Catholic Activity: Sacred Triduum in the Home

Reaching the climax of Lent, Father Weiser explains the significance of the Triduum and how as a family we approach this time.

DIRECTIONS

The last three days of Holy Week have always been a time of special observance in Christian homes. They are a period of quiet, recollection and prayer. In many places even today people lay aside their usual occupations, in order to have ample time for prayer, meditation and attendance at church services. Children stop all noisy games and amusements. No musical instruments are played, radio and television are not used except for appropriate religious programs, no comics are read, and all members of the family fast a little more than during the rest of Lent.

This atmosphere of penitential devotion and quiet during the three great days of Holy Week is an experience that deeply affects the children and helps them more than any words could do towards an understanding of how important Christ's passion is for each one of us. It also induces them to meditate, mourn and pray with all sincerity. Thus the grace of God is poured into their hearts, and great supernatural blessings are given them in these days.

Parents and older children, who attend the solemn services of holy liturgy as they were restored in their original form by Pope Pius XII, should not fail to procure and use some of the booklets recently published which explain the services and provide an English translation of the sacred texts. If at any time mere attendance is not sufficient but conscious participation in the sacred rites is called for, this certainly applies to the triduum of Holy Week.

Activity Source: Year of the Lord in the Christian Home, The (reprinted as Religious Customs in the Family) by Francis X. Weiser, S.J., The Liturgical Press; reprinted by TAN Books and Publishers, 1964