Staying awake with Jesus in Holy Week
Join us for a virtual Vigil at the Altar of Repose, Maundy Thursday into Good Friday (April 2-3, 2026)
Jesus asked his disciples to stay awake while he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane before his arrest
(Matthew 26:41).
They failed - they fell asleep.
As the church grew, the events of Holy Week - Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem, his arrest, trial, crucifixion, and resurrection - became set liturgies of remembrance and participation.
We don’t just remember these saving acts of Jesus and the core activities of the Christian faith - we take part in them. Again and again, as part of our worship and devotion.
We walk through each of the days and events of Holy Week through special worship services:
Maundy (Holy) Thursday: commemoration of the Last Supper, institution of the Eucharist (Holy Communion), washing of feet, stripping of the altar.
Good Friday: Stations of the Cross, 3-hour liturgy (the hours Jesus hung on the cross), preaching the seven ‘last words’ of Jesus, venerating the cross.
The Great Vigil of Easter: lighting the fire of Easter, bringing the Paschal Candle into the church, reading the whole of salvation history from the Bible, the first celebration of the Holy Eucharist in Easter.
Another traditional liturgy during Holy Week is called the ‘Vigil at the Altar of Repose’:
it’s staying awake with Jesus between Maundy Thursday (when we remember and participate in the Last Supper), and Good Friday (the day Jesus died on the cross).
Good Friday is also the one day when the celebration of the Holy Eucharist is not permitted.
Typically, after the Maundy Thursday service, before the altar is stripped, some of the consecrated bread and wine is taken in procession to a side altar, where candles are lit and members of the congregation sit all night in adoration and prayer.
Vigil will be kept.
Those watching and waiting will usually sign up to be there for an hour at a time, all during the night into Good Friday morning (the already consecrated Eucharist will either be distributed at the Good Friday liturgy or reverently consumed at the end of the Vigil).
Not every church has a side altar - or a tradition of keeping Vigil at the Altar of Repose - or enough members to cover all the hours of the night
So here at Trexo, we’ve started the tradition of the virtual Vigil at the Altar of Repose.
Fr. Cathie will lead the Maundy Thursday service at St. Paul’s in Salisbury, NC.
She will then reserve some of the consecrated sacrament and return to her home - and the altar set up there - and stay with it in prayer and adoration all night.
Trexo gym members are invited to join - from 9pm April 2 to 8am April 3 - every hour for about 10-15 minutes.
Fr. Cathie will go live on Substack at each hour (9pm, 10pm, 11pm, etc, all night), with the camera always pointed at the sacrament.
Each Trexo gym member will get an email with a link and an invitation to join that hour (‘livestream at 12pm’, ‘livestream at 1am’, etc), so all you need to do is click that link at the hour it’s labeled as.
(** a practical note: gym members will receive hourly email reminders all night. You can just delete them if you are not interested, but there will be a volume of emails from Trexo over this 24 hour period).
Join for 10-15 minutes of readings, songs, prayers - watching and waiting for Jesus.
Join at any hour, join for every hour. You can join for just one of the live streams, or any number of them.
You can keep awake for as many hours as you like at your own altar or holy space, and let the live stream video be the beginning and/or the end of your own vigil.
Jesus asked his disciples to stay awake with him for one hour.
They couldn’t do it - at least not yet.
But we’re called again to try.
