Holy Week and Easter Services
2021
All services will be live-streamed.
In-person attendance is by registration only.
A description of each service is provided below the list of services.
Palm Sunday
March 28
To register to attend in-person Palm Sunday Services,
please click on the time below.
(registration is limited to 45 people per service)
7:00 AM Rite I 9:00 AM Rite II 11:00 AM Rite II
The Last Words of Christ
This virtual service commemorates the seven last words or “phrases” of Christ on the cross. The service includes prayers, art and music focused on the crucifixion, and is especially appropriate for use as a Holy Week meditation. Fr. Stephen Rhoades and Dr. Karen Eshelman designed this special service, and you are invited to participate by visiting our website: www.stjamesgreenville.org anytime throughout Holy Week.
Maundy Thursday
April 1
To register to attend in-person Maundy Thursday service,
please click the link below.
(registration is limited to 45 people per service)
7:00 PM Rite II
please click the link below.
(registration is limited to 45 people per service)
7:00 PM Rite II
Online Vigil before the Altar of Repose
9 p.m. Thursday - 11:30 a.m. Friday
Zoom Meeting ID: 129-627-882
9 p.m. Thursday - 11:30 a.m. Friday
Zoom Meeting ID: 129-627-882
Good Friday
April 2
To register to attend the Good Friday service in person, please click the link below.
(registration is limited to 45 people per service)
12:00 PM Rite II
(registration is limited to 45 people per service)
12:00 PM Rite II
The Stations of the Cross
Available online beginning ____
Available online beginning ____
Holy Saturday
April 3
The Great Vigil of Easter
To register to attend the Easter Vigil service in person, please click the link below.
(Registration is limited to 45 people.)
8:00 PM Rite II
(Registration is limited to 45 people.)
8:00 PM Rite II
Easter Sunday
April 4
To register to attend in-person Easter Sunday services, please click the time below.
(Registration is limited to 45 people per service.)
7:00 AM Rite I 9:00 AM Rite II 11:00 AM Rite II
(Registration is limited to 45 people per service.)
7:00 AM Rite I 9:00 AM Rite II 11:00 AM Rite II
Descriptions of Holy Week Services
Palm Sunday
The liturgy for the Sunday of the Passion, also known as Palm Sunday, is distinctive in that it begins in triumph and ends in tragedy. Palm Sunday both begins Holy Week and points to the Triduum, the great Three Days, which begin with Maundy Thursday and end with the Great Vigil of Easter. It is important to remember that the Holy Week liturgies are really one long liturgy in separate acts. You are invited to journey through Holy Week and experience the last days of Jesus' life by participating in all the Holy Week liturgies as fully as you are able.
The Last Words of Christ
This virtual service commemorates the seven last words or “phrases” of Christ on the cross. The service includes prayers, art and music focused on the crucifixion, and is especially appropriate for use as a Holy Week meditation. Fr. Stephen Rhoades and Dr. Karen Eshelman designed this special service, and you are invited to participate by visiting our website: www.stjamesgreenville.org anytime throughout Holy Week.
Maundy Thursday
Maundy Thursday takes us to the Upper Room where Jesus held his Last Supper with his followers and instituted Holy Communion. Our worship continues with the stripping of the altar. After the stripping of the altar, the service ends in silence. The absence of a dismissal at the end of the liturgy indicates that the service is not over, but continues with the Good Friday liturgy.
Vigil at the Altar of Repose
Consecrated bread and wine will be placed on the Altar of Repose, where you can visit via Zoom for an hour (or any length of time) throughout the night in the sacramental presence of Christ, as the disciples tried to wait during Jesus' nightlong agony in the Garden. You are invited to watch with Christ for one hour between the hours of 9:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 1 and 11:00 a.m. on Friday, April 2.
Good Friday Liturgy
This liturgy marks the second of the "Triduum Sacrum" - the Holy Three Days. On Good Friday, we commemorate the events immediately leading to and including the death of Jesus Christ as we read John's account of those events. We pray the solemn collects for the Church and for the world. We venerate the cross, "on which was hung the world's salvation". We confess our sins and receive communion from the Reserved Sacrament. We leave the service in silence, waiting for the next chapter of the story to unfold.
