Holy Week
Holy Week runs from Palm Sunday until Easter.
Holy Thursday (sometimes called Maundy Thursday after the Latin mandatum or command to love one another) commemorates the Christian celebration of the Last Supper of Jesus. In some traditions, members of the community have their feet washed, recalling the Last Supper, when Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. This action is a reminder of the call to love and serve one another, especially the poor.
Holy Thursday also celebrates Jesus' institution of the Eucharist, the remembrance of Jesus through bread and wine. Jesus refers to these in the Gospels as his body and blood, which some Christian communities interpret literally and others symbolically.
Good Friday is a solemn day on which Christians recall the death of Jesus. In some traditions, people spend time meditating before a wooden cross. Some people also make the Stations of the Cross, a devotion that recalls the journey of Jesus on the Via Dolorosa (Way of Sorrows) in Jerusalem to Calvary, where he was crucified. In Jerusalem, the place of Christ's death and resurrection is commemorated inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Many Christians observe these devotions but also see the suffering of Jesus as a reminder to be concerned for the suffering of people in today's world. For many Christians, Good Friday is also a day of fasting and penance.