The Maronite Holy Week (Hasho, the Great Week)
The Maronite Holy Week, called Hasho (the Week of Suffering) or Usbu al-Alam in Arabic, is the crown of the Maronite year. At its heart lies Sabt al-Noor, the Saturday of Light, when the Church stands between the tomb and the empty tomb and lifts the first flame of the Resurrection.
It is the culmination of the forty days of the Great Lent, and the ancient Syriac chants of these seven days carry a weight no other week in the calendar can match. What follows is a walk through the Maronite Great Week, from the palm branches of Hosanna Sunday to the paschal fire of Sabt al-Noor.
The Great Week in the Maronite Calendar
Where Hasho sits in the year
Holy Week arrives at the close of the Soum al-Kabir, the Great Lent, which begins on Ash Monday and runs forty days to Lazarus Saturday and Hosanna Sunday. The Maronite Church, in communion with Rome, follows the Gregorian date of Easter. In 2027, the Great Week will run from Hosanna Sunday on March 21 to the Great Sunday of the Resurrection on March 28.
The week takes its name in Syriac and Arabic from suffering: Hasho, Usbu al-Alam. Yet the Maronite mind holds the whole span in one gaze. Passion and Resurrection are not separated. Every night of Holy Week already leans toward the light of Sabt al-Noor.
The seven-day arc
The days unfold in a fixed order: Hosanna Sunday, then Holy Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday with the nightly Rites of Signing, then Holy Thursday of the Mysteries, Good Friday of Sorrows, Great Saturday of Light, and the Great Sunday of the Resurrection. Each day carries its own name, its own chant, and its own gesture.
For the full shape of the year around this week, see our guide to the Maronite liturgical calendar.
Hosanna Sunday (Sha'aneen)
Palms, olive branches, and children in white
Hosanna Sunday, called Ahad al-Sha'aneen, opens the Great Week. Parishes bless palm fronds and small olive branches, and in Lebanon and across the diaspora children process through the church in white garments, carrying candles and palms. Newborns are often dressed for their first church procession on this day, and the elderly bless the youngest with a hand on the head.
The blessing of the palms
The rite of the palms in the Maronite tradition includes a solemn blessing at the start of the Divine Liturgy, followed by a procession that circles the interior of the church. The chants are ancient, and in many parishes they are sung in Syriac, Arabic, and the local language of the diaspora in turn.
Where the Roman rite reads the full Passion narrative on this day, the Maronite tradition tends to keep Hosanna Sunday as a day of pure hosanna and welcome. The Passion enters the liturgy in the nights that follow, through the Rites of Signing.
Holy Monday to Wednesday: The Rites of Signing (Taqs al-Sharh)
Nightly Pshitto services
On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday evenings of the Great Week, Maronite parishes traditionally celebrate Taqs al-Sharh, the Rites of Signing, sometimes called the Pshitto services from the Syriac. The name gathers a family of Passion meditations that walk the faithful through the last days of Christ before his arrest.
These are not full liturgies. They are contemplative services of chant, Scripture, and silent prayer. The faithful come after work, and the churches are lit only in part.
The twelve signs
The tradition speaks of twelve signs or moments drawn from the Passion narratives: the anointing at Bethany, the plot of the priests, the washing of the feet, the betrayal, the arrest, the trials, the mockery, the road to Golgotha, the crucifixion, the death, and the burial. The exact list varies by parish and by liturgical book, and in some places the meditations fold into the Thursday and Friday rites rather than spread across the three earlier nights.
What is constant is the intent. These nights are meant to slow the heart, to let the Passion arrive not as a story rushed through but as a series of stations the soul actually walks.
Holy Wednesday and the Rite of the Lamp
In some parishes, especially in Lebanon, Holy Wednesday also carries the Rite of the Lamp (Taqs al-Sirage), an ancient service of anointing with blessed oil. The faithful come forward for the anointing of forehead, hands, and heart, in preparation for the Passion of the coming days. The practice is not universal across all Maronite communities, but where it survives, it belongs to the older Syriac patrimony the Church shares with her Antiochene neighbors.