Stations of the Cross
We contemplate Jesus' last steps on his journey to Golgotha in the Stations of the Cross.
All are invited to experience this powerful, ancient form of meditation and prayer.
The Great Vigil of Easter
Saturday evening's liturgy marks the last of the "Triduum Sacrum" - the Holy Three Days. Three services make up this central observance of the heart of Holy Week: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil. It is important to remember that the Holy Week liturgies are really one long liturgy in three separate acts. The Easter Vigil is the central and principal liturgy of the Christian Year. All that comes before it from Advent to Good Friday is in preparation for it. All that comes after it from Easter Day through the last day after Pentecost is celebrated in light of it. Before it we celebrate the birth and life of Jesus Christ which eventually leads to his death. After it we celebrate our new life in Christ which the resurrection makes possible. We will kindle the New Fire symbolizing Christ's victory over sin and death, and our victory over the same through him.
Palm Sunday
The liturgy for the Sunday of the Passion, also known as Palm Sunday, is distinctive in that it begins in triumph and ends in tragedy. Palm Sunday both begins Holy Week and points to the Triduum, the great Three Days, which begin with Maundy Thursday and end with the Great Vigil of Easter. It is important to remember that the Holy Week liturgies are really one long liturgy in separate acts. You are invited to journey through Holy Week and experience the last days of Jesus' life by participating in all the Holy Week liturgies as fully as you are able.
The Last Words of Christ
This virtual service commemorates the seven last words or “phrases” of Christ on the cross. The service includes prayers, art and music focused on the crucifixion, and is especially appropriate for use as a Holy Week meditation. Fr. Stephen Rhoades and Dr. Karen Eshelman designed this special service, and you are invited to participate by visiting our website: www.stjamesgreenville.org anytime throughout Holy Week.
Maundy Thursday
Maundy Thursday takes us to the Upper Room where Jesus held his Last Supper with his followers and instituted Holy Communion. Our worship continues with the stripping of the altar. After the stripping of the altar, the service ends in silence. The absence of a dismissal at the end of the liturgy indicates that the service is not over, but continues with the Good Friday liturgy.
Vigil at the Altar of Repose
Consecrated bread and wine will be placed on the Altar of Repose, where you can visit via Zoom for an hour (or any length of time) throughout the night in the sacramental presence of Christ, as the disciples tried to wait during Jesus' nightlong agony in the Garden. You are invited to watch with Christ for one hour between the hours of 9:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 1 and 11:00 a.m. on Friday, April 2.
Good Friday Liturgy
This liturgy marks the second of the "Triduum Sacrum" - the Holy Three Days. On Good Friday, we commemorate the events immediately leading to and including the death of Jesus Christ as we read John's account of those events. We pray the solemn collects for the Church and for the world. We venerate the cross, "on which was hung the world's salvation". We confess our sins and receive communion from the Reserved Sacrament. We leave the service in silence, waiting for the next chapter of the story to unfold.
Stations of the Cross
We contemplate Jesus' last steps on his journey to Golgotha in the Stations of the Cross.
All are invited to experience this powerful, ancient form of meditation and prayer.
The Great Vigil of Easter
Saturday evening's liturgy marks the last of the "Triduum Sacrum" - the Holy Three Days. Three services make up this central observance of the heart of Holy Week: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil. It is important to remember that the Holy Week liturgies are really one long liturgy in three separate acts. The Easter Vigil is the central and principal liturgy of the Christian Year. All that comes before it from Advent to Good Friday is in preparation for it. All that comes after it from Easter Day through the last day after Pentecost is celebrated in light of it. Before it we celebrate the birth and life of Jesus Christ which eventually leads to his death. After it we celebrate our new life in Christ which the resurrection makes possible. We will kindle the New Fire symbolizing Christ's victory over sin and death, and our victory over the same through him.
