By Janelle Peregoy
If I have one prayer for families during this Holy Week, it is to take a pause.
Holy Week should feel different. We can do this with an intentional choice to spend this week differently.
Consider canceling extracurriculars or shortening the workday. Spend time together as a family. Make time to pray beyond what you would normally do together. Reading the daily Gospels can be a sacred way to enter into the week. Attend Triduum services together, although realistically the length of the Easter Vigil may be daunting for younger children. Here are some suggestions.
Palm Sunday
- Have younger children color and cut out palm fronds; templates are available online. Alternatively, go on a family nature walk to collect leaves and branches from the neighborhood. With your fronds and branches, create a path into your home for Jesus. Pair this activity with a children’s book such as “The Donkey That No One Could Ride” by Anthony DeStefano, which recounts Jesus’ triumphant entrance into Jerusalem from the perspective of the donkey that carried him.
Holy Thursday
- Host a family foot-washing service. Read the account in John 13:1-20. This is a poignant opportunity for creating a context of family unity. If any two siblings are prone to fighting, make sure they wash each other’s feet. With adolescents and teens, this ritual can provoke deeper conversations. If Jesus was here today, whose feet would he wash?
- Jesus and his Apostles celebrated the Passover meal together in Jerusalem. The Seder meal commemorates the final plague passing-over the Jewish households. As Catholics, the Eucharist is our preeminent celebration. Yet on Holy Thursday, we can acknowledge our spiritual ancestry by incorporating such aspects of the Seder as bitter herbs (horseradish), matzo, grape juice, etc., into our family meal. Adult family members can learn more by reading “Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist” by Brant Pitre.
Good Friday
- Pray the Stations of the Cross with children. “The Word Among Us” offers a simple presentation for children aged 10 and younger. Families can go to a parish or retreat center that offers the Stations of the Cross outdoors, so that children have a sense of Jesus’ movement throughout the day. Alternatively, families may pray the Stations at home, using an illustrated guide or artwork to represent each Station. For teens, I like “Via: Finding Hope in the Stations of the Cross” from Life Teen.
- Venerate the cross. If crucifixes hang in your home, take them down for Good Friday. For younger children, veneration can be a quick kiss and the encouragement to remember Jesus’ sacrifice. For older children, the Diocese of Corpus Christi offers a brief guide, “How to Venerate the Cross at Home.”
Holy Saturday
- Dye Easter eggs with intentionality. I like wrapping eggs with rubber bands before dyeing them, which leaves a cross design on the eggs. Eggs decorated with Jesus or Resurrection-themed stickers are also fun.
- Bake “Resurrection cookies” as a family before bed. (Recipe is available at CatholicMom.com.) The symbolism works best if family members do not taste the cookies until Easter Sunday. Surprise! The cookies are hollow inside, representing the empty tomb.
May everything that you and your family do during Holy Week be inspired by Christ’s love and sacrifice for us all.
Janelle Peregoy is associate director of the diocese’s Office for Family Life and Spirituality.
