4-11-22 A HOLY WEEK LESSON (LDS)

One of the walls in our family room. 
Rosaries and a silver crucifix
that belonged to Dave's parents.

Yesterday I taught the women's group in our church congregation. I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) and the group was Relief Society. I was raised in the LDS religion. But my husband was raised in the Catholic faith. He was an altar boy and only attended Catholic School up until high school. He was baptized into the LDS faith when he was 22. (That in itself is a marvelous story. In our home we celebrate Christianity, in all its forms, as a desire for discipleship.
I have felt for a long time that we of the LDS faith are generally missing the mark in our Easter celebrations, and by celebrating I mean fully embracing on all emotional levels, not just "partying". The week, known as Holy Week in Christendom, is an opportunity to immerse ourselves in the divine gifts from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

 

I wanted my LDS sisters to be reminded of these holy events this week in their internal preparations for the Sacrament we will take next Sunday, the most holy day of the year, Easter Sunday.

I thought I'd share what I assembled. It was a beautiful opportunity last week, studying and creating, so that what I presented to my sisters spoke what I perceive to be the most notable events leading up to the resurrection of Christ. The process of creating made me feel closer to my Savior, and closer to my sisters at the same time. Hooray for teaching! It makes us better people through the process.

There are many other things we can chose to represent as little tokens of reminder, but these are what I chose and how I assembled them.

I started my lesson by handing out these CHRIST CONCENTRATION cards. Carolyn Pulley played As I Have Loved You while the students concentrated on the picture. Then they closed their eyes and saw Jesus in their heads. (Lots of quiet exclamations came of it.) I reminded them how easily Jesus can fade if we don't keep looking for him over and over.

Stare at the four dots in the middle for 30 sec.
Close your eyes, tip your head back slightly.
Concentrate on the circle of light
that appears as your eyes are closed.

Then I handed out palms and we talked about the HOSANNA SHOUT, used in our former estate, in temple dedications, and at other most holy events. We practiced it, waving our palms, there in the Relief Society Room. We shouted! It was awesome! This represented the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem on the Sunday before his resurrection. The day is known as Palm Sunday, and we reviewed what that meant.

Then we gave each sister a plastic egg, with he following info on a handout. Inside the eggs were tokens of the Holy Week.

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Each of the four Gospels (Matthew/Mark/Luke/John) relate the happenings of the week before Christ’s death and resurrection. The related events come from the perspectives of the writer, and they stand as witnesses to the truthfulness of what happened by their unity and diversity. Note that all these events did not necessarily have their dates and time attached. The marking of a Hebrew day was sundown to sundown, whereas the Greek day was midnight to midnight. The chronology of these events is less important than their meaning.

 

SUNDAY

EVENT:     TRIUMPHAL ENTRY  - Palm Sunday                                               

TOKEN:     PIECE OF PALM FROND                                       

REFERENCES:  Matt 21:1-11 / Luke 19:33-40      *Hosanna Shout

HOLY MONDAY

EVENTS:     CHRIST VISITS TEMPLE – cleanses it   

                     CURSES FIG TREE for not bearing fruit

TOKENS:      TEMPLE at JERUSALEM  & FIG LEAF

REFERENCES:     Mark 11: 15-17 / Luke 19:45-48

                Mark 11:12, 20-24 / Matt 21:18-22

HOLY TUESDAY

EVENT:   AUTHORITIES TRY TO TRICK JESUS 

(they pick at him to get him to condemn himself. In the process He teaches a lot!)

TOKEN:     WOODEN PICK 

REFERENCES:     Mark 11:27-32 &12:1-37/ Luke 20 & 21

SILENT WEDNESDAY

EVENTS:    MARY ANOINTS JESUS WITH OIL 

& JUDAS AGREES TO BETRAY JESUS

             SILENT WEDNESDAY - 

             read about  * Anticipatory Grief

TOKENS:     VIAL OF SPIKENARD OIL & SILVER COIN

REFERENCES:   Mark 14:3-9 / John 12:1-8

Mark 14: 10-11 / Matt 26:14-16

Jesus was not out in public Wednesday

MAUNDY THURSDAY 

(Maundy means “mandate” for new commandment)

EVENTS:     INSTITUTES SACRAMENT

            WASHING OF FEET / NEW COMMANDMENT  

TOKENS:   HEART  &  SACRAMENT CUP                                      

REFERENCES:    John 13:3-17 & 34,35

                Mark 14:22-25 / Matt 26:26-28

GOOD FRIDAY

EVENTS:     GETHSEMANE (after Sundown Thursday)

