Holy Week at homes
Ideas from across the church for keeping a Holy Week in homes everywhere.
Creating sacred space for worship at home
Keep it simple and clutter free. Add symbols that are important to you - a cross, a stone, an icon, a candle, etc. If you have children, ask them to help create it with things that make them feel closer to God. As you are moved, share your space on social media with the hashtag #sacredspace or email it to us to share here.
Creating A Lenten Prayer Space At Home - guidance for creating sacred space at home
Making an altar for home - from Sharon Ely Pearson
How to Set Up a Prayer Table - from the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd
Use painter’s tape or masking tape and Crayola washable window paint to turn your windows into stained glass.
With children: make a Holy Week in a box that you can use throughout the week.
Holy Week at home resources for children birth-K and grades 1-5
Download free Holy Week resources for families from Church Publishing.
Woodcut prints © Margaret Adams Parker
Stations of the Cross ideas
Download Stations of the Cross images for use with the readings from The Way of the Cross in The Book of Occasional Services.
Print and use this Stations of the Cross booklet at home.
Way of the Cross with the 8 stations that are based directly on events recorded in the Gospels, written by the Rev. Susanne Watson-Epting
Stations of the Cross complied by Rev. Frank Logue that moves through the stations inspired by René Girard’s work on The Anthropology of the Cross and James Cone’s, The Cross and the Lynching Tree (adult).
Photo: Trinity, Iowa City
Sunday: Palm Sunday
The Liturgy for Palm Sunday carries us into Holy Week. The service begins with Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The mood shifts with the reading of the passion, and we begin the journey through the events that culminate in Jesus’ crucifixion and death.
Participate in the online diocesan service, offered by St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral, Des Moines at 10:00am. The service will be found on the diocesan Facebook page, the diocesan Youtube channel, and will be available on the diocesan website. Call-in option for members who only have access to phones (participants on the phone will NOT be able to be heard but will be able to hear the service): 312 626 6799 and enter the Meeting ID as prompted: 365 765 527#
Make palm crosses when the palms arrive and mail them out to the congregation. Leave some in individual ziplocs in a container on your church’s front step.
St. Mark's, Maquoketa will be putting the blessed palms outside on Palm Sunday morning along side the church sign. The church sign will have a message indicating that the palms are free and they let members know that they are able to drive by at their convenience on Palm Sunday to get their palm. Any palms left will be gathered up early evening and those will be the starter palms for the ashes on Ash Wednesday 2021
Read the Palm Sunday Prayerpoem from enfleshed
With children: Begin a Lego journey through Holy Week
Download a free palm frond page to color and hang in your windows
Holy Week Art Project: Making Easter Flags
Monday in Holy Week: Chrism Mass
Iowa Episcopalians are called together each year for the celebration of the Chrism Mass on the Monday of Holy Week, but as it is during a weekday, most lay people cannot usually attend—this year, we hope lots of people will be able to experience it virtually! During the service the holy oils are blessed for use in the churches. The Chrism Mass also serves as an opportunity for the priests and deacons who serve with their bishop to renew their commitment to join in the ministry of the Gospel through the exercise of the ordained ministry. The bishop renews his episcopal vows and the laity's ministry is reaffirmed by renewal of the Baptismal Covenant.
Participate in the online diocesan service, offered from the Chapel of the Epiphany at the Episcopal Diocese of Iowa office in Des Moines at 11:00am. The service will be found on the diocesan Facebook page, the diocesan Youtube channel, and will be available on the diocesan website. Call-in option for members who only have access to phones (participants on the phone will NOT be able to be heard but will be able to hear the service): 312 626 6799 and enter the Meeting ID as prompted: 365 765 527#
Tuesday in Holy Week: Morning Prayer
Participate in the online diocesan service, offered by St. Alban’s, Spirit Lake at 8:30am. The service will be found on the diocesan Facebook page, the diocesan Youtube channel, and will be available on the diocesan website. Call-in option for members who only have access to phones (participants on the phone will NOT be able to be heard but will be able to hear the service): 312 626 6799 and enter the Meeting ID as prompted: 365 765 527#
Forward Movement offers an easy-to-use daily office (morning prayer, noonday prayer, evening prayer, or compline) at the Forward Movement Daily Prayer website. You can choose a variety of options to customize the prayers according to your preference. There is also a daily podcast, A Morning at the Office, with various people leading the prayers and reading the scripture lessons for the day. Mission St. Clare also has a Morning Prayer resource you can access on a computer, phone, or tablet or download the Apple or Android app.
Wednesday in Holy Week: Tenebrae
Tenebrae (the Latin word for “darkness” or “shadows”) provides an extended meditation upon, and a prelude to, the events in our Lord’s life between the Last Supper and the Resurrection. The service is structured around chanted psalms, readings, and responsories. The distinctive ceremony of Tenebrae includes use of lighted candles. One candle is extinguished as each of the appointed psalms is completed. The last candle, symbolic of Christ, is left lighted at the end of the final psalm. But it is carried away to be hidden, which signifies the apparent victory of the forces of evil. A sudden loud noise is made at the end of the service, symbolizing the earthquake at Christ's death. The lighted candle is then restored to its place, suggesting Christ's eventual triumph.
