Early Christian Beliefs About Holy Week and the Passion
Early Christians tied Holy Week to Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection, often connecting it to Passover and the third day. Writers like Ignatius, Irenaeus, Cyprian, Origen, Methodius, and Dionysius of Alexandria speak this way, and the Apostolic Constitutions give early church practice around the Great Week. The clearest emphasis is on Christ’s Passion, the Passover pattern, fasting, and the joy of the resurrection.
146 early-church witnesses · 237 source quotations · compared with Scripture
What did early Christians believe about holy Week and the Passion of Christ?
Early Christian writers strongly taught that Jesus truly suffered and died during Passover week, and that his death and resurrection were the center of Christian faith. Ignatius, Irenaeus, Cyprian, Origen, Methodius, Dionysius of Alexandria, and the Apostolic Constitutions all connect Christ’s Passion with Passover, the cross, and the third-day resurrection.
The evidence is broad across the 2nd and 3rd centuries, and it also shows Christians fasting, remembering the Passion, and marking the week with special observance. The main picture is clear, though some cards are about Passover typology or later liturgical practice rather than direct Holy Week detail. Many more early Christian quotations, Bible passages, and source links are gathered below so you can study the evidence for yourself.
Key Takeaways
- Early Christians saw Holy Week as the week of Christ’s Passion, death, and resurrection.
- Many writers linked Jesus to Passover and called him the true Passover or Passover sacrifice.
- Some early church texts describe fasting and rest during the Great Week.
- The resurrection was expected as the close of the Passion story, not a separate theme.
Questions Answered by the Sources
Did early Christians fast during the holy week of the Passion?
Several early church texts say believers should begin the holy week or great week with fasting, prayer, and fear and trembling, remembering the Passion of Christ. The emphasis is not just on dates but on commemorating the Lord’s suffering in a disciplined way.
-
Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Direct teaching
After which solemnities, breaking off your fast, begin the holy week of the passover, fasting in the same all of you with fear and trembling, praying in them for those that are about to perish.
-
Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Direct teaching
Let slaves rest from their work all the great week, and that which follows it — for the one in memory of the passion, and the other of the resurrection;
-
Ignatius, Epistles of Ignatius Direct teaching
After the week of the passion, do not neglect to fast on the fourth and sixth days, distributing at the same time of thine abundance to the poor.
More related quotations from this section 10 shown
-
Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Direct teaching
But when the first day of the week dawned He arose from the dead, and fulfilled those things which before His passion He foretold to us, saying: The Son of man must continue in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.
-
Ignatius, Epistle to the Trallians (LongVersion) Supporting witness
At the dawning of the Lord’s day He arose from the dead, according to what was spoken by Himself, “As Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly, so shall the Son of man also be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” The day of the preparation, then, comprises the passion;
-
Dionysius of Alexandria, Miscellaneous Fragments Supporting witness
This phrase very early in the morning probably indicates the early dawn of the first day of the week;
-
Dionysius of Alexandria, Miscellaneous Fragments Supporting witness
And very early (in the morning), the first day of the week, they come unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.
-
Dionysius of Alexandria, Miscellaneous Fragments Supporting witness
Now, upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared;
-
Dionysius of Alexandria, Miscellaneous Fragments Supporting witness
The first day of the week, says he, came Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and sees the stone taken away from the sepulchre.
-
Anonymous, Connection to Luke 24:1 Supporting witness
Now, upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared; and they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre."
-
Origen, Against Celsus Supporting witness
...arvelous things. For it is true that not all people show themselves worthy of belief, and not all clearly show that they are telling people nothing but fictions and fables. Moreover, about the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, we say this: it is not at all surprising if, on such an occasion, one or two angels appeared to announce that Jesus had risen from the dead, and to provide for the safety of those who believed in this event, to the advantage of their souls. Nor does it seem at all unreasonable to me that those who believe in the resurrection of Jesus, and who show, as a fruit of their faith that should not be lightly valued, that they possess a virtuous life and have turned away from the flood of evils, should not be unattended by angels who lend their help in accomplishing their conversion to God.
