Entering Together: Understanding Our Traditions and Enriching Our Experience

Cover Art by Barbara Morrison

Gretchen Strohmaier Holy Spirit Episcopal Church Missoula, MT 2014 Preparing for Holy Week

Preparation as a Spiritual Practice

Most things that are meaningful require some level of preparation. This is true also for the events of Holy Week, and I think we can take this lesson and apply it to our spiritual lives in general. Here are some of the signs and activities that you can watch for during Holy Week. Perhaps they will help your own personal preparation for the Holy Days ahead.

Altar Guild: The church begins to percolate with activity the week before . The women of the Altar Guild gather as they do every year to fold palm crosses. The newest member to the group began folding crosses 14 years ago. It has become a ritual for these women, and not only a social ritual but a spiritual one, a reminder to prepare for the annual unfolding of Holy Week. This serves to remind us to make ready our own spiritual home for the risen Christ.

The Choir: The Choir begins to prepare as well with new music, longer practice times, and extra rehearsals. They often sing at as many as 5 different services during the week. This sacrifice of time is a gift they give to the congregation, but also it must be an incubator for their own spiritual lives. As they are forced to slow down, rearrange schedules and honor the significance of Christ’s sacrifice for us all.

Flowers: It takes a crew of committed volunteers to order, deliver, care for and arrange the flowers for the Vigil and Easter Sunday services. Again this task requires time and careful attention; it can become a practice of devotion, an Easter gift given in honor of the biggest Easter gift, ’ resurrection.

How will you prepare for Holy Week? Preparation is required.

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Preparing for Palm Sunday

If you are looking for ways to make Palm Sunday more meaningful for your children or grandchildren, you might consider one of the following activities.

Hen & Chicks Creating Rituals A folk custom from the Netherlands highlights Matthew 23:37. Jesus says: Consider the following if you are Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones interested in creating a ritual to those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your prepare yourself and/or your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, family for Holy Week. and you were not willing! Use tactile experiences like folding the palms, arranging This image of a mother bird gathering and protecting her young flowers or baking bread. Even is also invoked in the Psalms to describe God’s relationship to us cleaning the house, if done in the right mind set, can be a (Psalm 17: 8). It is also familiar to us through our service of ritual in preparation for Holy Compline which we regularly share here at Holy Spirit during the Week. season of Lent. You might recall the phrase, “Keep us, O Lord, as the apple of your eye; Hide us under the shadow of your wings” Use scent. Deeply held memories are often associated (Book of Common Prayer, page 132). It is a warm and feminine with a smell. Vinegar is the image and a positive one to highlight with our children. scent of Holy Week due to for many people. The women of the Altar Guild speak of the scent of Murphy’s Oil Soap because they cleaned the pews with it every year just before Easter. Others feel the scent of the Easter lily is the scent of the season.

In her book, To Dance with God, Gertrude Mueller Nelson suggests making bread birds with children for Palm Sunday. She suggests using your favorite bread recipe and shaping small roll size balls into chicks and a larger lump of dough into a hen. As I experimented with her suggestions I found that it was easier said than done. But with a little creativity, some raisin eyes, colorful construction paper additions (for the beak and comb), plus some palm branches* (saved from last year) for tail feathers, and a basket as a nest, the kids got the idea. *Extra palms from last year’s Palm Sunday celebration are available in the church school supply closet.

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Palm Sunday Flags For older children you might consider working together with them to make flags for the Palm Sunday . Palm Sunday always calls for a procession, and we generally process into church waving our palms, colorful streamers and sometimes even shaking noisemakers. Older children might enjoy using scraps of fabric and a dowel to create a Palm Sunday flag for the procession. You might talk together about the variety of symbols that might be Kids know how to do ritual on the flag, a lamb, a palm, a crown, or something else. Just set the stage, give them If you decide to try the flags then you might want to the tools and take it seriously. consider having your own family procession at home as well. Consider having each member of the family make a flag. Then have a discussion as a family about how and when you’ll do your procession. What other elements might need to be included? When parents participate it changes the dynamic. It may feel awkward or silly, but play along the best you can, and I am willing to bet you’ll be inspired by your own children. Using play to explore the sacred often comes naturally for children; this is their specialty, and when you experience it with them it can be a holy moment.

