Holy Week at Home: Devotional Activities for Holy Week
Holy Week is a time of holy waiting. We know something beautiful is near, but we cannot yet see the completed picture. And so we watch and wait. As we watch and wait from our homes this year, many of us long to make Holy Week more meaningful for ourselves and our families. Here are a few simple ideas for families of all sizes and ages to connect to the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection with just a few minutes each evening:
Maundy Thursday: A Day of Preparation
Maundy Thursday is a holy day commemorating the Washing of Feet and the Last Supper of Jesus Christ as described in the gospels. The word “Maundy” is derived from the Latin word for “command,” referring to Jesus’ parting commandment to the disciples to “Love one another as I have loved you.” During the Last Supper, Jesus broke bread, shared the cup, washed his disciples’ feet in a display of humble service, and foretold his death. On this day, Christians around the world relive the story of that night leading to Jesus’ betrayal.
Stripping the altar is an ancient custom of the Church. For centuries, congregations have reenacted the way Christ’s life was stripped from him by stripping the altar of all signs of life and beauty (e.g. removing all ornaments, linens, candles, plants, flowers, altar furniture, etc.). The almost-bare worship space then reminds us of the bareness of life without the hope we have in Christ. This powerful ritual can also be practiced at home, as our homes are also places of worship.
Activity: Stripping of the Home or Table
o Materials Needed: Bible, storage box or bin, dark cloth, cleaning supplies
o After dinner, read Psalm 22 as an individual or together as a family
o Explain / discuss / read about the ancient custom of stripping and washing the altar, what it symbolizes, and how you will now do a similar “stripping of the altar” in your home. Focus on icons and symbols of your faith.
o Go throughout the house, gathering all icons and religious symbols that can be easily moved (e.g. crosses, statues, candles, stoles, art, etc.). Pack these items away in the storage bins, working silently while reflecting on 1) the items’ significance to your life of faith or life as a family, and 2) how removing each item embodies Jesus’ life being taken.
o Use the dark cloth to cover any other items in the house that are too large or permanent to pack away.
o Finally, remove all items from your dining or kitchen table and, together, was the table thoroughly. Leave the table bare until Easter morning.
o After all the icons have been packed or covered and the table has been washed, take a moment to notice how your home looks and feels. Help kids make the connection between a home without these beautiful and meaningful items, and a life without Christ.
Additional Activity (optional): Washing of Hands or Feet (may especially resonate with kids)
o Materials Needed: large bowl, pitcher, water, towel
o Read the story of the Last Supper from John 13:3-30 or Matthew 26:17-29. Then talk about how Jesus washed the feet of his friends as an act of love, service, and preparation. Finally, wash one another’s feet as your own act of love and service in preparation for the journey we’ll take from Maundy Thursday to Easter morning.
Good Friday: A Day of Darkness
Good Friday is a holy day when we remember Jesus’ crucifixion. It’s tempting to hurry past this sad, dark part of the Gospel story, but it’s important that we don’t rush through Holy Week to get to Easter without allowing ourselves to feel the sorrow and heartbreak of Good Friday. We arrive at resurrection and Easter only by way of the cross. To enter the story, read one or multiple of the gospel passages on Jesus’ crucifixion, beginning after the Last Supper.
Good Friday services often end in total darkness, leaving worshipers to imagine their lives in the wake of the dark hours after Jesus’ crucifixion. While functioning around your home in total darkness may not be practical, a good way to practice living in darkness is to fast from technology.
Activity: Going Dark with Technology
o “Unplug” from noon on Good Friday until noon on Holy Saturday. Turn off and put away all cell phones, tablets, game consoles, TVs, radios, and computers for twenty-four hours.
o In this period of “darkness,” reflect alone or together as a family on how disjointed, disconnected, lost, anxious, helpless, at peace, or frustrated it makes you to be cut off from that connection. [Our current state of isolation also helps us feel this disconnectedness].
o On that first Good Friday, many lives were turned upside down by Christ’s death: Mary, Martha, James, John, Peter, Andrew… For these people and the other followers of Christ, Good Friday was more than just sad; it was a day of feeling anxious, lost, disconnected, frustrated, and helpless.
o Ask questions: How different would our world be if the story of God had stopped on Good Friday? What would life be like if we didn’t understand the story of Jesus and his cross is really a story of grace, mercy, love, and forgiveness?