-
Origen, Against Celsus Background
...meone objects to us about this and says that we ourselves usually observe certain days, such as the Lord's Day, the Preparation-day, the Passover, or Pentecost, I must answer that for the perfect Christian, who is always serving his natural Lord, God the Word, in his thoughts, words, and deeds, all his days are the Lord's, and he is always keeping the Lord's Day. He also who is constantly preparing himself for the true life, and keeping away from the pleasures of this life that lead so many astray—who is not giving in to the lust of the flesh, but keeping his body under control and bringing it into subjection—such a one is always keeping Preparation-day. Again, he who understands that Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us, and that it is his duty to keep the feast by eating the flesh of the Word, never stops keeping the paschal feast. For pascha means a passover, and he is always striving in all his thoughts, words, and deeds to pass over from the things of this life to God, and is hurrying toward the city of God. And finally, he who can truly say, "We are risen with Christ, and He has exalted us, and made us sit with Him in heavenly places in Christ," is always living in th
-
Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Background
Concerning the Passion of Our Lord, and What Was Done on Each Day of His Sufferings;
Did early Christians connect the Passion of Christ with Passover?
The sources repeatedly identify Christ with Passover language: he is described as the true Passover, the Passion is linked to the paschal feast, and his crucifixion is placed in Passover time. Bible passages and early writers together support this connection strongly.
-
Tertullian, An Answer to the Jews Direct teaching
and added that it was the passover of the Lord, that is, the passion of Christ.
-
Methodius, Concerning Free Will Direct teaching
7. That therefore up to the period of the Lord's Passion, and at the time of the last destruction of Jerusalem, which happened under Vespasian, the Roman emperor, the people of Israel, rightly observing the fourteenth day of the first lunar month, celebrated on it the Passover of the law, has been briefly demonstrated.Therefore, when the holy prophets, and all, as I have said, who righteously and justly walked in the law of the Lord, together with the entire people, celebrated a typical and shadowy Passover, the Creator and Lord of every visible and invisible creature, the only-begotten Son, and the Word co-eternal with the Father and the Holy Spirit, and of the same substance with them, according to His divine nature, our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, being in the end of the world born according to the flesh of our holy and glorious lady, Mother of God, and Ever-Virgin, and, of a truth, of Mary the Mother of God;
-
Methodius, Fragments Supporting witness
7. That therefore up to the period of the Lord's Passion, and at the time of the last destruction of Jerusalem, which happened under Vespasian, the Roman emperor, the people of Israel, rightly observing the fourteenth day of the first lunar month, celebrated on it the Passover of the law, has been briefly demonstrated.Therefore, when the holy prophets, and all, as I have said, who righteously and justly walked in the law of the Lord, together with the entire people, celebrated a typical and shadowy Passover, the Creator and Lord of every visible and invisible creature, the only-begotten Son, and the Word co-eternal with the Father and the Holy Spirit, and of the same substance with them, according to His divine nature, our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, being in the end of the world born according to the flesh of our holy and glorious lady, Mother of God, and Ever-Virgin, and, of a truth, of Mary the Mother of God;
-
Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness
Lastly, the slaying of the lamb by those very persons who perform it is called the paschal feast, from the word paschein, because it is a figure of the passion, which God, foreknowing the future, delivered by Moses to be celebrated by His people.
-
Methodius, Concerning Free Will Direct teaching
John 19:31 On that day, therefore, on which the Jews were about to eat the Passover in the evening, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was crucified, being made the victim to those who were about to partake by faith of the mystery concerning Him, according to what is written by the blessed Paul: For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us;
-
Methodius, Fragments Supporting witness
The typical Passover, therefore, then ceased, the true Passover being present: For Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us, as has been before said, and as that chosen vessel, the apostle Paul, teaches.
-
Cyprian, Treatises Supporting witness
for even Christ our passover is sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
-
Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho Direct teaching
For the passover was Christ, who was afterwards sacrificed, as also Isaiah said, ‘He was led as a sheep to the slaughter.’ And it is written, that on the day of the passover you seized Him, and that also during the passover you crucified Him.
-
Tertullian, Against Marcion Supporting witness
Leviticus 23:5 How earnestly, therefore, does He manifest the bent of His soul: With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer.
More related quotations from this section 1 shown
-
Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book II Supporting witness
and from that place, as it is written “He came to Bethany six days before the passover,” and going up from Bethany to Jerusalem, He there ate the passover, and suffered on the day following.
Did early Christians teach that Jesus suffered, died, and rose again?
The compiled sources consistently say Christ truly suffered, was crucified, died, was buried, and rose again. They also stress that his Passion was not an illusion or merely symbolic, but a real event tied to salvation.
-
Ignatius, Epistle to the Philadelphians (Long Version) Supporting witness
the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, His passion, and the resurrection itself.
