The sequence of days from Ash Wednesday through the Great Vigil of Easter form the heart of Christian worship. This season of Lent is the most important time in the Church year, and people of faith are encouraged to make extra effort to be a part of all the services and activities during this season.

The climax is called the Holy Triduum: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Great Vigil of Easter. Services on each of these days really form one liturgy over those days. Ascension holds these three services at 8:00 p.m. each night (in addition to a service at noon on Good Friday).

Maundy Thursday recalls the Last Supper, and all are invited to share in the ritual of washing one another’s feet. Then, after celebrating Communion, the remaining consecrated bread and wine are reposed in the chapel for use on Good Friday, and the church is stripped of all adornment. Everyone simply scatters in the darkness—the service doesn’t really have an ending. All during the night, people gather in vigil in the chapel before the reserved sacrament for quiet prayer. Normally people sign up and come for an hour sometime during the night.

Good Friday recalls Jesus passion and death in a somber service. Hearing the story of the crucifixion from John’s Gospel is followed by a time to venerate the cross and pray for the church and the world. Communion from the reserved sacrament consecrated on Maundy Thursday night is distributed, and all leave again in silence and darkness.

The Great Vigil of Easter was originally an all-night service. The Church gathers to light a new fire symbolizing the light of Christ, to recount God’s saving deeds in history, to bring new members into God’s family through baptism, and to proclaim the truth and power of the Resurrection through the celebration of the first Eucharist of Easter. The service is a glorious and mysterious celebration, and this is the liturgy that gives all other liturgies meaning and form.

This web site offers rich and varied resources for exploring the meaning of Lent and for encouraging the observance of a holy Lent.