Veneration of the Cross and the Liturgy of the Easter Sepulchre: Triduum Liturgies in Medieval England.

All Saints, Hawton, Easter Sepulcher. 

The Liturgy of Good Friday is an ancient one. As I mentioned in a post on St. Cyril of Jerusalem, the liturgy of the Veneration of the Cross has its origins in the rites created and performed at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem in the 4th century -when Cyril was Bishop there. In Jerusalem, the actual planks from the true cross were kept in Constantine's basilica and in a rite recorded by a 4th century Spanish nun, Egeria, displayed for veneration by pilgrims.

"Then a chair is placed for the bishop in Golgotha behind the Cross, which is now standing; the bishop duly takes his seat in the chair, and a table covered with a linen cloth is placed before him; the deacons stand round the table, and a silver-gilt casket is brought in which is the holy wood of the Cross. The casket is opened and (the wood) is taken out, and both the wood of the Cross and the title are placed upon the table. Now, when it has been put upon the table, the bishop, as he sits, holds the extremities of the sacred wood firmly in his hands, while the deacons who stand around guard it. It is guarded thus because the custom is that the people, both faithful and catechumens, come one by one and, bowing down at the table, kiss the sacred wood and pass through. And because, I know not when, some one is said to have bitten off and stolen a portion of the sacred wood, it is thus guarded by the deacons who stand around, lest any one approaching should venture to do so again."

The liturgy made its way into several regional rites including the Sarum and Durham rites in England, where it became part of the larger and more genuinely English 'Liturgy of the Easter Sepulcher.' In English Cathedrals and parish churches, the Easter Sepulchre served as the Easter Garden or Altar of Repose, which are more common today. The rite for the Easter Sepulchre, however, stretched through each day of Triduum. This way, all parts of the Triduum liturgies focused on the Resurrection. After all, we don't venerate the cross because by it Christ was killed, but because "by the Cross, joy hath come into the whole world."  We venerate the cross for Christ's resurrection, as the instrument which brought about our Salvation. This is part of the rite for the veneration in the Sarum Missal.

Priest: Behold the wood of the Cross, on which hung the savior of the world. O Come let us adore.
Choir: We adore Thy Cross, Or Lord, and we praise and glorify Thy holy Resurrection, for by the Cross, joy hath come into the world. 

     After the Veneration of the Cross, or Creeping to the Cross as it was called in England, the crucifix was taken in procession with the reserved sacrament from Maundy Thursday to a stone structure on the north side of the chancel that bore resemblance to either the sedelia or a wall-tomb. Both the crucifix and the sacrament were then placed in a carved wooden or gilded box similar to a reliquary which rested like a chest or feretory on the stone slab (like an altar) of the sepulchre much like a saint's reliquary rests on the stone of a table-shrine (like the shrine of St. Frideswide pictured in the blog cover). The sepulchres often feature the soldiers sleeping round the tomb, the women visiting and the angels. Some even have a special compartment for the Sacrament which resembles the carved tomb. 

St. Peter's East Harling. The chest sat like a reliquary on the slab. 

The author of the "Rites of Durham" recorded the performance of the Liturgy of the Easter Sepulchre at Durham Cathedral which, because of the local importance of St. Cuthbert, interestingly included an image of Christ with St. Cuthbert.

Sepulcher with soldiers, Lincoln Cathedral. 