Holy Week Candles Consider making or decorating special candles for Holy Week. Majorie Frank, in her book, I Can Make A Rainbow, describes the process for making ice candles using the following supplies. Cubes of ice Cardboard milk carton Cooking oil Taper candle as tall as your milk carton Old crayon Paraffin, Cooking pot or tin can Stove, Hot pads and newspapers

Directions: Always use adult help for this project. Cut the top of the milk carton off. Grease the inside of the carton with oil unless it is already wax coated. Place the candle in the center of the carton. It will stay in place if you pour a little melted paraffin around the bottom of it and hold it for a few minutes. Carefully melt enough paraffin in your pot or tin can to fill the carton. Use medium heat. You can color your wax by adding old crayon pieces. Fill the carton half full with ice cubes. Pour hot paraffin over the ice. Fill the mold to the top with ice, and then pour

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paraffin in again. After it cools a while, pour off any water. Let the candle sit overnight. In the morning tear off the Holy Week cardboard. Read at Home: Decorate a candle. If you need an Select one of the Gospels and read the story at home together. easier candle idea that involves less mess and no heat try using decorating Matthew 21: 1-11 & chapters 26 wax to add color and symbols to -28 existing candles. Purchase any size and Mark 11: 1-11 & chapters 14-16 shape of candle you like. Stockmar Luke chapters 19-24 Decorating wax sheets can be ordered at atoygarden.com. (I eventually found them locally at John 11: 45-57; 12: 12-19; 13: 1- Walking Stick Toys.) These brightly colored thin wax sheets 20 & chapters 18-20 can be cut into any shape and pressed onto your existing Take your time reading these candle. Hold the shape in place for a few seconds. The heat stories together. Talk about the of your hand will melt the wax slightly and make the images that come to mind. Note decorating wax adhere to the candle. Work together with the underlying feelings and your children to design your own special Holy Week moods. Perhaps use paper and colored pencils for the child to candles. Don’t forget to decide when and where you will depict the mood by using color burn them. or drawings. Help the child make a list of questions that the story inspires. Make it a family project to research the answer to these questions. Older children may also be ready to compare the differences between the Gospels in regards to the Holy Week stories.

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Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday is full of excitement. Here at Holy Spirit the morning begins in the parish hall for everyone, and this lends to the sense of anticipation. The Choir in their robes, the kids and all the parishioners are holding palms and lined up ready to process into the church. The palms are blessed with droplets of holy water. The tone and mood is one of celebration.

As adults we become aware of the great paradox of Palm Sunday. The crowds wanted to make Jesus king. They honored him with their palms and laid their cloaks in the road, making a path for him to ride on. And yet it was only a few short days after this that the crowd turned abruptly, and Jesus was crucified. This is hard to explain overtly to very small children, and I don’t think I would really try. Consider just allowing your children to experience it. Sooner or later they will begin to ask questions, and then, you can struggle with them to make sense of this paradox.

In church school we have talked about the concept of something new. We have

5 discussed how God tried to communicate God’s love for the people, but the message never seemed to get through. So God tried something new. God sent Jesus. Jesus himself was something new. Not only that, but we have learned that Jesus taught something new. Jesus’ teachings were sometimes exactly opposite of what the people had previously thought and believed.

In church school we have considered the various responses that people have to something new. Sometimes we are excited by a change, and it draws us in. Perhaps we are inspired by the change to learn and grow in new ways. But sometimes we are upset by the change. Sometimes something new makes us feel disappointed, mad, jealous or competitive. People responded to Jesus in these same ways; some were excited and inspired, and many were mad and jealous. And so the events of Holy Week are a jumble of those thoughts and feelings about Jesus.

Palm Sunday is the day we celebrate Jesus as king. Many people were ready to make him king. They desperately wanted a good king and leader. They hoped that was what Jesus would be for them. So on Palm Sunday we remember and celebrate that part of the story, trying not to let the rest of the story of Holy Week color the celebration.

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Maundy Thursday

This service occurs on the Thursday of Holy Week. It is a time we think of Jesus’ institution of the Eucharist and the washing of the disciples’ feet. The term Maundy means commandment and refers to Jesus’ “new commandment” in John 13: 34. Jesus says,

I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.

