Holy Week is the Christian week from Palm Sunday through Holy Saturday. This article is about the religious people known as Christians. ... Palm Sunday is a moveable feast in the church calendar observed by Catholic, Orthodox, and some Protestant Christians. ... Holy Saturday is the day before Easter in the Christian calendar. ...

Each of the days of Holy Week has its own traditions of services in the West. Believers are encouraged to follow in their prayers with readings from the Gospel the account of each of the actions from the time of the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday to the crucifixion and death of Jesus on Good Friday and the resurrection on Easter Sunday. While each day has special mass celebrations in the Western churches, the week's most elaborate services are on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter. In the Reformation, emphasis was taken away from the Passion and placed upon the resurrection of Jesus, but contemporary Protestant Churches, as well as the Roman Catholic Church, holds the three days between Good Friday and Easter to be the holiest days of the calendar. For the genre of Christian-themed music, see gospel music. ... The neutrality and accuracy of this article are disputed. ... Jerusalem (Hebrew: יְרוּשָׁלַיִם Yerushalayim; Arabic: القدس al-Quds; see also names of Jerusalem) is an ancient Middle Eastern city of key importance to the religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. ... Palm Sunday is a moveable feast in the church calendar observed by Catholic, Orthodox, and some Protestant Christians. ... Religious depictions of the crucifixion of Jesus typically show him supported by nails through the palms. ... Good Friday is a special day celebrated by Christians on the Friday before Easter or Pascha. ... This article is about the religious meaning of the word Resurrection. For other meanings see Resurrection (disambiguation). ... Easter is the most important holiday of the Christian year, observed in March, April, or May each year to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus from the dead after his death by crucifixion (see Good Friday), which Christians believe happened at about this time of year around AD 30-33. ... This article discusses the Mass as part of Christian liturgy, in particular the form it has taken in the Latin rite of the Catholic Church. ... In the Christian calendar, Maundy Thursday is the Thursday before Easter. ... Good Friday is a special day celebrated by Christians on the Friday before Easter or Pascha. ... Holy Saturday is the day before Easter in the Christian calendar. ... Easter is the most important holiday of the Christian year, observed in March, April, or May each year to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus from the dead after his death by crucifixion (see Good Friday), which Christians believe happened at about this time of year around AD 30-33. ... The Protestant Reformation was a movement which began in the 16th century as a series of attempts to reform the Roman Catholic Church, but ended in division and the establishment of new institutions, most importantly Lutheranism, Reformed churches, and Anabaptists. ... This article describes the biblical Passion. ... Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ... The Roman Catholic Church is the largest religious denomination of Christianity with over one billion members. ...

Eastern Orthodox Christianity

In Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Great Lent officially ends on Lazarus Saturday, the day before Palm Sunday, a week before Pascha (Easter). During Holy Week, Orthros (Matins) services for each day are held the preceding evening. Thus, the Matins service of Monday is sung Palm Sunday evening, and so on. (The services of Sunday through Tuesday evenings are often called Bridegroom Matins, because of their theme of Christ-as-Bridegroom.) Eastern Orthodoxy (also called Greek Orthodoxy and Russian Orthodoxy) is a Christian tradition which represents the majority of Eastern Christianity. ... Great Lent is the greatest fasting period in the church year in Eastern Christianity, which prepares Christians for the greatest feast of the church year, Easter (or Holy Pasch). Although it is in many ways similar to Lent in Western Christianity, there are important differences in the timing of Lent... Palm Sunday is a moveable feast in the church calendar observed by Catholic, Orthodox, and some Protestant Christians. ... Matins is the morning prayer service in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox liturgies of the canonical hours. ...

Divine Liturgy of the Last Supper is held on the morning of Holy Thursday. Matins of Holy Friday, with its Twelve Gospel Readings, is held on the evening of Holy Thursday; Matins of Holy Saturday is held on the evening of Holy Friday. A richly-embroidered sheet called the "epitaphios" representing Christ laid in the tomb is carried in a candlelit procession and laid in a "tomb" decorated with flowers. The Divine Liturgy is the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern-Rite Catholic eucharistic service. ... This article relates the event related in the New Testament of the Bible, see The Last Supper (disambiguation) for other uses, including a list of famous works of art with this name. ...

Divine Liturgy is held Saturday morning. This is the "Proti Anastasi" (First Resurrection) service, with a change from dark vestments to light ones.

Saturday night at midnight, the service begins in darkness. A single candle is lighted by the priest, from a light on the altar which is never extinguished. The light spreads from person to person until everyone holds a lighted candle. The Divine Liturgy follows. A reception or party usually follows, sometimes lasting till dawn. Slavs bring Easter baskets filled with eggs, meat, butter, and cheese -- foods from which the faithful have abstained during Lent -- to be blessed.

A Vesper service, often combined with an Easter egg hunt and other activities for children, may be held Easter day, but there is no regular Sunday morning Liturgy.

See also:

• Pascha
• liturgical year
• Catholic Holy Week procession.

Easter (also called Pascha) is generally accounted the most important holiday of the Christian year, observed March or April each year to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead (after his death by crucifixion; see Good Friday), which Christians believe happened at about this time of year, almost two... The liturgical year, also known as the Christian year, consists of the cycle of liturgical seasons in some Christian churches which determines when Feasts, Memorials, Commemorations, and Solemnities are to be observed and which portions of Scripture are to be read. ...