Dear Friends,

It is a cause of deep sadness for us all that we won’t be able to gather in the normal way, mark and celebrate the events surrounding Easter. I hope that in our liturgies (worship) at home and through broadcasting, we might be able to join together spiritually, even if we have to be separated physically.

Physical touch, action and symbolism in objects is such a rich part of our catholic tradition, that I wanted to replicate it in some way by giving you things to do and objects to handle alongside the words that we might use to celebrate.

If you can come together in your celebrations within your household, please do. You might want to step-up what’s been given here, perhaps have a real celebratory bonfire on Holy Saturday night. If you have young people in your household then getting them to make crosses, easter gardens, cleaning tables and washing each other’s hands can all be ways to get them engaged in the events of the Holy Triduum. 

Part of our Holy Week commemorations is the public witness we offer to the world. This year it is harder than ever for us to do this. Please place crosses in windows (or build a larger one for the front garden) and put candles in windows on Holy Saturday night. Proclaim Christ’s resurrection on your social media accounts. Don’t worry if you can only do a small part of liturgies suggested here. It is hoped by simply having these things at home, we might remember the story and invite Christ to be with us in our lives. Perhaps you can just take them and keep them together on a sideboard.

For kids the suggestions of gathering spring greenery to decorate the house on Palm Sunday, lighting candles and the washing activities should work particularly well. There are some great versions of the Easter story on media platforms like YouTube and thousands of activities you might try.

None of this is an adequate substitute for our celebrations together in Church and the Family Easter Service, but I hope it helps us all make room for Christ at home this year.

Every blessing,

Fr Justin

Resources from the Diocese

There are some fantastic resources from the diocese and the Church of England for your to explore and use. To access the Church of England resources, visit the website.

The diocese have collected resources and will continue to add to them in the run-up to Easter. They can be found here on their website.

Resources from our parish

We have put together simple prayer sheets for Palm Sunday and the Easter Triduum, so that you might spiritually unite yourself with the celebrations that will be streamed from the vicarage. They follow the services normally celebrated in Holy Week, using prayers and words from Common Worship.

Categories: Services

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