"Within the Abbye Church of Durham uppon good friday theire was marvelous solemne service, in the which service time after the passion was sung two of the eldest monkes did take a goodly large crucifix all of gold of the picture of our saviour Christ nailed uppon the crosse lyinge uppon a velvett cushion, havinge St Cuthberts armes uppon it all imbroydered with gold bringinge that betwixt them uppon the said cushion to the lowest stepps in the quire, and there betwixt them did hold the said picture of our saviour sittinge of every side on ther knees of that , and then one of the said monkes did rise and went a prettye way from it sittinge downe uppon his knees with his shoes put of[f] verye reverently did creepe away uppon his knees unto the said crosse and most reverently did kisse it, and after him the other monkes did so likewise , and then they did sitt them downe on eyther side of the said crosse and holdinge it betwixt them, and after that the prior came forth of his stall, and did sitt him downe of his knees with his shooes of[f] and in like sort did creepe also unto the said crosse and all the monkes after him one after an nother, in the same order, and, in the meane time all the whole quire singinge an Himne, the service beinge ended the two monkes did carrye it to the sepulchre with great reverence, which sepulchre was sett upp in the morninge on the north side of the quire nigh to the high altar before the service time and there did lay it within the said sepulchre, with great devotion with another picture of our saviour Christ, in whose breast they did enclose with great reverence the most holy and blessed sacrament of the altar senceinge and prayinge unto it uppon theire knees a great space settinge two taper lighted before it, which tapers did burne unto Easter day in the morninge that it was taken forth."


The precise liturgy, though different than the one at Durham, is also found in the Sarum Missal. At Salisbury, after Communion from the reserved Sacrament, the celebrant and a deacon removed their vestments and their shoes and approached the Sepulchre, placing the wooded crucifix (often described as a cross or image of the Christ on the cross) and the pyx with the Sacrament inside the chest in the Easter Sepulchre.
The priest began:

P. I am counted as one of them that go down into the pit: I have been even as a man that hath no strenght, free among the dead.
V. Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in a place of Darkness and in the Deep. There have I been. 

The Sepulcher door was then shut and the service ended with no dismissal as it is still done.

The Liturgy of the Easter Sepulchre continued on Easter Day as the first part of the ceremonies. At Sarum the procession went first to the Sepulchre and "after censing it with great veneration" removed the pyx and the cross and after proclaiming "Christ being raised" began the great Alleluia and took the Sacrament to the high altar for adoration.

The 'Rites of Durham' also contains a record of this ceremony:

Coity, Glamorgan, Wales. The chest
with symbols of the passion. 

"There was in the abbye church of duresme [Durham] verye solemne service uppon easter day betweene 3 and 4 of the clocke in the morninge in honour of the resurrection where 2 of the oldest monkes of the quire came to the sepulchre, being sett upp upon good friday after the passion all covered with redd velvett and embrodered with gold, and then did sence it either monke with a paire of silver sencors sittinge on theire knees before the sepulchre, then they both risinge came to the sepulchre, out of the which with great reverence they tooke a marvelous beautiful Image of our saviour representinge the resurrection with a crosse in his hand in the breast wheof was enclosed in bright Christall the holy sacrament of the altar, throughe the which christall the blessed host was conspicuous, to the behoulders, then after the elevation of the said picture carryed by the said 2 monkes uppon a faire velvett cushion all embrodered singinge the anthem of christus resurgens they brought to the high altar settinge that on the midst therof whereon it stood the two monkes kneelinge on theire knees before the altar, and senceing it all the time that the rest of the whole quire was in singinge the foresaid anthem of Xpus resrugens, the which anthem being ended the 2 monkes tooke up the cushines and the picture from the altar supportinge it betwixt them, proceeding in procession from the high altar to the south quire dore where there was 4 antient gentlemen belonginge to the prior appointed to attend theire cominge holdinge upp a most rich cannopye of purple velvett tached round about with redd silke, and gold fringe, and at everye corner did stand one of theise ancient gentlemen to beare it over the said Image, with the holy sacrament carried by two monkes round about the church the whole quire waitinge uppon it with goodly torches and great store of other lights, all singinge rejoyceinge and praising god most devoutly till they came to the high altar againe, wheron they did place the said Image there to remaine untill the assencion day."

St. Andrew Heckington sepulcher with the 
soldiers, women and angels.