Holy Thursday: Khamis al-Asrar
Thursday of the Mysteries
Holy Thursday in the Maronite Church is called Khamis al-Asrar, the Thursday of the Mysteries, or in some communities Khamis al-Ghasl, the Thursday of the Washing. It is the day the Church remembers the Last Supper, the institution of the Eucharist, and the washing of the disciples' feet.
The Washing of the Feet (Ghusl al-Arjul)
Every Maronite parish that can, celebrates the Ghusl al-Arjul, the ritual washing of the feet, during the Holy Thursday liturgy. The priest or bishop kneels before twelve of the faithful, often young men and boys, and washes their feet in silence broken only by chant. In monastic communities the abbot washes the feet of the monks. The gesture is Christ's own gesture, kept fresh year after year.
The Anaphora of the Twelve Apostles
The Maronite Qurbono on Holy Thursday is traditionally celebrated with the Anaphora of the Twelve Apostles, one of the oldest Eucharistic prayers in continuous use in Christendom and a close relative of the shape the Roman Canon later took. To hear it prayed on the very night of the Last Supper is to stand very close to the beginning.
The stripping of the altar
After the Liturgy, the altar is stripped. Linens, candles, and vessels are carried away. The sanctuary is left bare through the night, and in many parishes the faithful keep a watch of silent prayer before the reserved Eucharist, echoing the vigil of Gethsemane.
Good Friday: Jumu'a al-Alam
The day of sorrows
Good Friday is Jumu'a al-Alam, the Friday of Sorrows, or al-Jumu'a al-Azima, the Great Friday. There is no Divine Liturgy on this day. The Church stands with the crucified Christ.
The Adoration of the Cross
The morning or midday service centers on the Rite of the Adoration of the Cross. A large cross is brought in procession, unveiled in stages, and set before the faithful for veneration. In many parishes the cross is laid flat, and the faithful come forward one by one to kiss the wood and to leave a small flower or a folded prayer at its foot.
The Rite of the Burial (Taqs al-Dafn)
In the evening, Maronite parishes celebrate the Taqs al-Dafn, the Rite of the Burial of the Lord. A cloth image of the crucified Christ, or in some parishes a small statue, is placed on a bier of flowers. The bier is carried through the church in procession, and often through the streets outside, with the faithful walking behind in silence broken by chant and bells.
The great hymn of this rite is Shubho Lo'yad, the Syriac lament that carries the Church into the darkness of the tomb. It is one of the oldest hymns in continuous Maronite use, and even those who have not sung Syriac in decades find that the melody rises unbidden.
The strict fast
Good Friday is kept as a strict fast: no meat, no dairy, minimal food. In the older Lebanese custom, water alone was taken until sunset. Households that cannot keep the full water-only fast often keep a lighter version, avoiding solid meals until the evening service.
Great Saturday: Sabt al-Noor
The Saturday of Light
Between the silence of Good Friday and the joy of Easter stands Sabt al-Noor, the Saturday of Light. It is one of the most beloved days of the Maronite year, and in Lebanon its observance blends church and household in a single flame.
The Light Ceremony
At the heart of Sabt al-Noor is the Light Ceremony. In the darkened church, a single flame is kindled and the priest carries it forward, chanting the announcement of the Resurrection. The flame is passed candle to candle among the faithful, until the whole church is bright. In Lebanon, some parishes still process this light out to the village square, where families are waiting with candles and lanterns to carry the flame home.
The Rite of the Peace
In many communities the Sabt al-Noor liturgy includes an extended Rite of the Peace, in which the faithful exchange the greeting al-Masih qam: Christ is risen. And the reply haqqan qam: truly, he is risen. The exchange traditionally moves across pews and across generations, until every person in the church has been greeted.
Breaking the fast
Sabt al-Noor is also the traditional evening for breaking the Great Fast. Families gather at home after the liturgy for a meal that often includes the first meat and dairy of the season. The mood is quiet joy rather than celebration: the greater feast waits for the morning.
Easter Sunday and Bright Monday
The Great Sunday of the Resurrection
The Great Sunday of the Resurrection, Ahad al-Qiyama, opens with the fullness of the Maronite Qurbono, the Syriac chants set at their highest register, bells rung throughout the liturgy, and the greeting al-Masih qam, haqqan qam exchanged again and again across the pews. The Church has crossed from Passion to Resurrection.
