Holy Week at the Cathedral
Easter celebrates our resurrected life in Jesus, but can we understand resurrection if we don't journey to Golgotha and the grave? Make a commitment to draw nearer to God each day during Holy Week.
Palm Sunday
MARCH 24
Eucharist at 8, 9, and 11 a.m. Our shouts quickly turn from "Hosanna!" to "Crucify!" on the journey to death and resurrection beginning on Palm Sunday.
Crucifixus: Choral Responses to the St. Mark Passion at 7 p.m. The Cathedral Choir offers choral repretoire in response to the Passion of Christ as told by St. Mark.
Monday in Holy Week
MARCH 25
Eucharist at 12:10 and 5:30 p.m. Mary, sister of Lazarus, offered Jesus the best that she had. Whether costly perfume or our commitment to be present at church this week, offer yourself on Monday in Holy Week.
Tuesday in Holy Week
MARCH 26
Blessing of Chrism Service at 12:10 p.m. Bishop Paula Clark invites clergy and lay people of the Diocese of Chicago to a half-day retreat preparing for Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter.
Eucharist at 5:30 p.m. What does Jesus mean when he says that those who love their life lose it? Each day of Holy Week leads to the ultimate act of self-denial and how it can change your life and change the world.
Wednesday in Holy Week
MARCH 27
Eucharist at 12:10 and 5:30 p.m. Betrayed by a beloved friend, Jesus knows the pain of abandonment.
Tenebrae at 7:30 p.m. The progressive extinguishing of candles and sung scripture represent a descent into the darkness of the passion and in anticipation of the resurrected light at the Easter Vigil.
The Triduum
Maundy Thursday
MARCH 27
Eucharist and Foot Washing at 6:30 p.m. There is one day each year called "Maundy" or "mandate." What commandment has the power to transform our lives and change the world? "That you love one another, as I have loved you."
Good Friday
MARCH 29
Liturgy of the Passion at 1:30 p.m. On the cross, we see that love is self-emptying. From the cross, we are judged, and the verdict is forgiveness. Through the cross, God is with us in our suffering.
Choral Meditations on the Seven Last Words at 6:30 p.m. Cathedral Choristers offer a service of Choral Meditations upon the Seven Last Words. These short passages of scripture have framed spiritual and artistic reflection for centuries. Come be transported as these young singers offer music by Hurd, Stanford, Pergolesi, Britten, Gibbons, Bach, and Ireland interspersed with poetry.
Holy Saturday
MARCH 30
Easter Vigil at 8 p.m. Between crucifixion and resurrection is a time of remembrance. At the Easter Vigil, we remember that "in the beginning" we were called into being through love and that in baptism and resurrection we find hope in God's promise that "death no longer has dominion."
Easter feast following
Easter Day
MARCH 31
Eucharist at 8, 9, and 11 a.m. Love is stronger than death! Easter shows that only death will die and that we are called to resurrection life now and into eternity.
Easter Egg Hunt at 10 a.m.
Our Holy Week Preacher
THE REV. DR. STUART HOKE
Born in Memphis, Tennessee, and raised across the Mississippi River in northeast Arkansas, the Rev. Dr. Stuart Hoke is a priest of the Diocese of NC who retired in 2008 as Executive Assistant to the Rector of Trinity Wall Street and Missioner to St. Paul's Chapel at Ground Zero. After graduating from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Dr. Hoke attended the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he received the Master of Divinity degree. Ordained in 1972, Hoke spent the first half of his ministry serving congregations in Arkansas and Texas.
In 1996, Dr. Hoke completed the Master of Sacred Theology degree at New York's General Theological Seminary, and was awarded the Doctor of Theology degree in the spring of 2000. HIs field of study was Ascetical Theology, also known as Christian Spirituality.
In hIs extensive work for the past 37 years in the ministry of recovery, Hoke has been a frequent conference and retreat conductor throughout the Episcopal Church; and has served as an Adjunct Professor at New York's General Seminary where he pioneered two courses on the Church's role in the treatment of alcoholism and addictive illness. He also works with congregations and dioceses where there are issues with impaired clergy.
On 9/11 Hoke was standing underneath the South Tower of the WTC when catastrophe occurred. On that day, and in the week months and years to come, he was integrally involved in the reconciling, recovery, and rebuilding efforts in lower Manhattan.
Stuart now resides in Charlotte, 2 blocks from St. Peter’s Church where he is a “pew sitter” after 51 years of active ministry in the priesthood of the Episcopal Church. And he is 13 minutes away from Granddaughters Millie and Steele.