Holy Week Archives - Page 2 of 6

Holy Week

This Holy Week occurs amid an intensifying battle between the cultures of Life and Death

March 26, 2024

During his liturgical reflection for the Monday of this Holy Week, Dom Guéranger meditates: “This city [Jerusalem] is zealous for the exteriors of divine worship; but her heart is hard and obstinate, and she is plotting, at this very hour, the death of the Son of God.” In our own age we face a culture that

‘The Passion of Jesus’ returns to Trafalgar Square on Good Friday

March 26, 2024

A full-scale re-enactment of the Passion of Jesus is returning to Trafalgar Square this Good Friday in central London. First performed in 2010 by the Wintershall company, the open-air The Passion of Jesus production, commemorating the day Jesus was arrested, tried and crucified by the Romans, before miraculously rising from the dead on Easter Sunday;

The fiery death of self-immolation: a martyr’s moral clarity or misguided calumny?

March 25, 2024

As we enter Holy Week and commemorate the exemplary martyrdom, it seems that martyrdom in general – or a misplaced understanding of it – is reasserting itself. Last month, Aaron Bushnell, a 25-year-old US airman, doused himself with liquid and set himself on fire outside Israel’s embassy in Washington, DC. In a livestream of the event, he

Why did Jesus refuse traditional painkiller before ‘horrific’ crucifixion?

March 25, 2024

“They offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he refused it.” (Mark 15:23) St Mark records this detail of Jesus refusing wine mixed with myrrh before his crucifixion. This drink was a rudimentary painkiller and so the fact it was offered to Jesus implies an act of mercy to one about to undergo horrific pain.

Cancelled new bishop for Plymouth resumes parish ministry

March 25, 2024

Canon Christopher Whitehead is resuming his parish ministry following the sudden cancellation of his ordination as the new Plymouth bishop two months ago, which included his role as a parish priest being put on pause during a subsequent investigation. In an unprecedented move at the start of the year, the bishops of England and Wales cancelled the

Cardinal Bo laments ‘wounded world’ and a Holy Week scarred by ‘devastating toll of conflict’

March 25, 2024

Cardinal Charles Bo has said that this year Christians mark Holy Week reflecting on the “devastating toll of conflict even in the birthplace of Jesus, Ukraine, and our own soil”. The Myanmar cardinal, and president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Myanmar and of the Federations of Asia Bishops Conferences, said in a statement: “As

‘The Donkey’ by GK Chesterton: ‘Fools! For I also had my hour’

March 25, 2024

When fishes flew and forests walked And figs grew upon thorn, Some moment when the moon was blood Then surely I was born. With monstrous head and sickening cry And ears like errant wings, The devil’s walking parody On all four-footed things. The tattered outlaw of the earth, Of ancient crooked will; Starve, scourge, deride

Controversial ‘Semana Santa’ poster causes Holy Week rift in Seville

March 20, 2024

The annual Semana Santa celebrations in the Andalusian gem that is Seville are a riot of pageantry, religious fervour and artistic flare – though that artistic licence is under intense scrutiny this year due to the choice of official poster to accompany the famous Holy Week celebrations. The majority of the processions and accompanying devotional events