Jesus demonstrates a model of love and service for others by washing the disciples’ feet, a task that a servant would normally have done. This simple act reminds us also of our need for forgiveness, cleansing and renewal. Peter balks at the idea that Jesus would wash his feet, but when he learns that this act of service is imperative, he asks that Jesus wash his hands and his head too.

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Past Church School Director, Karen Hunter, made this super-frontal.

The service is also a time to remember where the Sacrament of Eucharist, comes from. Jesus instituted it on the night he was betrayed, a ritual to remind us all of Jesus’ sacrifice, death and resurrection. It is indeed through Jesus as servant that we receive eternal life, life anew.

Our Maundy Thursday service illustrates this story using a clay chalice and other simple vessels, rather than the normal silver. A simple super-frontal with grapes and wheat, rather than the more ornate one of the service is traditionally used. Also of note in this service are the short pillar candles and the draped cross(es). These alterations flow out of the austerity of Lent and signify the reality of Jesus’ suffering and sacrifice. The stage is set for an intimate, rustic meal among friends.

Crimson and black are the colors we’ve chosen to use at Holy Spirit during the season of Lent. Note the stoles worn by Reverend Terri and deacons, Myrna and Judy. These colors signify the somber, reflective mood of Lent and remind us of

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Jesus’ death. Purple is also a traditional color for Lent, signifying penitence, sorrow and watchfulness.

The Holy Week story continues. The is over. Jesus invites the disciples to join him in the garden of Gethsemane. Jesus asks them to wait and watch with him as he prays, but they have trouble staying awake. When the crowd comes to arrest Jesus the disciples flee. To symbolize this desertion by his friends the lights at the end of the Maundy Thursday service are dimmed. Women from the Altar Guild strip the altar bare, and parishioners leave the service in silence. Jesus is left alone to face the charges that have been laid against him. This dramatic and atypical ending to a church service will undoubtedly prompt excellent conversation for your family on the way home.

At the Maundy Thursday Service look for: Clay Chalice

Simple vessels

Low Pillar candles

Grapes and wheat Colors of Lent: crimson & black The draped cross(es) Prayer Vigil It is our custom here at Holy Spirit to offer an overnight prayer vigil, beginning at the end of the Maundy Thursday service. Parishioners sign up for an hour at a time and sit quietly through the night at the back of the church to watch and wait as Jesus asked the disciples to do so long ago. This is a lovely opportunity to recognize and honor the significance of Holy Week. Families are welcome to participate in the prayer vigil as well. Drawing paper, books and toys, related to Holy Week events are available in the baskets at the back of the church. Prepare your children for what they can expect. Read about the Last Supper, and Gethsemane. Then allow them to make the experience their own.

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Good Friday

What is good about , the day we remember Jesus’ crucifixion? Children often confuse Black Friday for Good Friday which is a more intuitive name for this somber day. Good Friday, known as Great Friday or Holy Friday is honored for what is accomplished on this day and thus, was called good.

At times Holy Week coincides with spring vacation; if so you may want to consider bringing your children to the noon service. Episcopal services really offer quite a bit for children. Veneration of the Cross There is lots of movement: sitting, standing, kneeling, bowing; The veneration of the cross is an and this service offers something else, an opportunity to ancient devotional practice. venerate the cross. Kids like something different, something Individuals are invited to come new, something unexpected. It captures their attention and forward to the sanctuary (the curiosity and provides a great opportunity for discussion and Communion rail at the base of the altar) and pay reverence to the learning. cross. For many people this may mean kneeling quietly in prayer, The cross at the Good Friday service is others may want to touch or kiss typically large, wooden, and rough- the cross. It is an opportunity to hewn, reminding us of the actual cross acknowledge Jesus’ sacrifice and on which Christ was crucified. Again suffering. we are reminded of the reality of Christ’s suffering. Our normal small gold cross may allow us to gloss over the gritty reality of Jesus’ crucifixion. On Good Friday we are called to remember this truth. Typically during this service the cross is carried in from the back of the church and placed up in the altar area, reminding us of Jesus’ own journey through the streets of Jerusalem before his death.

The somber mood of this service is reflected in the black albs that the priest and deacons wear. It is a dark mood and a heavy day. For small children I would tend to draw their attention to only one of the differences within the service, choosing to highlight the cross or the veneration or the black color. Then I would just allow them to experience the other differences within the service and wait for them to notice on their own or to ask questions as they naturally occur.