Bright Monday and the ma'amoul
The octave of Easter, called Qyomto in Syriac and Usbu al-Fasih in Arabic, continues for eight days. On Bright Monday, Lebanese families exchange ma'amoul: small stuffed shortbread cookies filled with dates, walnuts, or pistachios and dusted with powdered sugar. The cookies are baked in the days before Easter and, in some parishes, blessed on Sabt al-Noor. Sharing them across households is one of the sweetest gestures of the Maronite Easter.
Alongside the ma'amoul, families dye eggs red, a practice shared across the Syriac tradition, and greet one another in Syriac, Arabic, or the language of the diaspora. The season stretches on toward Pentecost, but the octave itself is the honey inside the year.
Fasting and Household Practices
The Great Week fast, kept strictly in older Lebanese custom, tightens through the week and reaches its narrowest point on Good Friday. Many families keep no meat and no dairy from Hosanna Sunday through Sabt al-Noor evening, and traditionally water alone on Good Friday itself. The current pastoral discipline is lighter, but the older fast is widely kept as personal devotion.
At home, families often light a Sabt al-Noor candle in a lantern by the front door and let it burn through the night into Easter morning. In Lebanon, the candle is sometimes lit from the flame carried out of the parish church, connecting the household hearth to the paschal fire of the whole community. Even in diaspora apartments far from Lebanon, the habit persists: one candle, lit on Sabt al-Noor, kept burning until dawn.
Homes are often cleaned in the days before Hosanna Sunday, the Easter clothes laid out on Great Saturday, and the ma'amoul baked in an afternoon of women and daughters gathered around the kitchen table. See our page on Maronite tradition for more on how the year is kept at home. The rhythm of these small gestures carries the great mystery into ordinary rooms, in the way Saint Charbel's own feast day in July continues to gather Lebanese households around a single flame.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is Maronite Holy Week?
Maronite Holy Week begins on Hosanna Sunday (Palm Sunday) and ends on the Great Sunday of the Resurrection. The Maronite Church is in communion with Rome and follows the Gregorian date of Easter, so the dates match the Roman Catholic calendar. In 2027, Holy Week runs from March 21 to March 28; in 2028, from April 9 to April 16.
What are the Sabt al-Noor traditions?
Sabt al-Noor, the Saturday of Light, is celebrated with the Light Ceremony in the darkened church, an extended Rite of the Peace with the greeting "al-Masih qam, haqqan qam" (Christ is risen, truly he is risen), and the breaking of the Great Fast. At home, families traditionally light a candle from the church flame and keep it burning through the night into Easter morning. Ma'amoul cookies and red-dyed eggs are prepared for the octave that follows.
How is Maronite Good Friday different from Roman Catholic?
Both traditions keep Good Friday as a day of strict fasting and the Adoration of the Cross. The Maronite rite adds the Taqs al-Dafn, the Rite of the Burial, in which a cloth image or statue of the crucified Christ is placed on a flower-covered bier and carried in procession. The ancient Syriac hymn Shubho Lo'yad is sung. Older Lebanese custom also keeps a stricter fast, traditionally water alone until sunset, though this stricter form is not currently binding.
What is the Maronite Rite of Signing?
The Rite of Signing (Taqs al-Sharh), sometimes called the Pshitto services, is a set of contemplative Passion meditations celebrated on the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday evenings of Holy Week in the Maronite tradition. They are services of chant, Scripture, and silent prayer that walk the faithful through the traditional moments of the Passion, from the anointing at Bethany to the burial. The exact list of signs varies by parish and by liturgical book.
Do Maronites celebrate Easter the same day as other Catholics?
Yes. The Maronite Church is in full communion with Rome and follows the Gregorian date of Easter. In years when the Gregorian and Julian calendars align, Maronites and Eastern Orthodox Christians also celebrate on the same day, but this is coincidence rather than rule. Maronite Easter, Roman Easter, and most other Eastern Catholic Easters share a single date each year.
See also: The Maronite Great Lent. The Maronite Divine Liturgy (Qurbono). The Maronite liturgical calendar. The Maronite tradition. Saint Charbel's feast day.