9 Holy Week Traditions You Can Do From Home

This Lent has been a particularly unique one, namely because of the Coronavirus pandemic that has caused many dioceses to cancel Mass around the world. 

It feels almost fitting that this should all happen during Lent — that we should be forced to fast from the keystone of our faith during the period in our liturgical year when fasting is most appropriate. These events have forced many of us as Catholics to think more deeply about the Mass, the Sacraments, and their importance in our lives.

As with any fasting, our abstinence from the Eucharist hasn’t been easy — and we are still only in the first few weeks. During Lent, our hearts long for change, for growth, and for holiness. 

But how do we feel closer to God when he feels so far away? How do we fill the emptiness that seems to flood our souls? One way is to lean deeper into the liturgical life of our Church. 

The Catholic faith is full of many rich and beautiful traditions. Here are nine that, with a few alterations, you can celebrate within the walls of your own domestic church. 

1) Palm Sunday Procession

Traditionally, Palm Sunday begins with a procession. In most churches, palm branches are passed around outside and the congregation processes through the front doors of the church and into the sanctuary. Other parishes hold even more extravagant events. Processions around the church property, or even through town are not uncommon.

Obviously, no one is going to be processing through any towns anytime soon — but that doesn’t mean that you can’t still participate in the spirit of this tradition. Most of us probably don’t have palm branches lying around, so you may have to be a bit creative. 

Pick a path in your home to process through. Before you start, you can say a short prayer or perhaps recite the Palm Sunday antiphon. Then sing some songs as you process through your house, waving your “palms”. You could even carry a small statue of Jesus and lay down your coats before the person who is carrying him. After you’ve completed your procession, read through a few of the Mass readings for Palm Sunday and end in prayer. 

2) Palm Weaving

If you are able to get your hands on some palm fronds, learning a few new ways to fold them could be a fun way to spend an afternoon.

Most of us probably already know how to fold a basic cross, but there are many other ways to weave your palms, each more intricate than the last. The tradition of palm weaving originated in Europe and is centuries old. It was, and is, especially popular in southern Italy, where native palm trees grow abundantly.

If you don’t have any palms to practice on, some long strips of paper will do the trick. And next year, when we are out of quarantine and able to attend Mass once more, you’ll have some new skills to try out on the real thing.

3) Veil Holy Images

Many churches cover religious artwork from Palm Sunday until Easter Vigil Mass — some even remove the images altogether. As with many things in the Church, there is symbolism behind this — it is meant to call our attention to the fact that something different is taking place. The veiled images help us to focus more deeply on what is happening during Mass, as well as provoke a sense of emptiness and hopeful longing. When the images are unveiled at Easter Vigil, we are reminded of how the veil of this life is lifted at death, to reveal the beauty underneath.

This tradition is a simple one to carry out in your own home. Typically, purple cloth is used to veil the images in churches, but if you don’t have purple, any color will do. Alternatively, you could also take down all religious artwork and put it away during Holy Week, and replace it Saturday night before Easter Sunday.

4) Washing of the Feet

Each year, we reenact Jesus’s washing of his disciples’ feet during the Holy Thursday Mass. This beautiful practice reminds us of how we are called to be servants and care for the people around us.

This tradition is another simple one to participate in at home with your family. Find a cloth, a pitcher of water, and a basin and take turns washing each other’s feet. To make it even more meaningful, choose a few prayers to say before and after, and read aloud the Gospel passage that recounts the original events.

5) Make a Pilgrimage

On the night of Holy Thursday, just after Mass, the Eucharist is removed from the Tabernacle and placed on an altar of repose. It is here that the faithful honor Jesus’s request at Gethsemane when he asks his disciples to stay with him as he faces the suffering he knows he will endure the next day.

One Holy Thursday tradition takes this a step farther. The Seven Churches Visitation is a tradition in which Catholics make a pilgrimage to seven churches in Jerusalem that mark important sites during Jesus’s Passion. At each church, the pilgrim sits awhile in Adoration. The tradition later expanded, and many pilgrims travel locally to visit the altar of repose in the churches of their own city.

Clearly, making a physical pilgrimage is all but impossible right now, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t make a spiritual one at home. There are many eucharistic adoration live streams available that you can access. Rather than making a physical journey to each of the churches in your area, pick several live streams to visit. Besides, it’s a fun way to see the insides of churches you may never visit in person.

6) Turn out the Lights

At the end of the Holy Thursday Mass, after the Eucharist has been removed, the tabernacle light is extinguished — a reminder that the church is now truly and profoundly empty. The altar is stripped bare, and the tabernacle door left open, displaying the vacant space within. The church remains this way until Easter Vigil.

Though this particular piece of symbolism cannot be embraced in its entirety away from the church, there are things we can do at home to remind ourselves of the bleakness of Good Friday. One simple idea is to keep all the lights in your house off. 

Turning out the lights is a great way to mimic the extinguishing of the tabernacle light. As darkness closes in on the night of Good Friday, and the following morning, as the gray day stretches on, we are reminded that Christ has died. 

7) Read the Passion

Another thing that occurs during Holy Week — on both Palm Sunday and Good Friday — is the reading of the Passion of Christ. This gospel reading is unique in that it is done in a different format than the others … rather than being read in whole by the priest, the Passion reading is read in parts. Traditionally, the priest reads Jesus’s words, while other lectors read the narrator and miscellaneous speakers and the congregation reads the part of the crowd. 

You can do this at home on Palm Sunday or Good Friday (or both) in a couple of ways. First, you can watch a live stream and participate with the normal congregation part. Second, if you aren’t planning on watching a live stream of a Palm Sunday Mass or a Good Friday service, you can dole out parts and read the gospel passages aloud in your own household.

8) Stations of the Cross

Many Catholics participate in the Stations of the Cross each Friday during the Lenten season, and many more join in on Good Friday.

Though we typically see Stations in a church setting, the Stations of the Cross is a beautiful devotional that can be practiced at home as well. To do so is easy, simply set up dedicated stations around your house, and walk from station to station, saying the prayers for each. Putting up an image for each station isn’t necessary, but can really help make your pilgrimage more prayerful and intentional.

9) Hold a Vigil 

Though many of us will not be attending an Easter Vigil Mass this year, we can still celebrate a vigil in our homes. On Saturday night, while our homes are bathed in darkness, we can sit down with our families and read through the Easter Vigil prayers and scripture passages — perhaps to the flickering light of a candle, a small reminder that even in darkness, hope remains. 

Then, when the readings are finished and the prayers are recited, we can stand up and flood our homes with light. A miracle has occurred. The grave is empty. Christ has risen! Afterwards, perhaps, you can celebrate with a small feast and some songs before bed.

Conclusion

This period of dryness, with all its struggles and difficulties, offers a powerful opportunity for spiritual growth. As we enter Holy Week this year, we will experience the darkness and dryness that Christ felt during his Passion on a whole new level. Our souls will echo Jesus’s cry from the cross — “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” But, as Jesus did, we must remember that God is close — even when he feels so very far away. We must remember that even the darkest nights have some light — however small it may be — and that the morning always comes.