To follow step by step the footsteps of Christ, to relive what he experienced in the last days of his earthly life, and to retrace the great moments of our redemption where they really took shape. Living Holy Week in Jerusalem is an absolutely unique experience of faith. The liturgical celebrations have the essential peculiarity of being "adapted to the day and place." As we contemplate the sacred mysteries, participating in the liturgies and various commemorations, at any time we can say: "it happened here."
The week's program is rich: from the commemoration of the Lord’s entrance into Jerusalem with the morning Mass at the Tomb (8:00), and the suggestive palm procession starting from the Mount of Olives in the afternoon of Palm Sunday (2.30 pm), to the solemn celebrations of the Paschal Triduum.
On Holy Thursday, the appointments are the Mass of the Lord's Supper at the Tomb (8:00 am), the peregrination to the Cenacle (3.30 pm) and the Holy Hour in Gethsemane (9:00 pm), a prayer on the rock where Jesus began his Passion, which will be transmitted live on television and via streaming on our website (link FMC live).
Good Friday will begin at 8 am at Calvary, where the Lord's Passion will be remembered. At 11:30 am, the Stations of the Cross will take place through the streets of the old city, led by the Custos of the Holy Land, while at 4 pm, the functions will move back to the tomb for the Office of Readings. There also, at 8:10 pm, will be celebrated Christ's funeral, an evocative celebration of the deposition of Christ’s body in the tomb.
The Easter celebrations will begin on Saturday morning at the Sepulchre with the Easter vigil, the mother of all vigils (7:30 am). At 3:30 will be the solemn entry of the Patriarch, and at 6 pm the recitation of vespers. The day will conclude at half past midnight with the Office of Readings.
On Easter Day, the celebration of Mass with the procession around the edicule is scheduled for 8 am, and at 5 pm the daily procession will take place.
On Easter Monday, the Custos will celebrate Mass in Emmaus at 10:00 am, and the recitation of Vespers will follow in the afternoon, at 2:30. At the Holy Sepulchre, Mass will be celebrated at 8 am, while the procession will take place at 5 pm.
The functions will be attended by the Christians of Jerusalem and of other cities of the Holy Land, but also by the numerous pilgrims from all over the world who are expected in great numbers for this Easter 2012.
• Follow our videos on Holy Week in the section TOWARDS EASTER or in the video news
LITURGIES in the HOLY PLACES.
• For more detailed information on the program of Holy Week 2012 visit
www.cicts.org
