While we’re in the penitential season of Lent, we are preparing for Easter. The most important week of the year is “Holy Week,” where we retell the passion and resurrection of Jesus. At All Saints’ we’re having services at each major event of the week and we hope you will join us for some or all of them!

Palm Sunday - March 29, 10:30am

We celebrate Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. We start outside waving palm branches and march into the church in a loud procession saying “Hosanna in the Highest!” We also read the Passion narrative in an exciting and dramatic fashion where each character in the story is assigned to a different reader.

The Easter Triduum

The “Three Days” of Holy Week: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and The Great Vigil of Easter are considered one continuous worship service. Through special liturgies and music, we retrace Jesus’ footsteps: the Last Supper, his Passion, his crucifixion, the waiting in the tomb, and his resurrection on Easter morning. It is a dramatic transformation from the darkest moments of Jesus’ life, the entering of light, and the blazing light of eternal life through Jesus’ resurrection.

There are no benedictions or dismissals between each evening, and we enter and leave in silent reverence. It is best experienced by attending all three services in a row. We hope you will join us for this intensely spiritual experience!

Maundy Thursday - April 2, 6pm

Join us to commemorate the two maundys (maundy = commandment) of the Lord, to "love one another" and to break bread “in remembrance of me.”  We start the evening in the parish hall for an Agape meal—a liturgy that includes a light supper and Eucharist. We then move to the Sanctuary for the Ceremony of Foot (or hand) Washing, representing service and discipleship. At the end is a solemn recitation of Psalm 22 “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” while the altar is stripped of it’s vestments and decorations. It reveals the bare wood of the altar, not unlike the bare wood cross which functioned as an altar for the Lamb of God.

Good Friday - April 3, 7pm

This is probably the darkest service of the year. We commemorate Jesus’ death on the cross and his entombment by reciting the Stations of the Cross. Each moment in the passion narrative is paired with a prayer and verse from a Good Friday hymn such as “O Sacred Head, Sore Wounded” and “Were You There?” The choir sings the Latin anthem Ecce, quomodo moritur in an unbroken 400 year-old tradition.

​​The Great Vigil of Easter - April 4, 7pm

The final service in the Easter Triduum is organized around primal experiences of fire, word, water, and table. It is the most daring, dramatic, and theologically expansive liturgy of the year. It is not simply a service about joyfully proclaiming resurrection; it is an embodied journey from death into life, incorporating all the senses.

It starts with the procession of the light and the Paschal Candle into the church using 1,000 year-old chants. As a counterpoint to the Christmas Season’s Lessons and Carols service, the Vigil is a collection of readings and special music to meditate on God’s actions in the world. Then we celebrate the first Eucharist of Eastertide with joy.

Grace Episcopal Church of Ossining will join us at All Saints’ along with members of other local Westchester County parishes. This unique experience is a must-see!

Easter Sunday - April 5, 10:30am

​We celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus and his triumph over death. It is a huge contrast with the preceding Lent season with endless joy and praise. We will “pull out all the stops” with special music and brass players, classic hymns (Jesus Christ is Ris'n Today, The Strife is O'er), an African Easter hymn, and more modern selections (Because He Lives). Be sure to receive your Easter Lily!
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On Easter Sunday, we will also have an extended coffee hour to have fellowship together.

​Easter Egg Hunt - April 5, 12:30pm

In a special treat for the kids, we are also having an Easter Egg Hunt after the Easter Sunday service! Our little Saints can collect as many of the over 1,500 Easter Eggs on the church grounds, each filled with treats. Search for the rare golden eggs with special prizes! Photo ops with a special guest, the Easter Bunny, will also be available. Can you imagine the fun?!