St Philip's Anglican Church, O'Connor: Easter at St Philip's

The joy of Holy Week and Easter!

Holy Week, beginning the Sunday before Easter, marks the last days in the life of Christ and celebrates his glorious resurrection.

The Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday

Holy Week begins with the Sunday of the Passion, Palm Sunday. The twofold nature of the event can be seen in its name. We begin with a procession commemorating the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.

The Gospel reading is the complete story of the Passion. The service underlines the contrast between the crowd's joyous greeting of their king and then their condemnation of him — the contrast between shouts of "Hosanna" and "Crucify him!"

Read, see and hear more about Palm Sunday.

Maundy Thursday

Thursday in Holy Week is called Maundy Thursday, from the Latinmandatum novum, "a new commandment" (John 13:34). After Jesus washed the feet of the disciples he said "A new commandment I give you, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another."

We gather in the early evening. The service includes a meal that continues the commemoration of the Last Supper, which itself was a celebration of the Jewish Passover. The Gospel speaks of love and service, which are expressed in the ceremony of foot-washing. By washing his disciples' feet, Jesus displayed the self-emptying love God shows for the world — a sacred example of love. Nothing and no one is to be beneath them and by this undifferentiating love the world will know that the disciples belong to Jesus. The Eucharist (Holy Communion) commemorates the first communion at the Last Supper. The service ends in silence as the altar is stripped and decorative furnishings are removed in recognition of the despair and death to come.

Read, see and hear more about Maundy Thursday and the Passover meal.

Good Friday

The name "Good Friday" comes from "God's Friday," and on God's Friday, the church is open all afternoon for private reflection and prayer. In the middle of the afternoon there is a service in which we read the story of Jesus' passion from the Gospel of John and spend time in prayer together. We also take communion.

Holy Saturday

Lent ends at sunset on this day. There are no services at St. Philip's. It is a day of quiet and hopeful expectation, the final "getting ready" for Easter.

Easter morning

At 6am, as we wait in the soft light of the dawn, a special new fire is lit, celebrating the resurrection life of the power of God's Spirit. The paschal candle is lit from the fire and carried in procession into the church. Candles held by the congregation are lit and an ancient hymn, the Exultet is sung by the deacon. TheExultet is an ancient chant that reminds us of our links to the Israelites' exodus from Egypt. Passages from the Old Testament lessons are read, one of which is always the wonderful story of the parting of the Red Sea, and songs are sung. The readings and songs trace the history of our redemption from the time of creation through the prophets, to Jesus Christ.

"Alleluia. Christ is risen!" "The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!" This is indeed a festival!

At 7am, we celebrate the first festive Eucharist of Easter together, as the light of Christ returns to our midst. This event, this day, is what our faith is all about. Christians are "Easter people."

At St. Philip's, after the first Eucharist, we celebrate with a breakfast feast, from 8am to 9.30. All are welcome!

Then there is sung Eucharist at 10am, after breakfast. Join us for breakfast beforehand!

Revd Linda Anchell, a deacon at St Philip's writes:

At the celebration of Easter there are two special tasks to be done. Decorating the Paschal Candle and singing the Exultet at the Lighting of the New Fire on Easter morning. (6am at St Philip's)

First, the Paschal Candle is decorated. I have doing this for many years. One year I was visiting Yass parish when a friend was doing a locum. He preferred to mark the candle himself during the Easter Vigil service. Some marks were needed to guide this. I had acrylic paints from my St Philip's work on the candle, but no brush. I found a stick on the ground that would do!

Go here for a design, instructions and suggestions to decorate a Paschal candle.

The glorious music we use for the Exultet is here and there is an explanation at: http://members.tip.net.au/~lindafrd/Exultet/The_Exultet.htm