Holy Week

OBJECTIVE

The Week of Holy Pascha (or Holy Week) is the most important week in the Coptic Orthodox calendar. During this very special week, we remember and focus on Jesus' great love for us His love for us reaches so high and wide and deep, even to die on the Cross for our sins. Pascha means "Passover." It comes from the Old Testament, when God saved Moses and the people of God from the Angel of Death as he "passed over" the doors of their house. Like the Angel, our Lord Jesus Christ passes over our sins, and saves us from slavery of sin. Not only does Christ forgive our mistakes, but He also opens the doors of Heaven for us

INTRODUCTION & HOOK - 5 Minutes

Option One: Find the Differences

Open Hook, Option One and show the students the photo of the church during Pascha week. Have them find three major differences between what the church looks like on an annual Sunday compared to Pascha. Encourage participation with praise and compliments. Direct them to notice the black banners, the crucifixion in the front of the altar, the closed altar curtain, and the deacons on the lower level of the church.

Option Two: Road Map through Pascha

Open Hook, Option Two and show the students the road map of Holy Week. Read each landmark on the map in chronological order and call on students to tell you what they remember of each story.

Option Three: Sing "Thok Te Ti Gom"

Sing the hymn together as a class. Explain how we sing this hymn in praise of our Lord Jesus Christ throughout Pascha week.

HOLY SCRIPTURE - 5 Minutes

Memory Verse: "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live." (John 11:25)

CONTENT (KEY POINTS) - 15 Minutes

Wednesday Night of Pascha Week

Judas Iscariot was one of the twelve disciples who followed Jesus, but on Holy Wednesday he committed a terrible sin. His love for money made him betray our Lord Jesus Christ. To betray means to break a friendship or promise. He spoke with the chief priests and agreed to betray his Lord to them for thirty pieces of silver (Luke 22:1-6). The same day, while Jesus was at the house of Simon in Bethany, a woman came to Jesus with a jar of an expensive perfume and anointed His head (St. Matthew 26:3-16).

This day gives us two people who treated Jesus very differently. Judas Iscariot was Jesus' disciple and friend, but because he had the sin of loving money in his heart, Judas betrayed Jesus. On the other hand, this unnamed woman used her money to buy expensive perfume to pour on Jesus' head. We pray to be like that woman and use all our talents to pour the love and kindness that Jesus has shown us back to Him and everyone we meet.

Thursday of Pascha Week

On Thursday, Jesus attends the traditional Feast of Passover in Jerusalem with His disciples. Our tradition tells us that Peter and John prepared the meal for them in the upper room of St. Mark's house. To show His disciples the importance of service in their leaders, Jesus Christ took a towel and a large bowl of water and began to wash the feet of each of His disciples.

Afterwards, Jesus shared the very first communion with His disciples. This is when our Lord taught us how to pray the Liturgy and share in holy communion, the Holy Body and Precious Blood of our Savior Jesus Christ. "And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, 'Take, eat; this is My body.' Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, 'Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.'" (St. Matthew 26:26-28)

That night, the eve of Friday, Jesus went with His disciples to the garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives. There He prayed for many hours for Himself, His disciples, and He even prayed for us Around midnight, Judas Iscariot came to the garden with many soldiers and weapons to arrest Jesus. Judas had told the soldiers, "Whomever I kiss, He is the One". So Judas betrayed his Lord with a kiss and Jesus was arrested. (St. Mark 14:43-46)

Friday of Pascha Week

Early on Friday morning, Jesus was put on trial several times before the chief priests, Pontius Pilate, and Herod Antipas. Of course, Jesus did nothing wrong and no one could say anything true that was bad, so they lied. Our Lord and Savior was ready to die for us, so He allowed the soldiers to tie Him up and take Him from place to place. Jesus answered Pilate, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here." (St. John 18:36).

Neither Herod or Pilate wanted to sentence Him to death, but the Jewish people shouted, "Crucify Him" (Luke 23:21) Pilate washed his hands, saying, "I am innocent of the blood of this just Person You see to it" (Matthew 27:24). Our Lord Jesus Christ allowed all of this because He loves us and He wanted to take this punishment away from us. Only Christ can conquer and be victorious over death, so He lovingly took away our own punishment and suffered Himself.

