A guide to Holy Week and Easter at St Barnabas

Holy Week Services

Sunday, March 29, 2026

Monday, March 30, 2026

Tuesday, March 31, 2026

Wednesday, April 1, 2026

Thursday, April 2, 2026

Friday, April 3, 2026

Saturday, April 4, 2026

Sunday, April 5, 2026

Eucharist at Maundy Thursday
Holy Eucharist during Maundy Thursday

Behold the wood of the Cross, on which hung the world’s Salvation.

Response: O come, let us worship.

The Collect for Holy Week:

Almighty  and everlasting God, who, of thy tender love towards mankind, hast sent thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ, to take upon him our flesh, and to suffer death upon the cross, that all mankind should follow the example of his great humility: Mercifully grant that we may both follow the example of his patience, and also be made partakers of his resurrection; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

O come let us worship the Lord at the Church of St. Barnabas
 

Holy Week at St. Barnabas is an insightful journey of worship, adoration, penitence, faith, reflection, and community.

Entry into Jerusalem, Duccio di Buoninsegna (c.1255-1319)
Entry into Jerusalem, by Duccio di Buoninsegna (c.1255-1319)

Palm Sunday (The Sunday of the Passion) 

It begins with Palm/Passion Sunday, where we gather waving palm branches to celebrate Christ’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem, as we recall his path to the Cross and his victory over death.

Music

All glory, laud, and honour (St. Theodulph) 
Ride on, ride on in majesty (Winchester New)
Ah, holy Jesu, how hast thou offended (Herzliebster Jesu)
My song is love unknown (Love Unknown)
Morning glory, starlit sky (Song 13)
To mock your reign, O dearest Lord (Third Mode Melody) 

Holy Week is often divided into two segments: the minor segment from Monday to Wednesday and the major segment Thursday to Saturday known as the Triduum. According to the author, the major days are referred to by the early church fathers of the fourth and fifth centuries as “the Pasch, the passion of Christ, and his passage from death to Resurrection.” Joan Chittister, in The Liturgical Year states, “It is a microcosm of Jesus’s public life seen in bas-relief.”


 

“Mary, Lazarus’ sister anoints Jesus” by Harold Copping
“Mary, Lazarus’ sister anoints Jesus” by Harold Copping

Monday in Holy Week: Healing Service with Anointing and Communion

This service follows the format of the gospel reading where Jesus is anointed in the house of Simon the leper. Jesus said, “She hath done what she could; she is come aforehand to anoint my body for burial” (BCP, page 155). 

This act points to future healing and restoration. Thus, the liturgy of this day invites us to receive anointing with the hope of restoration. We conclude this time together by receiving Communion, which nourishes not just the body but also the soul and mind.
 


 

Tenebrae 

On Tuesday, we celebrate a beloved liturgy that combines plainsong and a series of psalmic lamentations, underscoring the absence of Jesus, our Light. The ritual of damping the candles in the Tenebrae hearse and the lights in the church highlights our grief. “And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the land until the ninth hour” (Book of Common Prayer, page 162). At the very end a loud noise is made, symbolising the earthquake at the time of the resurrection. (Matthew 28:2).

Altar with shrowded crucifix and hearse on the right

Wednesday in Holy Week: Stations of the Cross

Wednesday provides an opportunity for prayer and contemplation as we walk the Stations of the Cross. Together, we follow the journey of Jesus from his condemnation to his crucifixion, reflecting on his sacrifice through prayer, acts of contrition, and song.

Hymns

There is a Green Hill Far Away
At the Cross, her Station Keeping
Were You There When They Crucified My Lord
My Song is Love Unknown
When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
 

One of the stations of the cross: a wood relief carving of Christ bearing the cross
Last Supper mural above entrance, Blessed Sacrament Adoration Chapel, St. Thomas Mount, Chennai, India
Last Supper mural above entrance, Blessed Sacrament Adoration Chapel, St. Thomas Mount, Chennai, India

Maundy Thursday 

According to Joan Chittister, “In the liturgy of Holy Thursday, Jesus gives himself away for time to come. With the breaking of the bread and the raising of the cup, the signs of Passover blessing, and with the words ‘Do this in remembrance of me’ (Luke 22:19), Jesus launches the passage that will take him and us to new life.” Jesus models a new kind of authority—a servant-leadership that ministers to the members rather than waits to be served by them. He does what slaves did in that culture: he, washes the feet of the community. He does not use authority for his own gain but gives himself to save his community, freeing it to function rather than dominating it. 
After this, he goes to the Garden of Olives to await the fate that comes from doing the will of God in a society that claims to be religious but oppresses the poor, ignores the needy, and makes itself God. He knows that in giving himself away, he will lose his own life for their sake. In re-enacting the night of betrayal, we strip the altar, creating a solemn atmosphere as we keep vigil in the church, accompanying him in prayer as he goes to Gethsemane to suffer and pray, facing arrest and persecution, scourging, and scorn.
 

