Lenten and Easter Season

The Fourth Sunday of Lent is known as "Mothering Sunday". Centuries ago it was considered important for people to return to their home or 'mother' church once a year. So each year in the middle of Lent, everyone would visit their 'mother' church and their return became an occasion for family reunions. As they walked along the country lanes, children would pick wild flowers or violets to take to church or give to their mother as a small gift.
Mothering Sunday was also known as Refreshment Sunday because sweet cakes are shared and the fasting rules for Lent are relaxed for that day.

Also called Passion Sunday, Palm Sunday always falls on the Sunday before Easter. It commemorates the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem before his trial and crucifixion. The crowds of people who were in Jerusalem for Passover lay down their cloaks and waved small palm branches in front of him, proclaiming him as the messianic king. Palm Sunday is marked by the distribution of blessed palm leaves tied into crosses.

Tenebrae, which is Latin for “shadows”, is celebrated on the eve of Maundy Thursday. The liturgy of Tenebrae is characterized by the gradual extinguishing of candles, and the reading and chanting of Psalms and Lamentations. After each reading, as the candles are extinguished one candle at a time, we remember the struggle of God’s people. By the end of the liturgy the only light left in the sanctuary is the Christ candle which is then take away as Christ was taken away to be crucified. The Congregation sits
together in darkness and silence until a loud sound is heard signifying the earthquake at Christ’s crucifixion. The Christ Candle is then returned to the gathered congregation and the people leave in silence.

celebrated on the Thursday before Easter, to remember the day of the Last Supper which began the practice of celebrating the Eucharist. and recalls the night on which Jesus was betrayed by Judas in the Garden of Gethsemane. The word “maundy” comes from the command (mandate) given by Christ at the Last Supper, that we should love one another. The service includes the ceremonial washing of feet as a gesture of humility and in remembrance of Jesus’ washing the feet of the disciples. The altar coverings and liturgical ornaments are removed from the sanctuary after the Eucharist. The "stripping of the altar" symbolizes the abandonment of Jesus by his disciples and the stripping of Jesus by the soldiers prior to his crucifixion.

Good Friday is the Friday of Holy Week and is traditionally a time of fasting and penance, commemorating the anniversary of Christ's crucifixion and death. The sacrificial death of Christ, with the resurrection, comprises the heart of the Christian faith.
The Service of Anointing for healing is offered to those who wish prayers for themselves or others. Communion is about healing and renewal, and the laying on of hands and anointing opens us more fully to the healing power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

The Easter Vigil, also called the Paschal Vigil, is the first official liturgical celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus, held in the evening of Holy Saturday—but is considered to be the first celebration of Easter Day.
The vigil begins between sunset on Holy Saturday and sunrise on Easter Sunday outside the church, where the Easter fire is blessed by the celebrant. This new fire symbolizes the radiance of the Risen Christ dispelling the darkness of sin and death. The Paschal candle is blessed and then lit.
The candle is carried by a priest through the church, itself in complete darkness, stopping three times to chant an acclamation – “The Light of Christ”. As the candle proceeds through the church, all present receive candles which are lit from the Paschal candle. As this symbolic "Light of Christ" spreads throughout those gathered, the darkness is decreased.
Once the candle has been placed on its stand in the sanctuary, the lights in the church are switched on and the assembly extinguishes their candles