            CONVICTION & CRUCIFIXION

TOKENS:     atONEment IMAGE & CROSS  

REFERENCES:     Mark 14:32-42 / Luke 22:39-46

                  Mark 15:21-41 / Luke 23:33-49

HOLY SATURDAY

EVENT:     VISITS SPIRIT PRISON - FREES BOUND SPIRITS   

TOKEN:     CHAIN 

REFERENCES:     Luke 23:43 & * Talk by Spencer Condie

 

EASTER SUNDAY

EVENTS:  THE STONE IS ROLLED AWAY

           HE IS NOT HERE for HE IS RISEN                                              

TOKENS:  SMALL STONE  & STRIP of LINEN  

REFERENCES: Mark 16:1-4 / John 20:1

                  Luke 24:12 / John 20:2-7

NEW WEEK

EVENT:  CHRIST VISITS DISCIPLES & OTHERS

TOKEN:    AIR    

REFERENCES:     John 20:19-22

"Receive the Holy Spirit!" Christ bestows the Holy Ghost and gives authority to his apostles to act in his stead.

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THE HOSANNA SHOUT

The Encyclopedia of Mormonism states: 

When the ordinance of the washing of feet was introduced at Kirtland, shouts of hosanna were viewed as a sealing benediction on both private and quorum prayer and then on the dedicatory prayer.

The Hosanna Shout is whole-souled, given to the full limit of one's strength. The congregation stands and in unison shouts the words "Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna to God and the Lamb. Amen, Amen, and Amen," repeating them three times. This is usually accompanied by the rhythmic waving of white handkerchiefs with uplifted hands. The epithet "Lamb" relates to the condescension and Atonement of Jesus Christ.

The Hosanna Shout memorializes the pre-earthly Council in Heaven, as "when … all the sons of God shouted for joy" (Job 38:7). It also recalls the hosannas and the waving of palm branches accorded the Messiah as he entered Jerusalem. And hosannas welcomed him as he appeared to the Nephites. [LDS Church] President Lorenzo Snow taught that this shout will herald the Messiah when he comes in the glory of the Father (cf. 1 Thes. 4:16).

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What Jesus and his family might have felt on Holy Wednesday.

* THE SAVIOR’S VISIT TO THE SPIRIT WORLD by Spencer Condie    Ensign article August 2003

What Jesus' immortal spirit did after His death and before His Resurrection is a mystery to all but the Latter-day Saints. And the significance of what He did during those hours provides the doctrinal foundation for building temples across the earth. Furthermore, a testimony of what He did can greatly console those who mourn the death of a loved one. 

He refers to Peter 3:19..."By which he [Jesus Christ] went and preached unto the spirits in prison. "

The wondrous benefits to the obedient because of the Savior’s visit to the spirit world were seen in vision by President Joseph F. Smith (1838–1918). He saw the spirit world just before the Savior’s arrival there. The obedient spirits “were gathered together in one place” and “filled with joy and gladness, … rejoicing together because the day of their deliverance was at hand” (D&C 138:12, 15).

The Savior appeared to them and declared that the day of their glorious resurrection had come. He spoke to them of “the everlasting gospel, the doctrine of the resurrection and the redemption of mankind from the fall, and from individual sins on conditions of repentance” (D&C 138:19).

Among those gathered were Adam and Eve, Noah, and Abraham. Book of Mormon prophets also mingled in the assembly. “These the Lord taught, and gave them power to come forth, after his resurrection from the dead, to enter into his Father’s kingdom” (D&C 138:51).

President Joseph F. Smith wondered how the Savior could have preached to all the people in the spirit world in the short time between His death and Resurrection. But President Smith perceived that “unto the wicked he did not go, and among the ungodly and the unrepentant … , his voice was not raised. …

“But behold, from among the righteous, he organized his forces and appointed messengers … [to] proclaim liberty to the captives who were bound, even unto all who would repent of their sins and receive the gospel.

“Thus was the gospel preached to those who had died in their sins, without a knowledge of the truth, or in transgression, having rejected the prophets” (D&C 138:20, 30–32)

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Images I made and printed on cardstock small enough to fit in the egg:. Copy the image, reduce the size, copy and paste it multiple times and print, then cut.

