Wondering what all the "Holy Week" fuss is about?  Never heard the word "Maundy" before?  Want to find out what makes this Friday so "Good" or what that word "Lent" means?  Then read on:

Lent is the name for the forty days before Easter; it is a time when churches are preparing to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Originally, the word meant "spring" but today has a much more specific definition.

Holy Week refers to the week from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday.

Palm Sunday commemorates the entry of Jesus into the city of Jerusalem.  Crowds of people placed on the road in front of him their cloaks and also branches cut from trees (hence the name Palm Sunday).  Although welcomed like a king, Jesus was soon condemned to death.  Palm Sunday is the time when many churches celebrate that triumphant entry into Jerusalem, and also recount the events leading to his betrayal and death.  Frequently, churches will read or perform the "passion" story at this time - that is, the story of Jesus' suffering and death (this is where the title of the Mel Gibson blockbuster The Passion of the Christ comes from).  If you'd like to read the story for yourself and you have a copy of the New Testament, read Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:28-40, or John 12:12-19.

Maundy Thursday marks the occasion of Jesus' last supper with his disciples, an event which Disciples of Christ churches reenact every week at the communion table.  The name Holy Thursday is also used by some church traditions to describe this day of Holy Week.  The word "maundy" comes from a Latin word meaning "commandment" and refers to the new commandment given by Jesus in the gospel of John.  Today, it has come to be associated with the act of foot washing, since Jesus washed the feet of his disciples in the same gospel account.  Many Maundy Thursday services include a foot-washing aspect to them.

Good Friday is the day following Maundy Thursday, just as Jesus was condemned to death and died on the day following his gathering with his disciples for the last supper on the previous evening.   Some churches provide a somber service of reflection sometime between noon and 3 p.m., the time we traditionally believe Jesus hung on the cross (See Matthew 27:45-56, Mark 15:33-40, Luke 23:44-49, and John 19:28-30).  Others have an evening tenebrae service (a service of increasing darkness), while some hold a service that focuses on the last words spoken by Jesus in the gospel accounts.  There are many different kinds of services and activities which a church might do on Good Friday, or indeed throughout Holy Week.

Easter celebrates the day that Jesus was found to have risen from death, when women who were Jesus' followers came to his tomb to prepare his body for final burial.  Jesus had been placed in the tomb on Friday night, but due to the Jewish Sabbath (Saturday) this ritual act of burial could not be done until Sunday morning.  When the women arrived at the tomb, they found it empty.  If you'd like to read the gospel accounts (which differ in some details from one to another) then check out Matthew 28:1-10, Mark 16:1-10, Luke 24:1-12, or John 20:1-10.

Of course, many denominations and individual congregations do different things to mark each of these steps of Holy Week, and therefore blanket generalizations about what each of these services consist of could be misleading.  This description is meant as an introduction and overview only, and it is also grounded in the offerings of FCC Vallejo this year; as such, it leaves out things that other churches do during Holy Week, and also things which our church has done in past years but is not doing this year.  For example, our church is not having any services on the Saturday before Easter this year - such as the Easter Vigil - but other churches will mark that day.  If you want to know what other churches do, and what other kinds of worship activities go on, be sure to check around and visit several other church web sites - one alone cannot begin to give you an idea of the variety that is out there.