People are invited to accompany Jesus on his journey to the Cross, mark his death at Calvary on Good Friday, and experience the joy of his resurrection at Easter at Salisbury Cathedral.
Holy Week and Easter at Salisbury Cathedral
More than thirty services will be held across eight days from Palm Sunday to Easter Day including the dramatic and evocative Sarum Tenebrae: A Service of Shadows at 7.30pm on Wednesday 1 April.
This service draws on the traditional processions of the Sarum Rite developed at Old Sarum. The service is lit solely by candles, which are gradually extinguished until a single light remains representing Christ, which is extinguished with a symbolic ‘thunderclap’ echoing the earthquake that followed Jesus’ death.
The Cathedral Choir will premiere a new work of nine liturgical pieces by Piers Kennedy during this service.
Easter Day services begin at 4.30am with the Easter Vigil and Readings, followed at 5.30am by the Easter Liturgy which starts outside for the ‘sun arising in the East’, when a fire will be lit, and a single candle lit from it. The 10.30am service will see the Easter Garden blessed and the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus and the empty tomb.
Services on Easter Day conclude with Festal Evensong at 3pm.
Visitors can also enjoy Easter congregational carols and anthems on Sunday 26 April with the return of Alleluia! Christ is Risen: An Easter Carol Service, with music from Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical Songs, settings of poems by the 17th-century Salisbury poet George Herbert. The preacher will be Canon Professor James Woodward, Principal of Sarum College.
The Revd Anna Macham, Canon Precentor, said:
“The services and events of Holy Week and Easter are at the very centre of our faith, shaping not only the Christian story but the story of humanity itself. In this most sacred week, the Church invites us to step into these moments and allow them to transform us. With a full programme of services, special events, and activities for all ages, both during Holy Week and in the days leading up to it, there are many ways to take part. All are welcome to join us.”
