WHAT IS HOLY WEEK?

Known as Passion week, Black Week, the Great Week, the Week of Mourning, Laborious Week, the Week of Salvation, or most often, Holy Week, this week comprises the final days of Lent. Though this week maintains the themes of Lent, it calls forth from us more - more devotion, more prayer, more penitence, more gratitude - as we journey towards the cross, that vivid and painful image of the reckoning of our sin.

In a mere few days, Holy Week manages to whiplash between the high-highs of Palm Sunday and the low-lows of Good Friday. To shepherd us through the rollercoaster of feeling and experience, the Church has developed a special set of themes and services to draw us near to the Lord and prepare our hearts to celebrate the resurrection.

If you'd like to learn more, we've put together a snapshot of each day to bring this week that changed the world to life! Click each day to read from Scripture. And scroll further down for resources to observe Holy Week with your kids. 

OBSERVING HOLY WEEK WITH YOUR KIDS

Holy Week is the name for the time between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday when we walk with Jesus through His final days - from the shouts of "Hosanna" to the shouts of "Crucify him!" He experienced many emotions in this time. As parents, we can walk through these feelings and moments with our children pointing them to the Gospel - Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, our complicity in His death, and the extreme mercy given to us as we share in His resurrection. Use these simple devotionals at home as a family and download coloring pages and recipes for added fun!

"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all."  - Isaiah 53:6