Additional Activity (optional): Making a Paschal Candle (may especially resonate with kids)
o In some churches, a new Paschal Candle is lit on Easter. This candle represents Christ and the light that his resurrection brings to the world. Traditionally, the candle is lit and placed in a prominent place near the altar where it remains lit from Easter until the end of the Easter season. The candle is then moved away from the altar and lit again during baptism ceremonies and funerals as a symbol of resurrection.
o On Good Friday, while the kids are unplugged from technology, make a family Paschal candle together. There are lots of ways to do this. You can decorate a real candle or a battery-operated candle. Or, make a paper candle by rolling construction paper into a tube, cutting out flames to attach, and decorating however you’d like. Please be safe :)
o See Easter Day devotional for instructions on what to do with these candles next.
Holy Saturday: A Day of Waiting
Holy Saturday is a holy day commemorating the day Jesus Christ lay in the tomb after his death on Good Friday. It is a day of waiting and anticipation. Imagine that first Holy Saturday. Jesus’ disciples were in their homes, remembering Jesus said something significant would happen in three days but starting to wonder whether it was all over. And so they waited, not knowing when or if hope was coming. Our spiritual posture as Jesus’ followers should be the same on this day: watch and wait. To enter the story, read one or multiple of the following passages: Matthew 27:57-66; Mark 15:42-47; Luke 23:50-56; John 19:38-42.
Activity: Wax Crayon Eggs (may especially resonate with kids)
o There are lots of ways to dye or decorate Easter eggs, but the one that requires the most faith and helps us practice waiting is the wax crayon method. Even as you decorate your eggs, you can’t see what the finished design will look like.
o Materials Needed: 1 dozen boiled eggs, Easter-Egg dye kits, wax or white crayons
o Use a pale-colored wax crayon to draw or write on your egg. The only evidence that you have done anything will be bits of wax clumped on your egg’s smooth surface.
o After drawing in wax, dye your egg according to package directions. Then watch and wait. And wait some more. Leave your egg in the dye until it has become vibrant.
o Pull your egg out of the dye. Those invisible wax images are now clearly white, surrounded by brilliant egg dye. There’s a flower or a cross you drew, imperfect but beautiful. There’s a name you wrote, a little wobbly but still your name.
o Holy Saturday is like wax crayon eggs. It is a day of waiting. We know we have something precious and beautiful, but we cannot yet see what the completed picture is. And so we must wait, as Mary and the disciples waited.
Easter Sunday: A Day of Resurrection
Happy Easter!! HE IS RISEN!!! Today we celebrate the Truth that, in Christ, death no longer has the final word; God can turn it all—suffering, illness, death—into new life! Enjoy celebrating the good news of Jesus’ resurrection today in whatever ways bring you joy. To enter the story, read John 20:1-31.
Activity: Resetting the Home
o Remember on Maundy Thursday when you stripped your home or table of all icons and religious symbols? It’s time for them to return!
o With Jesus’ resurrection comes new life. Reset your home and your table with the items you had covered or put away. As you remove the items from the box or uncover them, recall how Jesus rose from the grave to new life. Each time you see these items around your home, notice their significance with greater appreciation.
Activity: Lighting the Paschal Candle
o Remember the Paschal Candle you made on Good Friday? Light (real candle), turn on (battery candle), or place as a centerpiece on the table (paper candle) your candle on Easter Day, and then during meals, special events, and times of prayer throughout the Easter season. [Liturgically, the season of Easter—called Eastertide—actually lasts for 50 days, spanning from Easter Sunday to Pentecost Sunday on Sunday, May 31st].
o The “lighting” of the candle can become part of your evening dinner routine. Ask each family member to take turns illuminating it. This is a tactile way to remind ourselves to see Christ daily. To help kids understand the significance, as you illuminate the candle and welcome the light you can say the words, “Come, Jesus, come.”
