All are invited and very much encouraged to attend services throughout this period — it is a real high point of the Christian calendar.
Don’t miss our Lenten Reflection Series, which will be given on Tuesdays in Lent, guiding us through this powerful season of preparation and remembrance.
Easter is at the heart of the Christian faith because it celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the foundation of Christian hope, and the promise of eternal life. Through His victory over death, Jesus offers redemption and reconciliation with God, making His resurrection the defining event in Christianity. It affirms the truth that, through Him, death is defeated and new life is made possible for all who believe.
This year, Easter Sunday falls on 20 April. The date of Easter is determined as the first Sunday after the full Moon that occurs on or after the Spring equinox, 21 March. Easter Sunday can therefore fall anywhere between 22 March and 25 April on a given year. Using this date, all the other significant days in the lead up to Easter are determined (See diagram).
The journey to Easter begins with Lent. Lent is a season of reflection, penance, and preparation, lasting for 40 days—including but not counting Sundays—before the joyous celebration of Easter. It begins on Ash Wednesday and invites us to deepen our spiritual lives through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.
Holy Week, the culmination of our Lenten journey, takes us through the final days of Jesus’s life on earth. We begin with Palm Sunday, marking His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The Chrism Eucharist, traditionally held on Holy Thursday, includes the blessing of the oils and the renewal of commitment to ministry, a sacred moment where clergy and the faithful alike recommit to their service in the Church.
The final three days before Easter are known as the Triduum (in Latin,’three days’) which mark the culmination of our reflection as we journey with Jesus through His passion, death, and resurrection. On Maundy Thursday, we remember the Last Supper, Jesus’s institution of the Eucharist, and His new commandment to love one another. Good Friday takes us to the foot of the cross, where we reflect on His passion and death. Finally, we celebrate His glorious resurrection in the darkness of Easter Night (Holy Saturday) and on Easter Sunday, the pinnacle of our faith.
All are invited and very much encouraged to attend services throughout this period — it is a real high point of the Christian calendar.
Ash Wednesday, 5 March
Lenten Reflections: Pilgrimage
This Lent, we invite you to join us for a reflective and enriching series of talks exploring the theme of Pilgrimage. These sessions will take place on Tuesdays after Evensong, beginning on Shrove Tuesday (Tuesday 4 March) and concluding just before Holy Week (Tuesday 8 April), providing a perfect opportunity to deepen your spiritual journey during this sacred season. Find out more here.
It is customary at the Cathedral to have a guest preacher throughout Holy Week, as we journey from Christ’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem to his death on the Cross and joyful Resurrection. Our preacher for Holy Week this year will be the Venerable Jonathan Smith, Archdeacon Emeritus of St Albans.
Jonathan will preach at the services marked with an asterisk (*), which include the Passiontide Meditation on Palm Sunday, Evensong on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of Holy Week, The Liturgy of the Last Supper on Maundy Thursday, and Choral Evensong on Easter Sunday. All are warmly invited to attend.
Palm Sunday, 13 April
Monday of Holy Week, 14 April
Tuesday of Holy Week, 15 April
Wednesday of Holy Week, 16 April
Maundy Thursday, 17 April
Good Friday, 18 April
Holy Saturday, 19 April
Easter Day, 20 April