The Paschal Triduum The Paschal Triduum Celebrating the Great Mystery of FaithCelebrating the Great Mystery of Faith

What is the meaning of the word Paschal What is the meaning of the word Paschal and Triduum?and Triduum?

The word Paschal The word Paschal means:means:

Passover.Passover.

The word Triduum The word Triduum means:means:

Three days.Three days.

What are the days of the Holy Triduum?What are the days of the Holy Triduum?

The days of the Holy The days of the Holy Triduum are:Triduum are:

A. A. Holy ThursdayHoly Thursday

B. B. Good FridayGood Friday

C. C. Holy SaturdayHoly Saturday

What is the Holy Triddum?What is the Holy Triddum?

The Triduum is a The Triduum is a celebrationcelebration o of the three f the three holiest days in the holiest days in the Catholic ChurchCatholic Church..

Why is the Holy Triduum so Important?Why is the Holy Triduum so Important?

Through the liturgy of these Through the liturgy of these three days the Church three days the Church remembers that remembers that Christ Christ suffered and died, but that suffered and died, but that HHe also came to lifee also came to life..

The Triduum is the The Triduum is the celebration of the Churchcelebration of the Church’’s s salvation through Christ.salvation through Christ.

Easter and the holidays that are related to it have changing dates(March/April)

What does the Holy Triduum remember What does the Holy Triduum remember and celebrate?and celebrate?

The Holy Triduum remembersThe Holy Triduum remembers and celebrates and celebrates ChristChrist’’s s

victory over sin and death.victory over sin and death.

The Holy TriduumThe Holy Triduum

The HolyThe Holy Triduum Triduum begins on the begins on the evening of evening of Holy ThursdayHoly Thursday..

On Holy Thursday there is only On Holy Thursday there is only one one MMassass..

The The MMass of the ass of the LordLord’’s suppers supper which is celebrated in the which is celebrated in the eveningevening..

Holy ThursdayHoly Thursday

A. The faithful gathers in A. The faithful gathers in church to celebrate the church to celebrate the institutioninstitution of the of the EucharistEucharist and and priesthood.priesthood.

BB. The . The churchchurch is cleared. is cleared. All All decorations are removed from decorations are removed from the church.the church.

Good FridayGood Friday

A. This is a holy day ofA. This is a holy day of fastingfasting and and abstinenceabstinence..

B. Is the only day in theB. Is the only day in the CatholicCatholic calendar that calendar that a a MMass is not celebrated.ass is not celebrated.

Holy Saturday Easter VigilHoly Saturday Easter VigilA. The Easter Vigil is the A. The Easter Vigil is the highest pointhighest point of the of the Easter Easter TriduumTriduum..

B. The B. The Easter VigilEaster Vigil begins on begins on the evening of the evening of Holy Holy SaturdaySaturday..

C. This is the longest C. This is the longest celebration in Catholic celebration in Catholic worship.worship.

D. The Easter Vigil D. The Easter Vigil celebration proclaims celebration proclaims JesusJesus’’ triumph over the powers of triumph over the powers of evilevil and and deathdeath..

Easter VigilEaster Vigil

This is the first mass of This is the first mass of EasterEaster day, and the day, and the beginningbeginning of the of the Easter Easter seasonseason, fifty days of , fifty days of celebration that end on celebration that end on Pentecost Sunday, Pentecost Sunday, the feast the feast of the Holy Spirit.of the Holy Spirit.

The Lord is Risen! Alleluia! Alleluia!The Lord is Risen! Alleluia! Alleluia!

DateEaster and the holidays that are related to it are moveable feasts, in that they do not fall on a fixed date in the Gregorian or Julian calendars (both of which follow the cycle of the sun and the seasons). Instead, the date for Easter is determined on a lunisolar calendar similar to the Hebrew calendar. The First Council of Nicaea (325) established two rules, independence of the Jewish calendar and worldwide uniformity, which were the only rules for Easter explicitly laid down by the Council. No details for the computation were specified; these were worked out in practice, a process that took centuries and generated a number of controversies. (See also Computus and Reform of the date of Easter.) In particular, the Council did not decree that Easter must fall on Sunday. This was already the practice almost everywhere.

In Western Christianity, using the Gregorian calendar, Easter always falls on a Sunday between 22 March and 25 April inclusive, within about seven days after the astronomical full moon. The following day, Easter Monday, is a legal holiday in many countries with predominantly Christian traditions.

Eastern Christianity bases its calculations on the Julian Calendar. Because of the 13-day difference between the calendars between 1900 and 2099, 21 March corresponds, during the 21st century, to 3 April in the Gregorian Calendar. Easter therefore varies between 4 April and 8 May on the Gregorian calendar (the Julian calendar is no longer used as the civil calendar of the countries where Eastern Christian traditions predominate). Also, because the Julian "full moon" is always several days after the astronomical full moon, the eastern Easter is often later, relative to the visible moon's phases, than western Easter.

Among the Oriental Orthodox some churches have changed from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar and the date for Easter as for other fixed and moveable feasts is the same as in the Western church.