-
Methodius, Three Fragments on the Cross and Passion Supporting witness
... be beautiful. Because of this, although by this figure He has willed to free the soul from corrupt passions, and greatly to put the demons to shame, we ought to accept it and not speak evil of it, since it was given to deliver us and set us free from the chains that we brought on ourselves by our disobedience. For the Word suffered, being fastened in the flesh to the cross, so that He might bring man, who had been deceived by error, to His highest and divine majesty, restoring him to that divine life from which he had become separated. By this figure, indeed, the passions are dulled, because the Passion has brought about the suffering of the passions, and the death of death by the death of Christ, since He was not subdued by death or overcome by the pains of the Passion. For the Passion did not cast Him down from His calmness, nor did death harm Him. But while in what could suffer, He remained unable to suffer; and while in what was mortal, He remained immortal, embracing all that the air, and this middle region, and the heaven above contained, and fitting the mortal to the immortal divinity. Death was completely conquered. The flesh was crucified to bring forth its immortality
-
Methodius, Three Fragments on the Cross and Passion Supporting witness
the passion of the passions having taken place by the Passion, and the death of death by the death of Christ, He not having been subdued by death, nor overcome by the pains of the Passion.
-
Archelaus, Disputation with Manes Supporting witness
...w when you deny that He was born of Mary. But if you acknowledge that He was born of Mary, then His passion will necessarily follow, and His resurrection will follow from His passion, and the judgment from His resurrection. And so the commands of Scripture will have their proper value for us. This, therefore, is not an idle question, but the greatest issues are involved in this one word. For just as all the law and the prophets are summed up in two words, so also all our hope is made to depend on the birth by the blessed Mary. Therefore give me an answer to these several questions that I will ask you. How shall we get rid of these many words of the apostle, so important and so exact, which are stated in words like these: "But when the good pleasure of God was with us, He sent His Son, made of a woman"; and again, "Christ our passover is sacrificed for us"; and once more, "God has both raised up the Lord, and will raise up us together with Him by His own power"? And there are many other passages with a similar meaning. For example, this one that follows: "How do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ
-
Alexander of Alexandria, Epistles on the Arian Heresy Supporting witness
... effect of Christ’s death was. No creature endured His fall calmly. The elements did not endure His Passion either. The earth did not keep His body, nor did hell keep His Spirit. In the Passion of Christ, all things were shaken and thrown into turmoil. The Lord cried out, as He had once before to Lazarus, "Come out, you dead, from your tombs and your secret places; for I, the Christ, give you resurrection." For then the earth could not hold for long the body of our Lord that was buried in it. But it cried out, "O my Lord, forgive my sins, save me from Your wrath, free me from the curse, for I have received the blood of the righteous, and yet I have not covered the bodies of men or even Your own body! What, then, is this wonderful mystery? Why, O Lord, did You come down to earth, unless it was for man’s sake, who has been scattered everywhere? For Your beautiful image has been spread in every place. No! But if You would speak only one little word, at once all bodies would stand before You. Now, since You have come to earth and have searched for the members of Your handiwork, take up the cause of man, who is Your own. Receive what has been entrusted to You. Restore Your image, You
-
Pamphilus, Exposition on the Acts of the Apostles Supporting witness
In this we have also the instruction delivered by Peter, and * passages from the prophets on the subject, and * on the passion and resurrection and assumption of Christ, and the gift of the Holy Ghost;
-
Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness
No one should be ignorant of this: He Himself had already said, while speaking beforehand about His passion, that He had the power, whenever He willed, to lay down His life and to take it again. Therefore, because He had laid down His life while fastened to the cross, His executioners did not think it necessary to break His bones, as was their usual custom. Instead, they only pierced His side. So His body, still unbroken, was taken down from the cross and carefully placed in a tomb. Now all these things were done so that His body, if injured and broken, would not be made unfit for rising again. This was also a main reason why God chose the cross, because it was necessary for Him to be lifted up on it, and for the passion of God to become known to all nations. For since a man hanging on a cross is seen by everyone and is raised higher than others, the cross was especially chosen to show that He would be so visible and so lifted up on high that all nations from the whole world would come together at once to know and worship Him. Finally, no nation is so uncivilized, and no region so remote, that either His passion or the height of His majesty would be unknown there. Therefore, in His
-
Polycarp, Connection to 1 Peter 3:18 Supporting witness
that it is neither possible for us ever to forsake Christ, who suffered for the salvation of such as shall be saved throughout the whole world (the blameless one for sinners
-
Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies Supporting witness
He did not protest against His Passion, but became obedient unto death, and manifested His resurrection.
