Meaning of Holy Week.
The "Greater Week", as the Catholic Church considers it, or Holy Week is the most important liturgical moment of the whole year, even so the Vatican and all the episcopal clergy complain that the believers have turned it into an occasion of Rest and fun forgetting the essential aspects such as prayer, and the reflection of the mysteries of the passion and death of our Lord Jesus Christ.
To this period commemorated by Christianity was formerly known as The Great Week, today is remembered as the week and its days are called "saints", a period that begins from Palm Sunday and culminates with Easter Sunday or Easter and that each year varies in date, because the Jewish people celebrated the Easter holiday in memory of the liberation from the slavery of Egypt on the day of the first full moon of spring.
The Jews fixed the date based on the lunar year and not the solar year of our modern calendar, for that reason the Holy Week every year changes of day, because it is made to coincide with the full moon. At that time for the feast of the Passover the Jews would gather to eat roast lamb and salad of bitter herbs, recite blessings and sing offering for the deliverance from slavery. In the present era the paschal mystery is celebrated with the liberation of sin and death represented by the resurrection of the son of God. To reach this resurrection or Easter during the week some solemn acts are remembered that were lived with intensity more than two thousand years ago.
This period that represents the last week that Jesus Christ lived on earth begins on Palm Sunday, symbolizing the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem in which all the people praised him as king with songs and palms and it is for this reason that they wear palms to the procession of Palm Sunday, a journey in which songs and praises are sung to Jesus ending in the temple where the Sunday Eucharist is celebrated and the palms are blessed.
Holy Monday continues the normal celebration of the mass. During this the gospel that is proclaimed reflects the anointing of Jesus in Bethany in the house of his friend Lazarus whom he had purposely resurrected. There, one of Lazaro's sisters anoints him with fine perfumes. This day also commemorates when Jesus expelled the merchants from the temple in Jerusalem, because he finds them negotiating and not praying that he was the target of that space. According to the story, the phrase that Jesus used enraged at that moment was "you have turned my father's house into a den of thieves".
Holy Tuesday is a syntagma of the meeting that Jesus had with his disciples where he anticipates the betrayal of Judas and the denials of Peter. On that day, the Eucharist is celebrated and the church invites the parishioners to confess their sins by repenting of all their sins as part of the process of preparation for the Easter Vigil.
On Holy Wednesday a historical figure is remembered, Judas Iscariot, who conspires to betray Jesus for 30 silver coins. This date marks the end of Lent and the eve of Easter.
Holy Thursday evokes four main acts, the first being the Lavatorio de los Pies, an act in memory of the lesson of humility that Jesus Christ gave to the apostles by washing their feet and that in some churches it is done. The second is The Last Supper which was the last time that Jesus of Nazareth met with his apostles to share the bread and wine before his death. The third act is the prayer of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, the garden where Jesus prayed the last night before being arrested and wept tears of blood. The fourth act is the Arrest of Jesus where Judas accompanied by a group armed with swords and clubs sent by the princes of priests and elders, arrived in Gethsemane and revealed the identity of Jesus by kissing his cheek. That is why today some hypocritical betrayals are symbolized with the phrase "The Kiss of Judas". There in the garden Jesus was arrested and his disciples who initially resisted ended up dispersing and fleeing.
Good Friday is remembered the Passion and Death of our Lord Jesus Christ, his prison, the interrogations of Herod and Pilate, the flogging, the crowning of thorns, the crucifixion and the death that was presented, according to tradition, exactly at three o'clock pm; At that time the earth darkened completely, trembled and the roof of the temple was torn in half.
The events that took place at this time frame the five painful mysteries of the Holy Rosary, this summit day of the week is commemorated with a via crucis, a Latin term that refers to the way of the cross. The road is represented with a total of fourteen images of the passion or seasons corresponding to particular incidents that according to the Christian tradition Jesus suffered for our salvation.
In addition to the Stations of the Cross the church solemnizes the Sermon of the seven words as a reference of seven phrases that Jesus Christ said after being nailed to the cross.
Holy Saturday recalls the passage between the death and the resurrection of Jesus. It is a day of mourning and sadness, because the son of God has died. The images are covered and the tabernacles are open, at night there is a paschal vigil to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. In this celebration it is customary to bless the water and light the candles as a sign of the resurrection of Christ, the great feast of Catholics. According to this, the Christians celebrate an act called "The Blessing of Fire" where at midnight the fire is blessed with which they are going to light these candles in addition to a procession that takes place hours before with María Dolorosa for the death of his son.
The last day corresponding to this period is Easter Sunday, which is nothing more than the passage from death to life. It is the most joyful and important day for all Catholics since Jesus overcame death and is resurrected on the third day.
At the end of Holy Week, the churches perform a procession in the morning with the Risen Christ where they remember the words of Jesus as he ascends to heaven in front of his apostles.