The Holy Pascha Week

Reference:        Matthew 21-27, Mark 11-15, Luke 19-23, John 12-19

Golden Verse:    "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"  John 1:29

Lesson Goals:  Prepare the students to participate in and benefit from the Church's prayers during the Holy Pascha Week.  Each teacher should tailor the lesson to meet the needs of his (or her) age group.

Lesson Notes & Guidelines:

1. The events of the Holy Week:  Give a summary of the events of the Holy Week (suitable for older children).  For younger children, pick only one event (for example, Palm Sunday or the Last Supper).
• Sunday:  Our Lord entered Jerusalem as a King.  At night He went to Bethany.
• Monday:  On His trip from Bethany to Jerusalem, He cursed the fig tree which was full of leaves but had no fruits (a symbol of the Jewish nation).  Then He entered the temple and drove out those who bought and sold in it.
• Tuesday:  They passed by the fig tree which Christ had cursed, and they saw it dried up from its roots.  When they arrived at the temple, Christ spoke with parables about His Second Coming [the land owner who planted a vineyard (Matthew 21:33-46); the king who arranged a marriage for his son (Matthew 22:1-14); the 10 virgins (Matthew 25:1-13); the talents (Matthew 35:14-46)].  On that night, the chief priests plotted to take Jesus by trickery and kill Him.
• Wednesday:  Christ spend this day Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, where a woman came to Him with an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil and poured it on His head.  Also on this day, Judas Iscariot betrayed Christ; he went to the chief priests and agreed to deliver Him to them for 30 pieces of silver.
• Thursday:  Christ observed Passover, washed the feet of His disciples, and instituted the first Eucharist in the upper room of the house of St. Mark.  At night they went to Gethsemane where Christ prayed until Judas came with the troops to arrest Him.  They took Christ to Caiaphas the high priest.  At the high priest's courtyard, Peter denied Christ three times.
• Friday:  Judas hung himself.  Christ was led to the governor Pontius Pilate, where He was delivered to the Jews to be crucified.  The Jews twisted a crown of thorns, put it on His head, and led Him to Golgotha to be crucified with two robbers.  After they crucified Him at noon, there was darkness over the whole land for three hours, after which He gave up His spirit.  When evening had come, Joseph of Arimathea went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.  He wrapped the body in a clean linen cloth, laid it in his new tomb, and rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb.
2. The rites of the Holy Week (suitable for older children):  Show how we share the suffering of our Lord.
• The general prayer for the departed
• Discuss why we move to the second section of the church (the nave).
• Teach them the Doxology of the Pascha: Thine is the Power, the Glory, the blessings,...  (Ywk te ]jom)
3. In-depth understanding of the relationship between the Last Supper and the Crucifixion:  The sacrament of the Holy Eucharist is the oblation of the bloodless sacrifice by which we share in the sacrifice on the cross.  On the cross, Jesus the Son of God was crucified for the sake of our salvation.  We can also talk about the need for redemption (suitable only for grades 9 and above).