The Veneration of the Cross and the Liturgy of the Easter Sepulcher, though rarely used, both bear relevance to the Triduum experience for the Church today. These are not merely medieval filler, added to lengthen the ceremonies or embellish the celebration, but are a liturgical reenactment of the death and Resurrection of Christ, the foundations of our Christian faith. Just as these acts in the life of Christ complete the foundation of our faith, their reenactment remains the core of our Triduum liturgies. These rites allow each of us to engage in the acts of crucifixion and Resurrection that happened two thousand years ago. Physically and emotionally we experience the sadness and rejection of sin and death leading to the cross and the unmatchable joy in the resurrection, Christ's victory over death on the cross, and in the comfort that Christ, God made human, has lived, died, lived again and stayed with us so that we two may really live.

Collect (From the Episcopal Church, BCP, Easter):
O God, who for our redemption didst give thine only-begotten Son to the death of the cross, and by his glorious resurrection hast delivered us from the power of our enemy: Grant us so to die daily to sin, that we may evermore live with him in the joy of his resurrection; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The Liturgy of Palm Sunday, Palm Branches as Symbols of Victory and the 'Calvaries' of Brittany.

Palm Sunday as represented by Giotto in the Arena Chapel, Padua.

The celebration of Palm Sunday as we know it dates back to 4th century Jerusalem and remains party of the liturgy in almost all Christian Churches around the world. It is an odd Sunday to celebrate: a Sunday, as one Episcopal Priest lately put it "a Sunday filled with confusing emotions because we have this ominous feeling of what is coming." Christ knew what would happen to him when he came to Jerusalem; it was part of his Sacrifice. Jesus' self -Sacrifice did not start when Judas betrayed him to the priests, but when he rode into Jerusalem on the Donkey.
     Christians in Jerusalem before the Edict of Milan (A.D. 315) would not have been able to worship to openly but once Christians were free to worship, a Palm Sunday procession into the gates of Jerusalem, just as Good Friday and Easter were celebrated at Constantine's Church of the Holy Sepulcher, probably started very soon after. St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Bishop there from 349 to 386, is thought to be the writer of these liturgies which also include a foot-washing for Maundy Thursday and the Veneration of the Cross -where a piece of the True Cross was actually venerated.Because of the thousands of pilgrims who were now coming to Jerusalem we are lucky to have a picture of the Holy Week Liturgy there in the 4th century. The account by the Spanish nun, Egeria, on her pilgrimage tells of Cyril's celebration which started on the Mount of Olives and proceeds to the Gates while the people shout "Hosanna in the Highest!"

"Procession with Palms on the Mount of Olives. Accordingly at the seventh hour all the peoplego up to the Mount of Olives, that is, to Eleona, and the bishop with them, to the church, where hymns and antiphons suitable to the day and to the place are said, and lessons in like manner. And when the ninth hour approaches they go up with hymns to the Imbomon, that is, to the place whence the Lord ascended into heaven, and there they sit down, for all the people are always bidden to sit when the bishop is present; the deacons alone always stand. Hymns and antiphons suitable to the day and to the place are said, interspersed with lections and prayers. And as the eleventh hour approaches, the passage from the Gospel is read, where the children, carrying branches and palms, met the Lord, saying; Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord, and the bishop immediately rises, and all the people with him, and they all go on foot from the top of the Mount of Olives, all the people going before him with hymns and antiphons, answering one to another: Blessed is He that cometh in the Name of the Lord. And all the children in the neighbourhood, even those who are too young to walk, are carried by their parents on their shoulders, all of them bearing branches, some of palms and some of olives,2 and thus the bishop is escorted in the same manner as the Lord was of old. For all, even those of rank, both matrons and men, accompany the bishop all the way on foot in this manner, making theseresponses, from the top of the mount to the city, and thence through the whole city to the Anastasis, going very slowly lest the poeple should be wearied; and thus they arrive at the Anastasis at a late hour. And on arriving, although it is late, lucernare takes place, with prayer at the Cross; after which the people are dismissed."

