Triduum: Three Days

Triduum literally means “Three Days”, and it’s how the church for millenia now has referred to the three days before Easter. For us who are immersed in the prayerful, liturgical, emotional life of the church and its people, the Triduum demands our deepest engagement, and prepares us to experience the deepest joy, when the three days end and Easter bursts triumphant onto the scene. Traditionally, Triduum worship includes Tenebrae, a “Maundy” service commemorating Christ washing the  disciples’ feet and commanding them to “love one another”, a commemoration of the Last Supper with celebration of Holy Communion or with an Agape supper, stripping the altar, the Way of the Cross, and a “Tre-Oro” (three hours) service commemorating the three hours during the crucifixion that the darkness lay over the land.

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