We have learned over time in church school that with our youngest children we need to remind them of the whole Easter story at one time. Often they are unable to take in Jesus’ death if it is unconnected to the promise of Easter. A dose of Good Friday might need to be quickly followed up with a reminder that Easter is coming.

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Holy Saturday

Yeast Bread

Older children may enjoy helping to make yeast bread, and is the perfect day to do it. It is always remarkable to watch the yeast do its work. Leaving the dough in the bowl to rise and coming back to find it doubled in size is amazing every time you experience it. The results can be particularly dramatic if you bake the dough in a tin coffee can. This accentuates the height as the dough bubbles up over the top of the can and forms an onion dome shape.

Of course the rising of the dough is symbolically what we are after here, as we focus on Jesus being raised from the dead. But the entire experience of making bread: measuring, stirring, kneading, along with the length of time it takes to make yeast bread, underscores the importance of the Easter story. It is one more way to set aside time and attention to mark the significance of Jesus’ resurrection.

In her book, To Dance with God, Gertrude Mueller Nelson suggests using a sweet, eggy bread recipe and adding chopped dried apricots, dates and almonds. She puts this dough in a well- greased coffee tin, filling it about half way. When it is done she glazes it with a powdered sugar drizzle that is flavored with almond extract or lemon juice. It is a perfect Easter morning breakfast, she says, along with hard boiled eggs.

Ukrainian Easter Eggs

We haven’t offered this every year, but if you have the chance to attend a Ukrainian Egg workshop with Barbara Morrison, you should take advantage of it. This is another fun and creative way to celebrate the beauty and mystery of the season. Barbara has the supplies and offers tips for creating bold and brilliant eggs. Some families add a new egg to their collection every year and display them on an tree or in a decorative glass bowl.

The Easter egg in has come to symbolize rebirth. The baby chick that comes from the egg, reminds us of the new life in Christ that comes to us through Jesus’ resurrection.

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You may have heard of the annual Easter egg roll which is held on the White House grounds each spring? This game which features rolling eggs downhill got its start in Christianity as a reminder of the stone that had been rolled away from Jesus’ tomb.

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The Easter Vigil

Paschal Candle

The word Paschal is derived from the Hebrew word for Passover. Passover is a Jewish festival commemorating the exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt (Exodus 12:1- 36). One of the readings from the Book of Common Prayer for the Easter Vigil service recounts the Exodus story, a significant event in salvation history.

The , a large white candle typically decorated with a cross and the Greek letters alpha and omega, reminds us of Jesus Christ—the beginning and the end—the light of the world.

The paschal candle burns at all Easter services and is also lit at baptisms and funerals.

This service truly must be experienced. It begins outside. The paschal candle is lit. The congregation processes in behind the cantor who carries the candle and chants the Exsultet, “the light of Christ,” stopping at intervals along the center aisle. The church is dark, lit only by the solitary glow of the paschal candle. The congregation enters the dark tomb of Good Friday, but it is Saturday, and hope is building. The light of Christ quickly spreads as acolytes share the flame of the paschal candle, lighting the individual candles held by parishioners.

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The service continues with readings from the Old and New Testament, highlighting salvation history. Bells are rung. The candles are blown out. The lights in the church come on as Jesus’ resurrection is recognized and celebrated.

Baptism, though offered throughout the church year, most naturally fits within this service, celebrating new life. The Book of Common Prayer reminds us that we are baptized into Jesus’ death so that we might live in the power of his resurrection. And it is within this context that the priest and deacon will asperge the congregation, reminding them of their own baptism. The service culminates with Eucharist.

Explore with your children: Asperge means to sprinkle with holy water as a reminder of one’s Make a list of stories from the Bible that baptism. At Holy Spirit Church this reference water. How many can you is most often done with a branch, recall? dipped in water that has been blessed by a priest, and then the branch is shook, spraying droplets Discuss ideas about why water is used as a of water over the congregation. reminder of baptism.

Read through the service of baptism found in the Book of Common Prayer on page 299, paying special attention to page 306.