The Palm Sunday Procession seems to have spread quickly as pilgrims who had visited Jerusalem returned home to institute these liturgies in their own Holy-Week rites. The Palm Sunday Procession was incorporated into the Mozarabic Rite of Spain in the 5th century, around the time that Egeria visited the Holy Land, and into the Gallican Rite by the 7th century. And by the 8th century, Palm-Sunday seems to have been a common practice among the Franks in Northern Italy, where it was recorded to be an integral part of the liturgy in the famous Abbey of Bobbio. The well-known hymn: "All Glory, Laud and Honor," was actually a chant written by the 9th century bishop, Theodulf of Orleans:

Great Lenten Veil at Millstatt Abbey
Austria, concealing the high altar. 

Because St. Aldhelm, the 8th century bishop of Sherborne (now Salisbury), used it in his own Celtic-Saxon rite, Palm Sunday was part of the Sarum Rite long before it was used in Rome which happened in about the 12th century. At Salisbury Cathedral, home of the Sarum Rite, the Palm Sunday Procession was the most elaborate of all the processions of the Church year. Across Europe, Jesus was often represented by a wooden carving of he and the donkey which could be pulled through the crowd on wheels. In Salisbury, a monstrance with the Blessed Sacrament was also carried in the procession. Also at Salisbury, the Great Lenten Veil was erected between the high altar and the quire to deny the congregation a view of the Elevation of the Host, the climax of the Medieval Liturgy. During the reading of the Passion, the Veil, representing the curtain in the temple, was torn in two. Veils were probably abolished with rood screens in the Council of Trent, but a few survive in Austria and Southern Germany.

The Calvaries of Medieval Brittany and the Palm Sunday Liturgy

Calvary with a Pulpit at Pleubian.

In Celtic Christianity, the sign of the Cross, as in Eastern Churches, held a great deal of importance in liturgy and in art. The meticulously carved crosses of the great Irish and Scottish monasteries as well as the high crosses of Wales, Cornwall and northern England still show, as some of the chief survivors of Celtic Christian architecture. In Brittany, the Celtic obsession with Calvary and the sign of the cross developed into the erection of elaborate 'Calvaries,' great 15th-16th century stone sculpted scenes of Crucifixion -like all the parts of the Stations of the Cross put together in a Passion-tide version of the well-known nativity scene. On Palm Sunday, the Calvary was visited during the procession like a station, decorated in flowers and garlands along with gravestones. Not quite Calvaries, but more simple Churchyard crosses, also visited on Palm Sunday, can be found in many villages in Britain especially in Wales and Cornwall, where where was a lot of traffic with Brittany through the 8th century. A 13th century bishop of Lincoln at one point ordered that such crosses be erected at all parish churches for the very purpose of the Palm Sunday procession. In Brittany, elaborate calvaries can still be found in many towns.

Calvary at St. Jean, Trolimon, Brittany. 

Calvary at Plugas, Brittany. 

As Symbols of Victory
In Britain and Brittany, the graves of the dead were also visited on Palm Sunday and, like the crosses and Calvaries, decorated in Yew branches and flowers (as a replacement for palms). This was symbolic of the hope which Christians hold for the Resurrection of the Dead at Jesus's second coming, -the palms stood for their 'victory' over death just like Christ's victorious entry into Jerusalem was his ride to conquer death. Since very early times, martyrs have also been represented with palm branches as a symbol of their victory. These saints are said to have received the 'Palm of Martyrdom.'

A procession of virgin martyrs with palms at Ravenna.  

St. Cyril of Jerusalem, March 18.

The Catecheses of St. Cyril. The Procatecheses is the prologue. 

     Cyril was born in Jerusalem around 315 and became a bishop in 349, so he was not among the 318 at Nicaea but was bishop during the high tide of the Arian heresy. As bishop of the diocese of Jerusalem which was growing in importance because of the steady stream of pilgrims, he was a direct challenge to the Metropolitan Bishop of Caesearea, Acacius, who was an Arian. Cyril strictly opposed Arianism and taught the faith as established at Nicaea which he also upheld in the First Council of Constantinople in 381. He was forced into exile several times by Acacius and later Arian Emperors but always returned to Jerusalem before he died in 386.