-
Ignatius, Epistle to the Romans (Long Version) Supporting witness
Permit me to be an imitator of the passion of Christ, my God.
-
Hippolytus, Exegetical Fragments Supporting witness
And it is easy to perceive the man in Him, when He hungers and shows exhaustion, and is weary and thirsty, and withdraws in fear, and is in prayer and in grief, and sleeps on a boat's pillow, and entreats the removal of the cup of suffering, and sweats in an agony, and is strengthened by an angel, and betrayed by a Judas, and mocked by Caiaphas, and set at nought by Herod, and scourged by Pilate, and derided by the soldiers, and nailed to the tree by the Jews, and with a cry commits His spirit to His Father, and drops His head and gives up the ghost, and has His side pierced with a spear, and is wrapped in linen and laid in a tomb, and is raised by the Father on the third day.
-
Cyprian, Treatises Supporting witness
For when crucified, the office of the executioner being forestalled, He Himself of His own will yielded up His spirit, and on the third day freely rose again from the dead.
More related quotations from this section 17 shown
-
Peter of Alexandria, The Genuine Acts of Peter Supporting witness
Then, after a little while, he says: “If, then, Origen, you maintain that the resurrection of the body, changed into a spiritual body, is to be expected only in appearance, and you present the vision of Moses and Elijah as a very strong proof of it, saying that they appeared after they had departed from life, with no different appearance from what they had from the beginning, then the resurrection of all men will be the same. But Moses and Elijah rose and appeared in this form of which you speak before Christ suffered and rose. How then could Christ be proclaimed by prophets and apostles as the first begotten of the dead? For if Christ is believed to be the first begotten of the dead, He is the first begotten of the dead because He rose before all others. But Moses appeared to the apostles before Christ suffered, having this form in which you say the resurrection is fulfilled. Therefore, there is no resurrection of the form without the flesh. For either there is a resurrection of the form, as you teach, and then Christ is no longer the first begotten of the dead, since souls appeared before Him in this form after death; or He is truly the first begotten, and it is completely imposs
-
Victorinus, Commentary on the Apocalypse Supporting witness
... Him, gathered from His powers, is also enough to declare from His works that He is God. For if His sufferings show human weakness in Him, why should not His works declare divine power in Him? For if His powers are not enough to show that He is God, then His sufferings cannot be enough to show that He is man either. For whatever principle is accepted on one side must also be accepted on the other. There is a danger that He may not be shown to be man from His sufferings, if He cannot also be shown to be God by His powers. We must not lean to one side and avoid the other, because anyone who leaves out one part of the truth will never hold the full truth. For Scripture proclaims Christ to be God just as much as it proclaims God Himself to be man. It has described Jesus Christ to be man, and it has also described Christ the Lord to be God. For it does not present Him only as the Son of God, but also as the Son of man. Nor does it only call Him the Son of man, but it has also regularly spoken of Him as the Son of God. Since He is both, He is both, so that if He were only one, He could not be the other. For just as nature itself requires that one who is of man must be believed to be m
-
Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness
...e fact that you were first beaten severely with clubs and badly mistreated, and that you began with sufferings of that kind as the glorious firstfruits of your confession, is not something we should curse. For a Christian body is not greatly frightened by clubs, since all its hope is in the Wood. The servant of Christ recognizes the sacrament of his salvation. Redeemed by wood to eternal life, he is also raised by wood to the crown. And what wonder is it if, like vessels of gold and silver, you have been sent to the mine, the home of gold and silver? Except that now the nature of the mines has been changed, and the places that used to produce gold and silver have begun to receive them instead. Moreover, they have put chains on your feet and bound your blessed limbs, and the temples of God, with shameful irons, as though the spirit also could be bound with the body, or your gold could be stained by contact with iron. For men dedicated to God, and proving their faith with godly courage, such things are ornaments, not chains. They do not bind the feet of Christians for disgrace, but honor them for a crown. Oh feet, blessed in your chains, which are loosened not by the blacksmith bu
-
Alexander of Alexandria, Epistles on the Arian Heresy Supporting witness
For they, retaining in their memory the words which came to be used with respect to His saving Passion, and abasement, and examination, and what they call His poverty, and in short of all those things to which the Saviour submitted for our sakes, bring them forward to refute His supreme and eternal Godhead.
