Celebrating the Easter Triduum 2012 ~

The Holy Triduum is the longest liturgy in the year.  We begin with the sign of the cross on Holy Thursday and close with the sign of the cross at the end of the Easter Vigil.  It is truly a blessed liturgy leading up to the holiest day of the year!

We were blessed to stay healthy and make it to church each day!

Holy Thursday ~

Today we celebrated The Institution of the Holy Priesthood and the
Mass of the Lord's Supper.

Before we headed out to Mass we had our

Christian Seder.  This is something we all look forward to each year.  I've heard mixed reviews of having a seder.  For us it is a holy experience to see how Our Lord fulfilled the old prophesies.
Each child had a question to ask.  We look at our unleavened bread and remember that by His stripes we are healed.  We talk about Jesus being the Lamb of God and how the Israelites marked their doorpost with the blood of a lamb and were saved from death.  We taste bitter herbs and think of how bitter our sins are.  We dip them in salt water to remember tears wept.  Then we dip the herbs into applesauce and thank God for the sweetness of hope in Christ.

This year we had Angel Food Cake with Cool Whip and talked of the sweetness of Eternal Life and the purity required to get there.  We also discuss the shape of the cake and how it being round reminds us that there is no end to God!

After Mass and the little ones were tucked in, we watched The Passion of the Christ with House Cat and Snuggle Bug before bed. 

What a moving way to prepare for Good Friday!

Good Friday ~

On their own, Buck and Honeybee made these scenes with playdough and Playmobil.

The Scourging at the pillar ~

Our Lord's Crucifixion.

Jesus is placed in the tomb.

Once again they made this craft from the Seton Art1 book.  (I have the original pages filed in my Liturgical Notebook and make copies for them each year.)

Our Lord dies on the cross and is placed in the tomb.

At 3:00 we began praying our Divine Mercy Novena.

Afterwards we went and prayed Stations of the Cross at our parish.

Then we came home and made Passion Pita Pizzas.  (I hope to post those soon.)

Pita ~ Our Lord's Body

Olive Oil ~ Brushed on to remind us of his burial

Sauce ~ His Blood Shed for us

White Cheese ~ Purity

Onion ~ Tears Wept over His Death

Bellpepper ~ New Life

We were all so thankful for food in our tummies after a day of fasting. 

Back to church for Commeration of the Lord's Passion. 
~ The girls sang the most beautiful song with the choir called "My Savior, My Friend."  It was so moving! The refrain says, "On the wood of the cross hung my Savior, my Friend.  Now I come, here I adore and give praise to my Lord without end."

Family Read Aloud ~ Amon's Adventure

We started reading this last year and got busy and didn't finish it.  This year we picked up at Palm Sunday and finished on Easter.  It was wonderful!

Holy Saturday ~

Candy Crosses ~

Easter Eggs ~

Paschal Candle ~

Beautifully painted by The House Cat. 

The five cloves represent His wounds.

We pray ~ 

By His Holy and Glorious Wounds May Christ Our Lord Guard us and Keep us!

My mom came and went to the Easter Vigil Mass with us.  The girls sang with the choir again.  It was a beautiful evening! 

We were so glad to have NaeNae there with us!

Easter Sunday ~

He is Risen!

For breakfast we had Friendship Bread with a precious little butter lamb given by a dear, sweet friend.

Everyone was happy with their Easter Baskets!

Filled with journals, pens, bubbles, playdough...

(notice the bag over the cast :) 

Surprises for Mom and Dad ~

The girls were so sweet to surprise us with these!

Then we were off to have Easter Lunch and Easter Egg Hunt at NaeNae's - made these pics with mama's camera.  Hope to post those soon!

Later that afternoon we came home and finished watching Jesus of Nazareth. 

Thank you Jesus for ALL YOU did for us!