This is the heart of the Catholic Church's year. The Easter Triduum is the three intense days immediately before Easter Sunday, begining with the Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper at sundown on Holy Thursday.

Holy Thursday is the day on which we commemorate the historical event of the Last Supper and the establishment of the Holy Eucharist. We also include the ritual of the washing of the feet on Holy Thursday, which recalls what Jesus did for the apostles, symbolic of our call to serve others.

The altar is stripped in silence after the Holy Thursday liturgy. Many Catholics remain in church that night to symbolize staying awake with Jesus during his agony in the Garden of Gethsemane before he was arrested.

Good Friday marks Jesus' death on the cross. There is no eucharistic celebration of the Mass on this one day of the year. When we come to church on Good Friday, we focus on the Passion of Jesus. We listen to Scripture passages from both the Old and the New Testaments that speak of the suffering of Christ, the Messiah. Part of our Good Friday service is the Veneration of the Cross, in which we come forward in procession to kneel in front of the cross, pray, and kiss the cross as a sign of our love and gratitude.

Holy Saturday features the Easter vigil, which is "the night of all night" in the Church's year. The Easter Vigil usually is two hours long and is made up of four parts: the Service of Light, the Liturgy of the Word (proclaiming Jesus' resurrection and our eternal life), the Liturgy of Baptism (initiating new members into our Catholic faith), and the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

Easter is the Sunday that celebrates the resurrection of Christ. The Easter message is one of hope and victory over death and it symbolizes the love of God. It is a new beginning in a new life, friendship, peace and giving.