One of my favorite parts about being Catholic is all the little traditions that help us to celebrate the liturgical seasons and holydays at home. The Church is old, and it’s universal. That means there are two millennia worth of traditions from all around the world.
I love that we can borrow traditions from Italy, Czechoslovakia, England, and Mexico, no matter where we live. They might not be part of our cultural heritage, but they are a part of our faith heritage.
Liturgical living deepens our faith by grounding it in home life and family celebrations. It makes the faith real to our children, who love traditions. And it makes me feel connected to the Church across time and space, when I follow a recipe handed down through centuries.
Holy Week is the high point of the Church year: the most sacred and solemn of days. Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil encompass the most important truths of our faith.
Of course, the best way to enter into these days with reverence is with the Church in her liturgies. But we don’t have to stop there.
This year, most of us do not have the opportunity to participate in the Holy Week liturgies. We find ourselves strangely at home, and might feel estranged from the Church and the rest of the faithful.
If you find yourself wondering how to enter into the Triduum when you can’t go to church, here are some suggestions. These Holy Week traditions do not in any way take the place of the liturgies, but they go along with them harmoniously, and they can help us to adopt an attitude of reverence and worship even at home.
Cover your Statues
Veiling statues and images, crucifixes, and even altars during lent is an ancient custom. While it may seem strange to do this during a holy season, Paul Lim explains that most sacred art is “rather celebratory and signs of the Resurrection.” Veiling images of our Lord is also related to the Gospel for the Fifth Sunday of Lent, wherein Jesus hid because the Jews were trying to stone Him.
In the United States, the custom was suppressed in 1970, but allowed again in the third edition of the GIRM:
In the Dioceses of the United States, the practice of covering crosses and images throughout the church from this Sunday may be observed. Crosses remain covered until the end of the celebration of the Lord’s Passion on Good Friday, but images remain covered until the beginning of the Easter Vigil.
This provision allows for sacred images to be covered from the Fifth Sunday of Lent until the beginning of the Easter Vigil. Many parishes only cover their images during Holy Week, and some only on Good Friday.
I cover mine at some point during Holy Week, because that’s when I usually remember!
This is a tradition we can keep in our homes. Covering sacred artwork immediately makes our home feel different. It makes us stop and take note. We know what is underneath the coverings, but the fact that we can’t see the images really drives home the barrenness of lent and makes us focus on Christ’s Passion.
So how do you go about covering your statues and images? It’s really pretty simple, because most religious artwork we keep in our homes is fairly small. (And easy to reach. If you’ve ever helped cover the statues and crucifix in your church, you know that can be quite a task!)
All you need are purple cloths of various sizes. Ironing them first is nice. (Don’t look at mine this year!) I have never yet been organized enough to have yards of purple fabric at the beginning of Holy Week, so I make do with whatever I have.
Plain and somber colors are best, but purple and red are the most appropriate: purple for penitence and red for the Passion. Sometimes tape or string may be necessary to secure the cloths, if they keep sliding off of your pictures or statues.
Cover all of your religious artwork if you have enough cloth. If you run out of purple fabric, another option is to take the pictures or statues down and put them away until Easter. They do that in some churches instead of covering them.
If you want to read more about covering statues, Aleteia has a great article.
Set up a home altar or prayer corner.
Many traditions around the world include a special table or corner shelf dedicated to family prayer in the home. You can use it as a space to display statues and sacred artwork, a Bible, and rosaries. It’s also a good place to put the blessed palms you receive on Palm Sunday, or a vial of holy water.
The purpose of a prayer corner is to make a special space in your home where you go to pray. It’s like having an oratory right in your own house. This is one way we can sanctify everyday home life and “pray without ceasing.”
During Holy Week, the liturgies have a special aura of sacredness. The home altar or prayer corner helps the solemn spirit of the liturgies permeate your home. It is a visible reminder that this week is special, set apart to focus on Christ’s Passion.
Statues and pictures should be covered, but you can still light candles and gather around the home altar for your family prayers. Especially if you have young children, lighting candles and having something to look at is helpful in fostering a prayerful attitude.
Strip your Table
At the end of the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, the Blessed Sacrament is placed on the altar of repose. Then the priest proceeds to strip the altar of candles and linens.
We can do the same thing with our home altars, or even the kitchen table. We usually cover our table with a cloth, so having it bare for a few days seems strange.
That’s the point: it signifies mourning during the period of Christ’s Passion. I find that simple practices like this are great reminders of the solemn character of the Triduum.
Traditional Foods for Holy Week
No list of Holy Week traditions would be complete without some mention of food! Preparing and eating special foods only on certain days makes them so much more significant.
Spy Wednesday
Jidáše (Judas buns) are traditional Chechoslovakian rolls baked in the shape of ropes or nooses in memory of Judas’s betrayal. The dough contains lemon juice or zest to signify the sourness of sin, and the baked buns are glazed with honey to signify the sweetness of forgiveness and salvation.
They are traditionally eaten early in the morning-before sunrise-on Maundy Thursday. They may also be eaten the day before, which is sometimes called “Spy Wednesday” because of the Gospel reading for the day. This last Gospel before the start of the Triduum details Judas’s decision to betray Jesus, and his meeting with the chief priests.
The buns also look like money bags, which might be more comprehensible to young children.
Maundy Thursday/ Green Thursday
Holy Thursday has several different titles, and many different traditional dishes. It is called “Green Thursday” in Central Europe, after the bitter herbs which were consumed during the Passover meal. There is also a German word for mourning which may have been mistranslated to “green.”
This day used to be a fast day, on which mostly green vegetables were eaten. It is traditional to serve at least one green dish at dinner-or all the dishes, in some places! The Czechs and Moravians eat a green soup for dinner, followed by a green salad. The French make a vichyssoise (cold leek and potato soup) with 7 different herbs or greens. The Germans have their own green soup, Gründonnerstagsuppe, with 7 or 9 different herbs.
Some traditional greens to include in the soup are: dandelion, sorrel, watercress, spinach, parsley, leeks, chives, mugwort, nettle, daisies, tansy, chicory, collards, green onions, basil, arugula, mustard or turnip greens, and beet, carrot, or radish tops.
Good Friday
Hot Cross buns are traditional in England and all over Europe, in different variations. Italy has rosemary buns; Cornwall has saffron buns. No matter their nationality, these sweet buns always have some features in common.
They are made with eggs and milk, which were not eaten during lent. Thus, hot cross buns mark the end of lent. The cross marked on top of the buns signifies the cross of Christ, and the spices represent those spices used to embalm Christ’s body for burial.
Another traditional Good Friday food is vinegar, or a dish made with vinegar. This is for various Scripture passages including: “They offered him wine to drink, mingled with gall; but when he tasted it, he would not drink it” (Mt 27:34, RSV).
Greek lentil soup, Fakes Soupa, includes a splash of red wine vinegar just before serving. It’s a simple but tasty meatless meal for a fast day.
In parts of Germany, it is traditional to eat only Spätzle and stewed fruits on the evening of Good Friday.
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As always, one of my favorite resources for traditional recipes is A Continual Feast, by Evelyn Birge Vitz. Another great resource for liturgical living with children is The Catholic All Year Compendium, by Kendra Tierney.
Note: The above links are affiliate links. If you click on them and make a purchase, I may receive a small comission. You can read my full disclosure here.
For more traditional recipes, see this list of cookbooks.
What are your favorite Holy Week traditions?
~Kimberly
Hi, I’m Kimberly! I’m an Alaskan wife and mother who loves simple, old-fashioned living. If you’re looking for country-style recipes from scratch or simple homemaking ideas, pour yourself a cup of tea and join me!