As another Lenten Season draws to a close, we enter the Holiest Week of the Church year—a time to reflect and prepare our hearts for Easter. Music has the unique power to deepen our faith and bring comfort, connecting us personally to the sacred events of Holy Week.
Holy Week to Easter Sunday functions as a “sacred symphony” or an emotional “roller coaster,” with music setting the tone for each event. The week begins with the joyful Hosannas of Palm Sunday, though the mood quickly fades, foreshadowing what is to come. Throughout the first three days, we reflect on the sobering reality of the betrayal that Jesus was about to experience. As we enter the Easter Triduum—a three-day celebration observed as one continuous act of worship—the tone briefly changes: we sing the Glory to God, and the mood shifts to intimacy and love as we celebrate the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday evening. Our music focuses on service and commemorates the institution of Holy Orders and the Eucharist. Soon after, Jesus is found agonizing in the garden, questioning whether he should endure what awaits him: the cup of grief and sorrow of Good Friday. On this day, we contemplate its events through deeply solemn and reflective songs centered on sacrifice, suffering, and redemption. After preparing through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving over the past six weeks, we reach the pinnacle of the Christian year: the triumph and joy of the Resurrection. Holy Saturday is a time of silence and waiting in anticipation of the Great Easter Vigil, the Mother of all Vigils. The new, blessed fire is shared with all the faithful present, and we rejoice that Christ, our Light, is risen as the ancient Easter Proclamation, the Exultet, is intoned. Scripture readings proclaim salvation history. With exuberance, we sing the Glory to God in the Highest and the long-awaited strains of Alleluia. With joy, we celebrate with catechumens and candidates as they fully enter the Catholic Church through the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist.
With this journey in mind, let us allow music and the spoken Word to shape and support our prayerful experience more deeply throughout this Holy Week and the 50 days of Easter. For Jesus Christ is truly risen!
It is my hope that we all will experience a life-changing Holy Week!