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Easter Sunday

Morning has broken, the tomb is empty and Easter is in full swing. Easter is the central feast of the Christian year as we celebrate the foundation of our faith—Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. At this service all senses are engaged. It may be the perfume of the Easter lilies and the massive flower arrangements in the chancel, sanctuary and even at the back of the church that shout “Easter” to you. Perhaps it is the well-rehearsed music of the choir with stirring solos and moving descants that touches you most deeply.

The liturgical color of the day, and of the fifty-day Easter season, is white. This signifies joy, light, baptism and Jesus’ resurrection. The white may be adorned with gold embellishments, pointing to the sheer exuberance of the holiday which is sometimes called the “Queen of Festivals.”

A few words of preparation to your children before the service can help them be attentive to the differences within the service and appreciate the significance of the Our Children Are Deeply Spiritual holiday. In church school we provide some explanation and education but One young girl asked her mother. “Why couldn’t they allow also for an equal amount of child have used sticky tack for Jesus on the cross?” This was exploration and reflection. We know and her six-year-old way of asking about suffering. trust that our children are deeply Another mother shared that one day she overheard her spiritual and our goal is to nurture this daughters in the car discussing the crucifixion. The part of them, giving them language and younger daughter asked, “Why didn’t Jesus just come space for it. down from the cross?” Her sister responded, “It wasn’t just the nails holding him. It was love that kept him up there.” 15

Either before or after the Easter service try posing one of these questions to your children:

What differences did you notice in today’s service?

What liturgical color (evident in the stoles, altar cloths and super- frontal) did you notice? How do you think this color relates to Easter?

Did you use all of your senses in the service? Which senses were the most strong for you?

What do you think was the most important part of today’s service? Why?

Try this at home. Consider carrying over some of these elements into your own family tradition around Easter. Include Easter lilies, ring a bell before Easter dinner, or decorate the mantel with a special white cloth. Allow your children to help create these rituals. One family allowed their children to build a tomb complete with a doll wrapped in white linens. On Easter morning the children took out the doll and “surprised” the family with an empty tomb.

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Sharing our faith requires thought and intention. Use the resources available to you: Scripture, the Book of Common What do you remember most Prayer, Church, the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and don’t forget from your childhood about Lent, Holy Week or Easter? your church family--lean on their faith, experience and knowledge as well. Together we make up the Body of Christ. During Lent we didn’t eat meat on Fridays. –Zona Lindemann

I guarantee that your efforts to share your faith with your During Lent we tried to do children will be worth it. It will enrich your own spiritual life and something nice for others. One time expand your awareness of the Holy. Grace and peace to you and I cleaned my brother’s room. –Billie your family as you enter this Holy Week together. Gray Good Friday meant a 3-hour service at church. I remember Gretchen Strohmaier, Director of Spiritual Formation sitting on the kneeler using the pew Holy Spirit Episcopal Church as my table top and coloring as I sat with my mother. –Judy Parock Missoula, Montana Easter meant a new dress, including a hat and gloves. But it hung in the closet until Easter morning. –A’Lisa Scott

Often we got up early for an Easter on the mountain. We always had a big Easter dinner with neighbors who had nowhere else to go. -John Talbot

On Easter I look forward to an early morning walk. –Kara Robinson On Easter we always go to Grandma’s house. –Brittany Strand

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References and Related Readings

Cully, Iris V. and Kendig Brubaker Cully, edtrs. Harper’s Encyclopedia of Religious Education. Harper & Row Publishers, San Francisco 1990.

Frank, Marjorie. I Can Make a Rainbow: Things to Create and Do For Children and Their Grown Up Friends. Incentive Publications, Nashville 1976.

Goranson, Judy. Customs and Symbols: What’s Behind Our Worship. Walla Walla 2000.

Kitch, Anne E. What We Do in Lent. Morehouse Publishing, Harrisburg 2007.

Mitchell, Leonnel L. Lent Holy Week Easter and the Great Fifty Days: A Ceremonial Guide. Cowley Publications, Cambridge 1996.

Mueller Nelson, Gertrud. To Dance With God: Family Ritual and Community Celebration. Paulist Press, New York 1986.

Smart, Henry. The Altar: It’s Ornaments and Care. Morehouse-Barlow CO., New York 1925.

Wall, John N. A Dictionary For Episcopalians. Cowley Publications, Cambridge 2000.

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