Living through a prolonged ‘Holy Saturday’We have already become ‘a different sort of church’ in unprecedented ways. The very place in which the body of Christ finds its identity, offers prayer, and receives solace in time of crisis—that is, the church building—is not available to us, and, as in the early days of our faith, public gatherings of Christians outside the home are forbidden. Nevertheless, we are finding ways to join in prayer and intention; to cry ‘Abba, Father’; and to recognise we are all buried with Christ by baptism into his death, that we might walk in newness of life. The present situation does not nullify the joy we have been granted in the resurrection, but it will be lived out this year in different ways. Holy Week and Easter, in particular, will give us opportunities to reflect on all of these matters. In the annual commemoration of the passion, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, we explore who we are and our relationship to the God who loves us. We are enabled to realise, quite counter-culturally, that everything that we have that is good is a gift, and not a right. We, as humans, do not always have the answers. We can reflect that, even in the hardest of times, even in the prolonged ‘Holy Saturday’ of emptiness in which we find ourselves, there is always hope. God, whose nature is mercy, sent his Son, who experienced the fullness of our own human suffering and makes all things new. We are still called to serve those inside and outside the church, and to have care for the most vulnerable. Our historic structures still place us at the heart of the community and of public life, and as spokespeople for our ecumenical partners and for those of other faiths who are experiencing similar difficulties to our own. In these dark times, when it is not possible to recall the death and resurrection of Christ in our church buildings, we have the opportunity, through marking Holy Week at home, of discovering how what we are now experiencing may contribute to our own ongoing journey as God’s people. The homes to which we are primarily confined offer us a place in which our faith can be discovered afresh, where we can find ‘the Church within’. Some of the suggested activities gesture in that direction. In the renewed hope that will come from remembering the story of our salvation, we hope that all the faithful will experience the genuine, unreserved joy of Easter. Activities during Holy WeekThe following list outlines a number of suggested activities which is not exhaustive, but could form the basis of diocesan and local observance this year, as well as a number of national initiatives with which the local church could join. Those who are organising diocesan or local projects should be encouraged to use their time, skills, and talents to minister to the particular needs of their congregations. In general, this is a fruitful time to engage prayerfully with Scripture. The Passion and Resurrection narratives in the Gospels, the Biblical Stations of the Cross (in Common Worship: Times and Seasons) and the daily Eucharistic readings, among other texts, can be studied through the practices of lectio divina or Dwelling in the Word. On social media, there will also be daily reflections from the Archbishop of Canterbury, discussions on each of the Stations of the Cross, and short films which explain the various facets of Holy Week, together with national broadcasts of Prayer During the Day, Night Prayer, and Sunday services. All will be signposted from the Church of England social channels and website. Palm SundaySuggested activities
National initiatives
Important advice:
Maundy Thursday: during the daySuggested activities
Important advice:
Maundy Thursday eveningSuggested activities
Important advice:
National initiatives
Good FridaySuggested activities
National initiatives
Holy SaturdaySuggested activities
National initiatives
Easter DaySuggested activities
Christ yesterday and today, the beginning and the end, Alpha and Omega, all time belongs to him, and all ages; to him be glory and power, through every age and for ever. Amen.
National initiatives
Holy Communion on Maundy Thursday and Easter DayParticularly on Maundy Thursday evening and Easter morning, bishops and priests may wish to celebrate Holy Communion in their homes – including in chapels or oratories, in other rooms, or (on Easter morning) in gardens. If they do so, they should make clear that this is in intention an expression of the shared life of the Body of Christ, not the offering of an individual. Other bishops and clergy may choose to abstain from celebration of the sacrament of Holy Communion for such time as this is not physically accessible to lay people. They may choose to follow this course of action intentionally for the duration of the present emergency. Recognising that they do so in real but separated company with those for whom they have spiritual care, some bishops and priests may choose to stream celebrations of Holy Communion. If so, those participating remotely should be encouraged to use the Act of Spiritual Communion on the Church of England website: https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2020-03/Guidance%20on%20Spiritual%20Communion%20and%20Coronavirus.pdf. As the introduction to that liturgical material explains: The Book of Common Prayer instructs us that if we offer ourselves in penitence and faith, giving thanks for the redemption won by Christ crucified, we may truly ‘eat and drink the Body and Blood of our Saviour Christ’, although we cannot receive the sacrament physically in ourselves. Making a Spiritual Communion is particularly fitting for those who cannot receive the sacrament at the great feasts of the Church, and it fulfils the duty of receiving Holy Communion ‘regularly, and especially at the festivals of Christmas, Easter and Whitsun or Pentecost’ (Canon B 15). Participants in a streamed service of Holy Communion should not be encouraged to place bread and wine before their screens. Joining together to share in the one bread and the one cup as those physically present to one another is integral to the service of Holy Communion; this is not possible under the current restrictions, and it is not helpful to suggest otherwise. Any idea of the ‘remote consecration’ of the bread and wine should be avoided. Bishops should assure priests that their homes are proper places for the celebration of Holy Communion, and remind them that the same reverence should be accorded to the sacrament in the home as in church. In particular, if the sacrament is reserved in a priest’s home for ministry to the sick, it should be stored in a ‘seemly and reverent’ manner in a suitable and secure place. Bishops may wish to give authorisation to those priests who seek it to celebrate services of Holy Communion at which other participants are not physically present. It should be made clear that such authorisation will not extend beyond the period of the current restrictions. Looking forwardIt is not too early to think about the ways in which we might commemorate our return to public worship and to our church buildings. How should we celebrate the return to our worshipping communities and our friends? the re-opening of buildings? the blessing and distribution of the oils? And how should we grieve for those whom we have lost? Holy Week, in these unprecedented circumstances, may offer us some clues to how we will resume our worshipping life together, and how it will be completely different from the one we paused. A locked church, by Alan Amos Ah my dear Lord, the church is locked |