The season of Lent ends with the beginning of the Maundy Thursday evening service. From ancient times, the penitents who received ashes at the beginning of Lent have been reconciled with God and the church on Maundy Thursday. Even still today, our Maundy Thursday service opens with a ritual of confession and forgiveness.
In the Good Friday service, we gather around the cross—the saving cross by which Christ won eternal life for us all. The Saturday evening Easter Vigil service is a feast of word and sacrament, as we hear the scriptural history of God’s work of salvation, from creation to resurrection.
If you have ever participated in the services of the Triduum (The Great Three Days), you know how spiritually enriching they are. Prayerfully and mindfully participating in these services will truly bring a new and deeper perspective on the joy of Easter Sunday morning.
This message is excerpted from “Lent: Penitence, Pilgrimage, Preparation,” a 2012 Women of the ELCA resource, written by Audrey Novak Riley. Today is Maundy Thursday.
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