A Triduum Sourcebook

This three-volume set is part of the Sourcebook Series of anthologies. According to the official listing, it includes prose passages, hymns, prayers, liturgical resources and other elements drawn from the breadth of Christian experience and tradition. This is a sourcebook useful for those who are planning worship, Bible studies, meditation and prayer gatherings, and other events for Triduum, the three days that begins on sundown Thursday before Good Friday, and proceeds through to Easter day. According to the introduction, this three-volume set derives from an earlier one-volume collection that was the very first book in the Sourcebook series from Liturgical Training Publications (a series which now includes similar sourcebooks for Lent, Easter, Advent and Christmas, in addition to non-season-specific books on Baptism, Liturgy, Marriage, and Death). The book incorporates the use of the word 'pasch' frequently - this is a term from the Hebrew word for Passover, reflecting the Hebraic origins of the paschal mystery and the recovery of ancient patterns that reflects also a modern emphasis on maintaining connections with the early church. 'Many of the selections in this collection emphasise that the pasch of the Lord is one unified festival, and that the days and services of the liturgical pasch are as moments of time within this single mystery of faith.' This is seen in the repeated images and elements shared between the Thursday night, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday offerings. Most often, scriptures are drawn from the New Revised Standard Edition; the psalms and canticles come from the International Commission on English in the Liturgy. The Thursday night and Sunday offerings include Eucharistic elements. Thursday night also includes the Maundy, the footwashing ritual the re-enacts Jesus' act toward the disciples prior to the last supper. This serves as a good example of the resources provided: the passage from the gospel of John, passages from Origen, Kierkegaard, Kassia, Teresa of Avila, Roman liturgy, Byzantine liturgy, Hebrew scriptures, and more. 'The wisdom of God that restrains the untamed fury of the waters that are above the firmament, that sets a bridle on the deep and keeps back the seas, now pours water into a basin; and the Master washes the feet of his servants.' - Byzantine liturgy The first volume includes Thursday night, Good Friday (Friday of the Pasch), and Saturday (Holy Saturday, or Blessed Sabbath). Volume two is devoted entirely to the Paschal Night, Saturday night into Sunday morning, during which time many traditions hold vigils. The third volume is devoted to Sunday, and has resources for morning prayer, worship, and evening prayer. One can choose to read these straight through, read them in different portions throughout the day, or use them selectively as part of group worship events. I use these books (and the companion volumes produced by the same press for other seasons in the Christian calendar