharist is celebrated wanting to relive the atmosphere of the Last Supper and is watched in prayer accompanying Jesus in Gethsemane.

Good Friday is dedicated to the mystery of the Cross and the glorious death of Christ.

Saturday is the day of silence before the burial of Jesus.

Sunday , finally, in the holy night that begins it, is the integral celebration of the Paschal Mystery, with particular emphasis on the triumph of the Lord over death.

This is Holy Week and the Holy Easter Triduum , the culminating point of the entire liturgical year.

The pre-eminence that Sunday has in the week, has the solemnity of Easter in the liturgical year.

Holy Week in our days has achieved great recognition. The smell of incense in the streets, the brotherhood processions, the Nazarene robes, the smoke from the censers, etc... have become essential elements of the Holy Week celebrations. Thousands of people follow the Holy Week celebrations in all parts of the world with great devotion. In many towns, the Holy Week celebrations, throughout the Spanish geography, from Viveiro to Seville, are the most important week of the year.