     He is remembered for his scholarship in liturgy, his charity and as one of the greatest theologians of the 4th century as a definer and defender of the faith. Sometime during his episcopate he wrote the Catecheses, eighteen lectures on the Christian faith to be preached to the catechumens, those waiting for baptism, and the five Mystagogical Catecheses, on the sacraments, for the newly baptized. For these works, Cyril earned his place among the early Church Fathers, and remains a source for those looking for definitions and explanations in Christianity as his works have survived and are widely known.
     As the Emperor Constantine had only made the world safe for Christians in 315, Christian laypeople were coming from their cities with their bishops now freely able to visit the tombs of martyrs being erected and more significantly to travel to Jerusalem itself. Cyril provided for probably increasing numbers of pilgrims the Holy Week liturgies that are still used everywhere today, including the procession with palms on Palm Sunday.
     The Episcopal Church cites the journal of a 4th century Spanish nun called Egeria, who came in contact with St. Cyril while in Jerusalem. Here is her account for the festivities on Palm Sunday:

 "Accordingly at the seventh hour all the people go up to the Mount of Olives, that is, to Eleona, and the bishop with them, to the church, where hymns and antiphons suitable to the day and to the place are said, and lessons in like manner. And when the ninth hour approaches they go up with hymns to the Imbomon, that is, to the place whence the Lord ascended into heaven, and there they sit down, for all the people are always bidden to sit when the bishop is present; the deacons alone always stand. Hymns and antiphons suitable to the day and to the place are said, interspersed with lections and prayers. And as the eleventh hour approaches, the passage from the Gospel is read, where the children, carrying branches and palms, met the Lord, saying; Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord, and the bishop immediately rises, and all the people with him, and they all go on foot from the top of the Mount of Olives, all the people going before him with hymns and antiphons, answering one to another: Blessed is He that cometh in the Name of the Lord. And all the children in the neighborhood  even those who are too young to walk, are carried by their parents on their shoulders, all of them bearing branches, some of palms and some of olives,2 and thus the bishop is escorted in the same manner as the Lord was of old. For all, even those of rank, both matrons and men, accompany the bishop all the way on foot in this manner, making these responses, from the top of the mount to the city, and thence through the whole city to the Anastasis, going very slowly lest the poeple should be wearied; and thus they arrive at the Anastasis at a late hour. And on arriving, although it is late, lucernare takes place, with prayer at the Cross; after which the people are dismissed."

The Good Friday Veneration of the Cross is also recorded. In Jerusalem, this was celebrated of course in the part of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (which Egeria refers to as "the Basilica") which stands right over Golgotha:

"Then a chair is placed for the bishop in Golgotha behind the Cross, which is now standing; the bishop duly takes his seat in the chair, and a table covered with a linen cloth is placed before him; the deacons stand round the table, and a silver-gilt casket is brought in which is the holy wood of the Cross. The casket is opened and (the wood) is taken out, and both the wood of the Cross and the title are placed upon the table. Now, when it has been put upon the table, the bishop, as he sits, holds the extremities of the sacred wood firmly in his hands, while the deacons who stand around guard it. It is guarded thus because the custom is that the people, both faithful and catechumens, come one by one and, bowing down at the table, kiss the sacred wood and pass through. And because, I know not when, some one is said to have bitten off and stolen a portion of the sacred wood, it is thus guarded by the deacons who stand around, lest any one approaching should venture to do so again. And as all the people pass by one by one, all bowing themselves, they touch the Cross and the title, first with their foreheads and then with their eyes; then they kiss the Cross and pass through, but none lays his hand upon it to touch it. "

Golgotha today.

Collect (From the Episcopal Church):
Strengthen, O Lord, the bishops of your Church in their special calling to be teachers and ministers of the Sacraments, so that they, like your servant Cyril of Jerusalem, may effectively instruct your people in Christian faith and practice; and that we, taught by them, may enter more fully into celebration of the Paschal mystery; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.