Paschal Triduum

The Paschal Triduum or Easter Triduum (Latin: Triduum Paschale),^[1] Holy Triduum (Latin: Triduum Sacrum), or the Three Days,^[2] is the period of three days that begins with the liturgy on the evening of Maundy Thursday,^[3] reaches its high point in the Easter Vigil, and closes with evening prayer on Easter Sunday.^[4] It is a moveable observance recalling the Passion, Crucifixion, Death, burial, and Resurrection of Jesus, as portrayed in the canonical Gospels.^[5]

In the Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist, Moravian and Reformed traditions, the Paschal Triduum straddles the two liturgical seasons of Lent and Easter in the Church calendar (Holy Saturday is the last day of Lent, with the Easter Vigil being the first liturgy of Eastertide). In the Roman Catholic tradition since the 1955 reform by Pope Pius XII, the Easter Triduum has been more clearly distinguished as a separate liturgical period.

Previously, all these celebrations were advanced by more than twelve hours. The Mass of the Lord's Supper and the Easter Vigil were celebrated on the morning of Thursday and Saturday respectively, and Holy Week and Lent were seen as ending only on the approach of Easter. In the Roman Rite, after the Gloria in excelsis Deo in the Mass of the Lord's Supper, all church bells are silenced (sometimes replaced by a crotalus) and the organ is not used. This period that lasted from Thursday morning to before Easter Sunday began what was once referred to in Anglo-Saxon times as "the still days".^[6] Weddings in the Catholic Church were once prohibited throughout Lent and certain other times of the year as well,^[7] and are still forbidden during the Triduum. Lutherans still discourage weddings during the entirety of Holy Week, inclusive of the Easter Triduum.