![\"Gerome,](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2017\/04\/G%C3%A9r%C3%B4me_-_Lentr%C3%A9e_du_Christ_%C3%A0_J%C3%A9rusalem_-_cadre.jpg\")
<\/a>(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The late Bill Hamblin and I \u2014 how it still surprises and grieves me, even now, to write that phrase, \u201cthe late Bill Hamblin\u201d! \u2014 published the article below in the 19 April 2014 issue of the Deseret News. \u00a0<\/em>It\u2019s relevant again, today, as we\u2019re on the eve of Palm Sunday:<\/p>\n Historically, Easter has been the most important Christian holy day, as well as the oldest. Since the Reformation, many Protestant groups have simplified their Easter celebrations, focusing only on brief services on Easter Sunday itself.<\/span><\/p>\n For Roman Catholics and eastern Christians, however, the celebration of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ is part of a complex of pilgrimage and ritual commemorations known as Holy Week.<\/span><\/p>\n Elaborate celebration of Easter had developed in Jerusalem in the early fourth century A.D., when the Christianization of the Roman Empire finally allowed widespread Christian pilgrimage.<\/span><\/p>\n Holy Week celebrations at Jerusalem evolved into a liturgical or ritual drama re-enacting the events of the last week of Christ\u2019s life. The first detailed description of Holy Week rituals in Jerusalem comes from the account of the pilgrim Egeria, a French nun who visited Egypt and the Holy Land from 381 to 384. Although originally celebrated only at Jerusalem, Holy Week was soon adopted by Christians throughout the world, with special rites for each day of the week preceding Easter celebrated in local churches in imitation of the original practices of Jerusalem.<\/span><\/p>\n By participating in Holy Week, Christians commemorate and ritually participate in the Easter story. In a mystical sense, some contemplate the passion of Christ as if they had been there.<\/span><\/p>\n Palm Sunday is celebrated on the Sunday before Easter in commemoration of Christ\u2019s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, when his followers, waving palm branches and shouting \u201cHosanna to the Son of David,\u201d proclaimed him the Messiah. Thousands of pilgrims bearing palm branches follow the ancient route of Jesus\u2019 triumphal entry still today.<\/span><\/p>\n The Thursday before Easter is known in English as Maundy Thursday<\/em>, in commemoration of the Last Supper. The term maundy<\/em>\u00a0is derived from Christ\u2019s washing of the disciples\u2019 feet, when he gave a \u201cnew commandment\u201d that they should \u201clove one another as I have loved you\u201d (John 13:34)<\/a>. The phrase \u201cnew commandment\u201d is translated in Latin as mandatum novum<\/em>; hence, \u201cmaundy\u201d Thursday is the day commemorating the new mandatum<\/em> or commandment. Vigil is also held in Gethsemane.<\/span><\/p>\n Good Friday is a day of fasting, abstinence and penance in remembrance of the crucifixion. In some Christian traditions, Good Friday and Holy Saturday are the only two days on which the Eucharist (the sacramental offering of bread and wine) isn\u2019t celebrated. Services frequently include reading the story of the crucifixion and veneration of the cross, where believers ritually act as if they themselves were witnesses of the crucifixion. In Jerusalem, pilgrims walk the Via Dolorosa, the \u201cWay of Pain,\u201d where each event of Jesus\u2019 passion is memorialized.<\/span><\/p>\n Holy Saturday commemorates the day when Christ\u2019s body rested in the tomb, culminating in the evening with the Paschal Vigil, in which many Christians attend midnight services in imitation of mourning outside the tomb of Christ and awaiting the resurrection. Although in English the Sunday of the resurrection of Christ is called Easter, in many European languages the name is derived from the ancient word for \u201cPassover\u201d: in Hebrew pesach<\/em> and in Aramaic pascha<\/em> \u2014 hence, the word paschal<\/em>. This often includes the lighting of the paschal candle, symbolic of the spread of the light of Christ, and the believers\u2019 acceptance of that light in their own lives.<\/span><\/p>\n In early Christianity, Easter was the preferred day of baptism for new converts, many of whom spent the paschal vigil on the night of Holy Saturday in preparation for their baptism on Easter Sunday morning, reflecting the symbolism of baptism as resurrection. The practice of 40 days of fasting before Easter is known as Lent, and seems to have begun as a preparatory period of these candidates for Easter baptism in imitation of the 40-day fast of Christ. In older traditions, the fast permitted only one small evening meal a day, requiring complete abstinence from meat, fish, eggs and milk products. It\u2019s a time of penance, abstinence, alms-giving and special religious devotions.<\/span><\/p>\n Holy Week culminates with the celebration of Easter Sunday. Although specific forms of remembrance can vary widely among Christian denominations, all unite in joyous thanksgiving for the atonement and resurrection of Christ and in hopeful anticipation of the future resurrection of all mankind.<\/span><\/p>\n Unfortunately, in many modern secularized Western societies \u2014 where holiday<\/em> has ceased to mean \u201choly day,\u201d becoming instead merely a time for fun and recreation \u2014 the authentic significance of Easter, like that of Christmas, has been largely obscured by commercialization and indulgence.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Latter-day Saints needn\u2019t adopt the particular rituals of Holy Week, but it certainly wouldn\u2019t hurt us to devote more time to thinking about the atonement and the resurrection of Jesus for more than the space of just a hymn or two during sacrament meeting on Easter Sunday. \u00a0And my sense is that the leaders of the Church are trying to get us to do that.<\/p>\n As illustrated by these appalling items from the Christopher Hitchens Memorial \u201cHow Religion Poisons Everything\u201d File<\/em>\u2122, theism ruins every single thing that it touches:<\/p>\n \u201cNotre Dame professor: BYU-Pathway Worldwide may become Latter-day Saints\u2019 \u2018biggest gift to the world\u2019: BYU-PW president predicts the low-cost, quality online education initiative will hit a massive milestone in student numbers later this year as the Church of Jesus Christ addresses global disparities\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cReligion, research among the 5 goals the First Presidency set for BYU\u2019s new School of Medicine:\u00a0One of the key design elements is that BYU will offer students an integrated bachelor\u2019s and medical degree, inaugural dean says\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>