Hymns

Love is his word (Cresswell) / This is the night (Intercessor)
O thou, who at thy eucharist didst pray (Song 1)
Here, O my Lord, I see thee face to face (St. Agnes)
Of the glorious body telling (Pange Lingua)
Motet: Ubi caritas by Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986)
Ablutions: Ave verum by William Byrd (1540-1623)
 

Good Friday 

The Good Friday liturgy is the second part of the Triduum (the three sacred days). On this day, we focus on Jesus, his Passion, and his Cross. The bare, unadorned church serves as a reminder that this is a solemn and somber occasion. The celebrant begins by prostration for a couple of minutes while the congregation kneels in silence. Some observe fasting and abstinence on this day. The service continues with the liturgy of the word, the haunting 22nd Psalm leading us to re-live the Passion with Jesus, various people lead the reading of the Passion from John’s Gospel, where Christ offers himself as the atonement for our sins and the forgiveness of all. The various readers represent the general population that participates in the Passion narrative such as the temple priests, who are concerned with orthodoxy, the prophetic words of Jesus, and the political concerns of Roman officials regarding the social upheavals they feared. We hear again the arrest and isolation of Jesus, the fears and confusion of his followers, and the death of a king—though his crown is made of thorns and his throne is a Cross. 
A brief homily follows the Passion narrative, which is then followed by the Solemn Intercessions. The veneration of the Cross comes next, where all are invited to bow, say a prayer, or kiss the feet of the crucified Jesus, with each person free to choose their expression. The celebrant makes three double genuflections, a ceremony known as “creeping to the Cross”. The liturgy concludes with the Mass of the Presanctified, during which we receive the body and blood of Christ that was set apart on Maundy Thursday. The service ends in silence, reminding us that more is to come.

Music

There is a Green Hill (Horsley)
When I Survey the Wondrous Cross (Rockingham)
The Royal Banners Forward Go (Vexilla Regis)
Ven: 107 Sing, My Tongue, the Glorious Battle (Pange Lingua)
Comm: 124 O Sacred head, Surrounded (Passion Chorale)
Ps 22
Motet: Salvator mundi: Thomas Tallis (c.1505-1585)
The Reproaches: Tomás Luis de Victoria (c.1548-1611)
 

The statue of Christ at the entrance to the Chancel
Easter vigil procession with candles

Holy Saturday (The Great Vigil of Easter) 

The Great Vigil of Easter, celebrated on Easter Eve, is the first intense celebration of the resurrection of Jesus. This marks the feast of Resurrection, representing the redemption of life from the abyss of nothingness to the pinnacle of creation. 
The Easter Vigil actually consists of four services: the service of light, the liturgy of the word with the history of our salvation from Genesis to Zephaniah, the celebration of our baptism, and then the Easter Vigil, which concludes where the Triduum began on Holy Thursday—at the table, feasting together in communion with the One who has risen again, now among us. The Paschal candle will be placed on its stand in the sanctuary for the next fifty days and will be lit throughout the coming year at baptisms and funerals, reminding us that the Risen Christ is “light and life.”
This is also the first time since before Lent that the exclamation “Alleluia” (praise be to God) will be used. Members of the Church greet each other with “Christ is risen,” to which the response is: “He is risen indeed! Alleluia!”

Music

Ye choir of new Jerusalem (St Fulbert)
The Lamb's high banquet we await (St Venantius)*
Let all mortal flesh keep silence (Picardy)
The strife is o'er, the battle done (Victory)
Psalms: 136: 1-9, 23-26; 46; 16; 42; 43; 98
Song of Moses

 

Easter Sunday 

Sunday is the first day of the week, the Day of Resurrection. On Easter morning, we gather in joyous celebration of the “Feast of Feasts”. We remember the women’s discovery of Jesus’ empty tomb, and the joyous news of his resurrection from the dead. 

This is the day when our Lord Jesus Christ passed from death to life. Throughout the world Christians celebrate the awesome power of God. As we hear His word and proclaim all that God has done, we can be confident that we shall share his victory over death and live with him forever. 

All the resources of the church – music, flowers, candles, bells, colour, movement – are used to celebrate Christ’s resurrection. The ‘Alleluia’, not heard since before Lent, is said in many special prayers and in joyous hymns. 

Our celebrations continue for the Great Fifty Days, until we celebrate the fulfillment of God’s promises in Jesus by the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. 

Gospel reading on Easter Day
Procession of the Christ Candle during the Easter Vigil
An Easter lily
Altar during Easter with Christ candle at left