Holy Week provides our family with many great opportunities to enrich our anticipation of Easter.
Beginning on Sunday, we bring home palm branches from the Passion (Palm) Sunday Mass, and hang some on the living room wall with our family crucifix. We weave palm branches into crosses, and hang a palm branch or cross in each person’s bedroom. On Holy Thursday, we sometimes make a family activity of baking hot cross buns for Good Friday or special Easter bread or rolls for Sunday.
On Good Friday, we pray the Stations of the Cross as a family. We observe quiet family days on Good Friday and Holy Saturday by restricting outside activities and limiting our use of television and the computer. Friday or Saturday can be a good time to write or draw on hard-boiled eggs with dark crayons, and then dye them with bright colors. It’s also a chance to decorate a white pillar candle with Christian symbols for use as a centerpiece on our Easter dinner table.
When our children were younger, they learned to appreciate the Vigil Mass on Holy Saturday. The Great Vigil begins in darkness, as a single candle is lit from the outdoor fire and used to light additional candles to fill the church with light. Readings, songs and prayers are used to tell the great salvation stories from the sacred Scriptures. Water is blessed for the Easter rite of baptism. And after celebrating the Paschal liturgy, we return home and share our special Easter bread to continue celebrating the Resurrection.
On Sunday morning, we enjoy Easter eggs, Easter candy and other Easter treats. In the afternoon, we share a special Easter dinner as a family. We light our decorated white pillar candle and place it in the center of our table, as a reminder of the Risen Christ in our midst.
