HOLY WEEK AND EASTER

Journey home this Holy Week to Historic Trinity Lutheran Church for the Downtown Lutheran Holy Week Services. The finest quality in preaching, liturgy, and music will be presented at Historic Trinity, during these holy days. Secure and lighted parking is available. Historic Trinity is pleased to serve your spiritual needs.

PALM SUNDAY - March 28, 2010

Since the early days of the Christian Church, the palm blessed at Worship Services on Palm Sunday are carried home by the faithful as a symbol of Christ's presence among them. Before Ash Wednesday, the blessed palm is burned and its residue is used in the distribution of ashes as a symbol of penance during Lent. On Palm Sunday, March 28, 2010, there will be the Procession and a Blessing of the Palms, in each of the three Worship Services. The Sunday School children, each carrying palms, will lead the Procession from Eastern Market (weather permitting) into the church at 9:30 a.m. and they will sing at the beginning of the Worship Service. Each person present at any of the three Worship Services, will receive a blessed palm to take home.

MAUNDY THURSDAY - April 1, 2010

12:00 Noon Holy Communion
Preaching: Rev. Rev. Gary Headapohl

7:00 p.m. Holy Communion
Preaching: Rev. Dr. Kieth Gerberding

GOOD FRIDAY - April 2, 2010

Three Consecutive Good Friday Worship Services

12:00 Noon: The Rev. Dr. David Eberhard
12:45 p.m.: Rev. Dr. John Heins
1:30 p.m.: Rev. Ronald Guettler
2:15 p.m. The Symbolic Sealing of the Tomb of Christ

All Midday Services: The Lutheran Choralaires

Tenebrae Service 7:00 p.m.

An inspirational candlelight worship service built upon the Seven Words of the Cross. The Pastors of the Historic Trinity Cathedral Ministry will be speaking on each of the Seven Words. Music presentations by the Historic Trinity Adult Choir and Karl Osterland, Organist.

Come celebrate the Festival of the Resurrection this Easter Sunday, April 4, 2010, at Historic Trinity Lutheran Church. Sing "Alleluia, He Is Risen" in this spectacular cathedral church, decorated with many Easter lily plants. Join in with the triumphant refrains of the Baseline Brass and powerful singing of the Historic Trinity Choir. Hear the Easter message proclaimed by The Rev. Dr. David Eberhard, Pastor of Historic Trinity Lutheran Church. At the tolling of the bells, remember those who have gone to the Church Triumphant, since last Easter. Bring the children for the Easter egg hunt.

7:25 A.M. The Symbolic Unsealing of the Tomb

7:30 A.M. Easter Sunrise Communion Service

8:00 A.M. Easter Breakfast (free will offering) served till 11:00 A.M.

9:00 A.M. Easter Family Communion Service

10:30 A.M. Family Easter Egg Hunt

11:00 A.M. Easter Festival Communion Service

12:15 P.M. Family Easter Egg Hunt

Easter Processional Cross

Following the Holy Saturday Vigil Service, the Processional Crucifix, made in the 1700's and used in our second church build in 1866, is removed. During the Easter Season, the Memorial Processional Cross is used, which symbolizes the empty cross, "For He Is Risen." The Memorial Processional Cross is used in all worship services from Easter Sunday until Ascension Day, and is used during the Lutheran Veterans Worship Service. The cross was given, by Rev. Arthur Kreinheder, in memory of those service men of Historic Trinity who were killed in action in World War II. They were Arnold Stowszkop (North Carolina), Clarence Hohl and Harold Hartmann (Philippines), Robert Mann (Germany), and Thomas Klix and Gunther Pollack (Pacific). The name of James Ellison Scott, a member of Historic Trinity who was killed in action in the Vietnam War, has been added to the Memorial Processional Cross.

Coronation Paraments

The Coronation Paraments and vestments are used on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Easter Sunday, and each Funeral Service, here, at Historic Trinity Lutheran Church. They symbolize our union in birth and death with the King of Kings, Jesus Christ.

Historic Trinity Altar with the coronation paraments and communion vessels for Easter Sunday and the Paschal Candle and Easter lilies surrounding it. Dr. Eberhard is also wearing coronation vestments. Move your mouse over the image to see it change.

The Easter Lily The sweet white Candidum Lily (Easter Lily), found wild in what is now Palestine, Asia Minor, and Syria, was cherished for its food and medicinal value by ancient nomadic tribes of the Near East. The lily has had sacred and royal associations throughout history, beginning with the Aegean civilization 3000 B.C. when the lily was associated with the Creatan goddess of fertility Diktyma. Greek, Roman, and Egyptian civilizations all associated the lily with fruitfulness and fertility. A lily bulb was found in an Egyptian mummy case now in a museum in Paris. The Advent of Christianity brought a new importance to the Candidum Lily, for it became the symbol of the Virgin Mary. In the catacombs of Rome, the laity was often carved on tombs. The white Madonna Lily (Luilium candidum) was considered the special flower of the Holy Virgin, and during the Middle Ages it was almost always found in paintings of the Virgin Mary. In Christianity, the lily represents purity, chastity and innocence, and is the symbol of the Resurrection and Easter because it flowers from what seems as a lifeless bulb. The lily was carried from the Near East to southern Europe, from there, over the Alps into northern Europe, and from England and Holland to the New World of America.

Paschal Candle Since the 5th Century, the Paschal Candle has been used in the Church from Easter Sunday to Ascension Day. The Paschal Candle is lit for all Worship Services, during these 40 days, as a symbol of the Resurrection. The rest of the year the candle stands beside the Baptismal Font. The Paschal Candle is lit for each Baptism, and placed by the casket of each Burial, reminding us we are baptized and buried into Christ our Risen Lord. Paschal means "pertaining to the Passover," or in the Christian Church "Easter."

Easter Tree Cross The large Tree Cross, in the front of the church, is made from the trunk of a Christmas Tree that was used here at Historic Trinity during the Christmas Season. This worship aid, helps to demonstrate to us that Jesus Christ the Son of God, who's birth we celebrated at Christmas, came into the world and took on the form of the Son of Man, that He might lay down His life upon the Cross, as the Lamb of God, in payment for the sins of all persons. Mary His Mother, and the Risen Christ, are represented by the two figures who are standing before the empty cross.