Participate in the online diocesan service, offered by St. John’s, Mason City at 7:00pm. The service will be found on the diocesan Facebook page, the diocesan Youtube channel, and will be available on the diocesan website. Call-in option for members who only have access to phones (participants on the phone will NOT be able to be heard but will be able to hear the service): 312 626 6799 and enter the Meeting ID as prompted: 365 765 527#
The service can also be done on your own or as part of a family. DOWNLOAD TENEBRAE.
Maundy Thursday
The liturgy for Maundy Thursday is part of the Triduum, or three holy days before Easter. The Liturgy for Maundy Thursday is rich and focuses on two major themes. Coming from the Latin for “mandate” which means to command, “maundy” refers to the commandment Jesus gave his disciples to love each other. The second theme is the last supper Jesus shared with his disciples, which shaped the sacrament of the Eucharist for followers after his death. Following the service, the altar (or your prayer area) is stripped and all decorative furnishings are removed.
Participate in the online diocesan service, offered by Trinity, Waterloo at 7:00pm. The service will be found on the diocesan Facebook page, the diocesan Youtube channel, and will be available on the diocesan website. Call-in option for members who only have access to phones (participants on the phone will NOT be able to be heard but will be able to hear the service): 312 626 6799 and enter the Meeting ID as prompted: 365 765 527#
Trinity, Iowa City plans to stream their Maundy Thursday liturgy and then invite people to participate in an Agape dinner at home. They plan to send out a menu with suggested foods and recipes: meatless soup (Lentil, Black Bean, Mushroom), bread, nuts and dried fruit along with recipes so households can prepare soup and bake bread for their Agape dinners. Following the meal, Trinity will watch a livestream of the Stripping of the Altar and then begin an online Vigil Over the Blessed Sacrament via Zoom, inviting their members to sign up in one hour slots to keep watch during the online All-Night Vigil.
Download and print the Three Days from Home booklet to use for Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Vigil as an individual or family. This could be mailed to people without internet access.
Maundy Thursday service with families and individuals at their individual homes
Good Friday
We mark Christ’s crucifixion with the Good Friday Liturgy, which is made up of readings, hymns, prayers, and silence. The Liturgy of the Word concludes with the dramatic reading of the Passion according to John. The Solemn Collects, which follow, are the fullest form of the Church’s public intercessory prayer and present our prayers before God for the entire world for which Christ died.
Participate in the online diocesan service, offered by St. John’s, Dubuque at 7:00pm. The service will be found on the diocesan Facebook page, the diocesan Youtube channel, and will be available on the diocesan website. Call-in option for members who only have access to phones (participants on the phone will NOT be able to be heard but will be able to hear the service): 312 626 6799 and enter the Meeting ID as prompted: 365 765 527#
Download and print the Three Days from Home booklet to use for Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Vigil as an individual or family.
Read, listen, and reflect on this weaving of poetry, scripture, and song: Good Friday Contemplative Service of Scripture and Song from enfleshed.
Saturday: Easter Vigil
Since the early days of the church, Easter Eve was a time set aside for baptisms. They were elaborate, dramatic services, symbolizing a new beginning. A study in contrasts, the service begins in the darkness. A fire is kindled and the Paschal Candle is lit. Other candles are lit, bringing in new light. An ancient hymn, the Exsultet is sung. Several Old Testament lessons are read and songs are sung. The Renewal of Baptismal Vows follows, and at the conclusion, the celebrant calls out “Alleluia. Christ is risen.” Then the lights come on and the bells are rung with great fanfare.
Participate in the online diocesan service, offered by Trinity, Iowa City at 8:00pm. The service will be found on the diocesan Facebook page, the diocesan Youtube channel, and will be available on the diocesan website. Call-in option for members who only have access to phones (participants on the phone will NOT be able to be heard but will be able to hear the service): 312 626 6799 and enter the Meeting ID as prompted: 365 765 527#
Download and print the Three Days from Home booklet to use for Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Vigil as an individual or family.
Easter Day: The Feast of the Resurrection
Holy Week concludes with the greatest feast of the Christian year, the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection.
Participate in the online diocesan service, offered by Trinity Cathedral, Davenport at 10:30am. The service will be found on the diocesan Facebook page, the diocesan Youtube channel, and will be available on the diocesan website. Call-in option for members who only have access to phones (participants on the phone will NOT be able to be heard but will be able to hear the service): 312 626 6799 and enter the Meeting ID as prompted: 365 765 527#
Make Moravian Love Feast Buns to enjoy at home.
Easter crafts: Resurrection Garden & Easter Wheat