Holy Week and Easter
Services at St John's are marked (SJC), St Michael's (H), Mattingley Church (M) and Rotherwick Church (R).
| Palm Sunday 24 March | 8.30am Holy Communion (H) 10am Sung Eucharist (SJC) 10.30am Parish Communion (H) 6.30pm Evensong (H) |
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| Monday 25 March |
8pm Benefice Passover or 'Seder' Meal (SJC)
(sign up sheet in the Narthex) 8pm Compline (M) |
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| Tuesday 26 March |
8pm Stations of the Cross (SJC) 8pm Compline (M) |
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| Wednesday 27 March |
10am Holy Communion (SJC) 8pm Compline (M) |
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| Maundy Thursday 28 March |
11am Eucharist at Winchester Cathedral 7.30pm Communion (M) 8pm Eucharist (SJC) |
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| Good Friday 29 March |
8am Morning Prayer (SJC)
8.30am Morning Prayer (M)
9am Stations of the Cross (SJC)
11am Liturgy of the Cross (SJC)
1.30pm Good Friday Meditation (M) 3pm Benefice Pilgrimage, start at Heckfield |
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| Holy Saturday 30 March |
2pm to 3.30pm Messy Easter - for families
with babies & children up to Year 6 (SJC) |
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| Easter Sunday 31 March | |
5.30am The Easter Vigil (SJC) 6.15am Easter Vigil (R) 8.30am Holy Communion (M)
10am Festival Sung Eucharist (SJC) 10.30am Parish Communion & Baptism (H) 6.30pm Evensong (R) |
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We extend a warm welcome to you all to join us in worship during Holy Week and Easter. |
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Holy Week is the most important week of the year, in which we go with Jesus on the road to the Cross and Resurrection.
The emphasis is on participation and doing - being part of the drama as it is told and enacted through the week.
Doing helps deepen our understanding of what Jesus did for us.
Palm Sunday
On Palm Sunday at our
morning service we begin the journey, as Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey. We walk around the church
in procession, carrying small crosses made of palm leaf, in memory of the palm branches strewn on Jesus' road.
During the service we remember Jesus in Jerusalem.
Passover Meal - Holy Monday
The Passover Meal is based on the Jewish
Seder service, in which food (and wine), laughter and story-telling all play a part.
Please book your place in advance by signing up on the list in the church Narthex at St John's or by contacting the Benefice Office.
Stations of the Cross
Tuesday 8pm & Good Friday at 9am
This is a simple service in which we walk around the church stopping at
stations, pictures of different moments in the
story of the Passion, Jesus' final journey through Jerusalem to his crucifixion. Prayers and a reflection take place at each.
The value is simply in doing the journey, for it helps us to imagine and feel our way into the events of Good Friday, and how the
Cross of Jesus is an important part of our lives now.
Maundy Thursday Eucharist
This is the first day in the Great Three Days or the Triduum. It is especially kept as
the day on which we commemorate the events in the Upper Room, when Jesus shared bread and wine
with his disciples, and washed their feet, before going out to the Garden of Gethsemane and arrest.
In the evening at 8pm we shall remember the act of the washing of the disciples' feet.
At the end of the Eucharist the church is stripped of all moveable ornaments and decorations to leave it suitably stark and bare for
the solemnity of Good Friday, and to symbolise the way Jesus was abandoned by his friends and stripped.
Bread and wine consecrated at the Eucharist are reserved and taken to the Altar of Repose in the Lady Chapel, where
the Vigil takes place. This is to recall the Agony and prayer Jesus whent through in the Garden of Gethsemane. People are free
to come and go during the Vigil as they wish; either to spend all the time quietly praying and to thinking, or to go and come back.
Good Friday
9am Stations of the Cross
11am The Liturgy of the Cross. This is the culmination of Passiontide. It is the most solemn service of the year. In it we listen to the reading of the Passion, and then watch the procession of the Cross as it is carried into the church to the High Altar. Again, as part of the 'doing' of Holy Week, we come forward to stand or kneel at the foot of the Cross and think of Jesus dying for the sins of the world. We receive Communion, not in a full 'celebration', but from the reserved sacrament from Maundy Thursday.
1.30pm Good Friday Meditation. A Meditation in words and music. The Crucifixion story told through some of the leading characters in the Passion narrative. Please be seated by 1.25pm to allow a short period of quiet reflection.
3pm The Good Friday Pilgrimage. A walk starting at St. Michael's Church, Heckfield.
We will make our way to Mattingley Parish Church and Rotherwick Parish Church before finishing at St. John's Church, Hook.
At each church there will be a meditation. Do come along for all of the walk or meet us at one of the churches and join us for that part.
Messy Easter - Holy Saturday
2pm to 3.30pm Messy Easter. For children aged 0-11 with their parent or carer. Crafts, story, egg hunt, songs, fun and friendship.
Includes a coffee and a snack.
Morning and Evening Prayer as usual.
Easter Sunday
5.30am Easter Vigil at St John's Church. We do not know when Jesus rose from the dead, all we know is that when the women went to the tomb
on Easter morning, that the tomb was empty. We therefore celebrate at dawn on Easter Day.
If Good Friday is the most serious day, then the Easter Vigil is certainly the most splendid and joyful moment.
The New Fire is kindled in a bonfire outside. From this we light the Easter or Paschal Candle, which at St John's is carried in
procession into the Church,
as Christ is proclaimed as the light of the world. The ancient Resurrection hymn the Exsultet,
is sung and the Resurrection is proclaimed.
This is met by the ringing of bells and making as much noise as possible. Please bring bells, large or small
with you, or anything which can be hit or used to make a loud noise!
We renew our baptismal vows together because baptism of christening is into the death and resurrection of Jesus.
We then celebrate the Eucharist and our Risen Lord.
6.15am Easter Vigil at Rotherwick. A similar service to that at St John's, but with no Communion. Both Vigil's are followed by breakfast.
8.30am Holy Communion at Mattingley
10am Festival Eucharist at St John's - the great celebration for the whole Church family. The celebration is marked by
joy and music as we greet
our risen Lord. Bells are rung at this service too, so please come prepared.
There is no Sunday School or creche for children, but parents may use the Parlour. Afterwards there will be a Easter Egg Hunt.
10.30am Parish Communion & Baptism at St Michael's - a joyful Easter celebration including Holy Baptism.
6.30pm Evensong at Rotherwick