Triduum Thoughts

This year, I experienced a new first. This was my first year that I wasn’t able to attend Holy Thursday Mass. I was very sad not to attend, as it is my favorite liturgy of the entire year, believe it or not. Actually, I love the entire Easter Triduum. For my non-Catholic friends, the Triduum is made up of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday—the 3 days leading up to Easter Sunday. In the Catholic Church, those are some of the most sacred days that are paramount to all that we believe. 

I’ll concede that it seems like a lot to be at church for 3 consecutive evenings. Furthermore, each Mass/service is not for the faint of heart. You’re guaranteed to spend 1.5 hours minimum each night. The Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday often lasts for 2-3 hours, depending on a few factors, like the number of readings used or if anyone is entering the church via RCIA. It is a liturgical marathon of sorts. Many people find it to be tedious, dare I say boring or excessive. Oftentimes, people who rarely attend Mass throughout the year often find their way back at some point during these days. I sometimes wonder if the length of the Easter Vigil Mass is what keeps them from coming back all the time. (Aside: while it’s important to attend Mass for Easter, don’t let that sway you if you’re on the fence about coming back to Catholics. It’s not always that long—we just have a lot of ground to cover that night!) I know how many people feel about these days. 

Perhaps a reason that the Triduum seems so long is that Mass begins on Holy Thursday and doesn’t officially end until Holy Saturday night. Mass always begins and ends with the sign of the cross, but if you notice, you don’t do that at the end of Holy Thursday, it’s non-existent on Good Friday, and also doesn’t happen at the beginning of the Easter Vigil. Also, Good Friday isn’t technically a Mass. Mass occurs when there is the consecration of the Eucharist, but we only use leftover consecrated hosts on Friday.

Nonetheless, I live for this weekend every year. It is my favorite. 

The whole week is a build-up to the joy of Christ’s resurrection, but you have to appreciate the journey. I love the Gospel readings, long as they may be, as they are narratives. Also, they’re the same every year, so I feel like I have a good grasp of what’s happening and all the context. Having a good comprehension of the Scripture helps me to be able to dig in and glean new things every year. I appreciate hearing the full story of the Last Supper, Passion, and Resurrection accounts. I also appreciate hearing the description of the first Passover from Exodus and the story of Creation from Genesis. It just doesn’t seem like Easter without these things. 

For many years, I loved the Triduum just because I had a bizarre obsession with the liturgy itself. I loved the readings, the songs we were only able to sing on those days, seeing the priest wash feet on Thursday, venerating the cross on Friday (although I always felt super awkward doing so), and having the Creation Story on either Saturday or Sunday. It was a tradition, and I knew what to expect. As an altar server, it was challenging, but also fun to be directly involved with it all. 

But, really and truly, what changed it all for me was a Bible Study that my dear friend Heather led during my junior year at OSU. She led a study based on a talk given by Dr. Scott Hahn, a professor of theology at Steubenville University, one of the premier Catholic colleges in the US. Dr. Hahn was a former Presbyterian minister who spent a good number of years preaching against all that Catholics believed and held dear. In an attempt to prove Catholics wrong, he attended a few Masses here and there, trying to dissect them and see exactly what was wrong with them. He wanted to be able to definitively say just how wrong we were and how right he was. Needless to say, his digging led him to the conclusion that he was wrong about his assumptions; thus, he and his family became Catholic. 

The particular talk we studied was one entitled, “The Fourth Cup.” I encourage you to read through or listen to it in its entirety. It’s long, but very well-organized and stated. This talk digs into the Jewish culture and their celebration of the Passover. It concludes by making some interesting connections about Jesus and his role in the Passover. After reading and studying over that, it blew my mind! I have never looked at the Triduum the same since then.

On a last note, at Good Friday services last night, I heard my favorite Easter hymn, “Three Days.” It is a newer hymn that you don’t often hear. It’s always played at Bison, mostly because David has his repertoire of songs he likes to use for particular Masses. Sometimes I’d like to mix it up a little, but this is one instance in which I appreciate it being predictable. I’ve actually written about this hymn before, but it really strikes me, so I feel that it’s worth mentioning again. 

The words to this hymn are placed to a tune composed by Gustav Holst called Thaxted. This tune is a theme from an orchestral suite called The Planets, specifically coming from the Jupiter movement. It is a gorgeous piece on its own, but the words really bring it to life for me. I’ll share a beautiful instrumental version, in addition to the words. It’s the actual piece instead of the version used in the hymn, so it seems like it is missing a verse, but use your imagination. The beautiful intro and outro really set the scene, so I’ll leave it there.