Holy Week Being Celebrated Across Central Minnesota, World

(KNSI) – Easter is Sunday, but for many Christians, it’s Holy Week.

The week-long observance of Jesus’s life, teachings, and death began on March 28th on what’s called Palm Sunday. It’s the day Jesus arrived in Jerusalem to celebrate Passover.

Father Scott Pogatchnik with the Diocese of St. Cloud was a guest on KNSI’s Ox in the Afternoon with Dan “The Ox” Ochsner and says the week is full of emotions.

“Christ shows us the whole spectrum of human response to betrayal, to denial, and then finally to redemption, and so these really are deep human experiences. This isn’t just some folks doing some ritualistic things. The events speak to the human heart.”

Father Scott says the next big day of the week is Wednesday.

“We often refer to Wednesday as spy Wednesday. It’s the time in which Judas sells Jesus out for 30 pieces of silver. A significant amount, probably $10,000. So, the price of a slave.”

Holy Week then moves into Thursday.

“This is when Jesus has the Last Supper. So, Jesus is gathering his disciples, and he knows what’s going to happen. They don’t, but he’s trying to teach them, and he’s trying to say okay, here it is. Here’s the Passover meal. This is going to become the mass.”

The Last Suppor is where Christians get the celebration of Holy Communion, also known as the Eucharist.

Jesus would eventually be taken into custody and brought before the High Priests.

They would bring him to the Roman Governor Pontius Pilot, and he would be crucified on the cross on what’s called Good Friday.

Good Friday is the only day when Catholics don’t have a traditional Mass.

Father Scott says instead there’s a special type of service at St. Mary’s Cathedral at 8 pm called Tenebrae.

“It’s a really powerful entry into what we celebrate as we kind of wait. And, you know, this whole last year has been a long lent. We’ve suffered in various ways. Tenebrae is a way to bring all of that difficulty, a lot of what we carry, and place it in the tomb with Christ so that we can rise to something new.”

The lighting of candles often marks the service as people wait for Easter.

The Easter Vigil service will be after sundown on Saturday.

Sunday morning is the Easter Service where Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.

For more on Holy Week services, click here.

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