Around noon (the Sixth Hour) on Friday, Jesus carried His Cross, with the help of a man named Simon the Cyrene, out of Jerusalem and up a hill called Golgotha. They removed His clothes again, dividing it between the soldiers and making bets for His robe. Then they nailed Him to the Cross and put a sign on it that said, "King of the Jews" in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. They rose the Cross up on the hill, with two criminals, one on His right and the other on His left. (St. John 19:13-27)

In the Twelfth Hour (about 6:00pm or sunset), we sing a beautiful verse from Psalms 45:6, "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom." This verse reminds us again that this earth is only for a short while and that Heaven is our forever home with Jesus. When Jesus died on the Cross, He opened the gates of Heaven and welcomes us home again. Jesus is buried in a tomb with the help of His friends, Joseph of Arimathaea and Nicodemus. (John 19:38-42) But He will only be in the tomb for three days. On Sunday is the Resurrection, when Jesus Christ shows us He is alive again

DISCUSSION (Challenge) - 10 Minutes

Open the Discussion Icon and show the students. This icon is full of story elements and symbols, encourage the children to share their observations and thoughts. Some things to guide them to see:

• St Mary and the women of the ministry followed our Lord Jesus Christ to the cross
• St John the Beloved was the only disciple to follow our Lord to the cross
• St John raises incense, in reference to our Lord's death as an aroma to God
• The soldiers on the left hand corner are gambling for his robe, just like prophesied
• The centurion on the right hand corner acknowledges that our Lord is the Son of God
• Two soldiers around our Lord, one offering vinegar and the other pierced His side
• The right hand thief wears white to show his salvation
• The left hand thief wears green to show his sin
• The Old Testament fathers and mothers rejoice in God's salvation in the Resurrection
• The sun and moon above the wall go dark during the crucifixion
• The angels mourn for the suffering of our Savior

LIFE APPLICATION - 5 Minutes

During the Holy Pascha Week, we simultaneously see in front of us the suffering Christ, as well as the Powerful Christ. In human terms, suffering and power are contradictory states, since the suffering person is in a state of weakness. As for Christ, the incarnate God, He suffered while He was in a state of power.

Our ways will not always match the ways of the world. Where the world sees weakness or gullibility, we see faith and power in the Cross. Let us always keep our eyes on the cross and not on the world around us.

ACTIVITY - 10 Minutes

Option One: Coloring Page

Distribute copies of the Coloring Page attachment to each student. Have them write their names on their papers. Encourage them to color their paper and take it home to review the memory verse at home.

Option Two: Pascha Coloring Guide

Distribute copies of the Pascha Coloring Guide attachment to each student. Have them write their names on their papers. Encourage them to color their paper and take it home to review the events of Pascha week at home.

Option Three: Matching Game

Distribute the two separate sheets of the Matching Worksheet to each student. Have them color and cut out the six squares on the second sheet. Next, have the students glue the squares in the correct order on the Pascha Week table. Make sure they write their names on their page so they can take it home to practice their memory verse.

Option Four: Band-Aid Cross

Material: construction paper, scissors, glue, 2 band-aids per students, markers

1. Have the students draw and cut out two hearts, make sure one is smaller than the other. An easy way to do this is fold the paper in half and draw half of a heart. Then cut out and open to find that it's symmetrical.
2. Glue the two hearts together. Label with the words: "Jesus Heals" or "Our Lord Saves".
3. Place the two band-aids in the shape of a cross on the inner heart. Discuss how our Lord used His suffering to save us from our sins.
4. Optional: discuss things that our Lord saves us from, for example loneliness, being afraid, anger, etc. and write those things on the heart. Another option: write the memory verse or part of it, "I am the resurrection and the life" along the bottom.

SERVANT RESOURCES

• Essay on Our Suffering Christ is the Powerful Christ, on LACopts.org
• Hymn Lyrics and Audio for "Thok Ta Ti Gom", on Tasbeha.org
• Coloring Book on Amazon
• Lecture on Holy Week, by Pope Shenouda III, on youtube.com (Arabic, with English Subtitles)

PARENTS CORNER/HOMEWORK

During the journey of Holy Pascha Week, we praise our suffering Christ and glorify our powerful Christ saying, "Thine is the power, the glory, the blessing, the majesty forever." Practice singing "Thok Te Ti Gom" with your child throughout the week. Try to attend as many Pascha services as possible, as a family.

LESSON ATTACHMENTS