I wanted to show that he chose to attend the temple,
but when he got there he passionately addressed
those who were defiling His house.

I could not think of a token to represent the complexity
and divine gift given in Gethsemane, so I made this.

WHERE I GOT THE OTHER ITEMS FOR OUR HOLY WEEK EGGS:

EGGS: I got large plastic eggs at Hobby Lobby (any craft store)

FRESH PALM FRONDS: I ordered fresh palm fronds from a Catholic Supply store, or you can order them online. I like to support local small businesses, and you'll save on shipping, so call a few weeks ahead of Palm Sunday. They cost about $20 for 100. Cut the frond in 1" pieces for inside the eggs. We also gave each person in our class a whole palm frond, which we used to experience the Hosanna Shout (Be sure to SHOUT as you wave your palms.) We also gave palm fronds to the Primary kids to use, and the Young Women. We took all these hand-outs and eggs to sisters who teach in Primary and YW, because they are part of Relief Society, too, and we love them and want them to feel included. If you do not get real palms print a picture of one.

FIG LEAVES: I just used small silk leaves that look similar to fig leaves. (Fig leaves are too big) I got mine at Hobby Lobby.

WOODEN PICKS: I used double pronged toothpicks or appetizer picks and cut them in half so they would fit in the egg.

VIALS & SPIKENARD OIL: I found tiny glass vials at Hobby Lobby that were filled with glitter. I dumped the glitter, cleaned the bottles, added a small piece of cotton and dropped a few drops of Nard oil in it. It's a many-hours-long story about how I got the oil, and vials for that matter. I found the vials in the jewelry section of Hobby Lobby, a pack of 40+ tiny vials. They have empty vials a little larger that are good, but cost more. I was making 80 of these eggs and they can get really costly. I ordered Spikenard oil on Amazon for something like $10. It didn't come one time. Doterra sells it for about $90 a small bottle, but I didn't need that quality. I'll write later this week about that whole story. Dilute the spikenard with coconut oil, it will go further.

COINS: Dimes from the change jar in my closet.

HEART: I bought jeweled hearts from Hobby Lobby jewelry section.

SACRAMENT CUPS: I had some left over from our pandemic sacrament set stuff. You can get them at the Church Distribution Center or order from Amazon (Sacrament of Communion cups). If you live close, I have a few.

CROSS: Again, Hobby Lobby kids section has nice little colored wooden crosses. Also smaller crosses in jewelry section. You can also use small nails as a token to represent the crucifixion.

CHAIN: I used 3" sections of bronze chain. I bought a spool in the jewelry section of Hobby Lobby and cut them.

STONE: I bought small polished rocks at Hobby Lobby. If you're only making a few, go find a Little Rock outside.

LINEN: I cut white fabric in strips about 1/2" wide and 10" long. Rolled them around a pencil, used a teeny clear rubber band to hold it together ad slipped it off the pencil. This represents the linen used to wrap Jesus for burial. If you're only making a few tie it with a thin piece of the same cloth, it looks more authentic.

Remember to print out the TEMPLE and GETHSEMANE tokens.

I printed the info above, TOKENS OF THE HOLY WEEK, and on the back I printed the excerpt from Elder Condie about the Spirit World, as well as the memes about ANTICIPATORY GRIEF. I also printed the JESUS CONCENTRATION PICTURE and HOSANNA SHOUT info on postcards.  I wrapped the Tokens paper around  palm frond, gave each student an egg, and the JESUS CONCENTRATION handout and HOSANNA SHOUT handout. It makes a mice little Holy Week packet.

I didn't take many pictures, but here's what I have:

Front of handout. 

Back of handout.
 I wrapped this around palm fronds
and tied with a ribbon.

Lining things up.

Linen strips.

Have people wrap the cloth around their own flesh.
 Tactile learning is powerful.

Adding Spikenard oil to the tiny vials.
I diluted the potent spikenard with a carrier oil (coconut)
Spikenard has a woody, earthy aroma.

The picks we cut in half for Holy Tuesday.

For a bit of comic relief I used the stems from
 the pseudo-fig leaves to represent the
withered fig tree.

 

Palm fronds

...wrapped with the paper explaining the tokens.

My sisters Libby and Ann Marie spent
 hours helping me assemble.
Dave was out of town last week.
Hooray for sisters and friends!

DISCLAIMER: I am NOT a sciptorian or Bible scholar. If something here is incorrect, please let me know. This is just an attempt to give from the heart.