-
Archelaus, Disputation with Manes Supporting witness
But if you acknowledge that He was born of Mary, then His passion will necessarily follow, and His resurrection will be consequent on His passion, and the judgment on His resurrection: and thus the injunctions of Scripture will have their proper value for us.
-
Archelaus, Connection to Colossians 1:24 Supporting witness
and," I fill up that which was behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh."
-
Archelaus, Disputation with Manes Supporting witness
From all this I think that these testimonies should suffice in proof of the judgment, and the resurrection, and the passion;
-
Alexander of Alexandria, Epistles on the Arian Heresy Supporting witness
All things were in the Passion of Christ disturbed and convulsed.
-
Lactantius, The Epitome of the Divine Institutes Supporting witness
To these reasons another was also added: since He had undertaken to suffer and to die, it was fitting that He should be lifted up. In this way, the cross exalted Him both in reality and as a sign, so that His majesty and power became known to all, along with His suffering. For when He stretched out His hands on the cross, He clearly spread out His wings toward the east and the west, under which all nations from both sides of the world might gather and rest. But how important this sign is, and what power it has, is clear, since the whole host of demons is driven out and put to flight by this sign. And just as before His suffering He put demons to confusion by His word and command, so now, by the name and sign of that same suffering, unclean spirits that have slipped into the bodies of men are driven out. While they are racked and tormented, and while they confess that they are demons, they give way to God, who afflicts them. Therefore, what can the Greeks expect from their superstitions and from their wisdom, when they see that their gods, whom they also do not deny to be demons, are overcome by men through the cross?
-
Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor (Paedagogus) Supporting witness
...the Lord was crowned with thorns, Matthew 27:29, to crown ourselves with flowers, and so insult the Lord's sacred suffering. For the Lord's crown pointed to us prophetically. We once were barren, but now we are placed around Him through the Church, of which He is the Head. But it is also a type of faith, of life in regard to the substance of the wood, of joy in regard to the name of crown, and of danger in regard to the thorn. For no one can come near the Word without blood. But this braided crown fades away, and the braid of perversity is untied, and the flower withers. For the glory of those who have not believed in the Lord fades away. And they crowned Jesus when He was lifted up, showing their own ignorance. For they were hard of heart, and did not understand that this very thing, which they called the Lord's disgrace, was a prophecy wisely spoken: "The Lord was not known by the people," Isaiah 1:3. This was the people that went astray, that was not circumcised in understanding, whose darkness was not enlightened, that did not know God, denied the Lord, lost the place of the true Israel, persecuted God, and hoped to bring the Word to disgrace. And the One whom they crucified
-
Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies Supporting witness
But (he held that Jesus) was subsequently crucified by the Jews, and expired, and that, being raised Up after three days, he appeared to his disciples.
-
Anonymous, Treatise on Re-Baptism Supporting witness
how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and fastened Him to the cross.
-
Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Supporting witness
For he being life, in what he suffered wished to suffer that we might live by his suffering.
-
Polycarp, Connection to Acts 17:3 Supporting witness
who for our sins suffered even unto death, but whom God raised from the dead.
-
Anonymous, Connection to Luke 24:20 Supporting witness
spoke thus, saying of Jesus the Nazarene, "who was a prophet mighty in deed and in word before God and all the people; how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and fastened Him to the cross. But we trusted that it had been He which should have redeemed Israel."
-
Alexander of Alexandria, Epistles on the Arian Heresy Supporting witness
...For when our Lord suffered, His humanity suffered, that which He had like man. And He dissolves the sufferings of him who is His like, and by dying He has destroyed death. It was for this cause that He came down upon earth, that by pursuing death He might kill the rebel that slew men. For one underwent the judgment, and myriads were set free. One was buried, and myriads rose again. He is the Mediator between God and man. He is the resurrection and the salvation of all. He is the Guide of the erring, the Shepherd of men who have been set free, the life of the dead, the charioteer of the cherubim, the standard-bearer of the angels, and the King of kings, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
-
Polycarp, Connection to 1 Peter 2:24 Supporting witness
"who bore our sins in His own body on the tree,"
Did early Christians say Jesus rose on the first day of the week?
The sources say the Lord rose on the first day of the week, with the women coming early to the tomb and finding him already risen. One early writer also notes the exact hour is not clearly specified in the Gospel accounts.
-
Cyprian, Epistles Direct teaching
17. And because we mention His passion in all sacrifices—for the Lord’s passion is the sacrifice that we offer—we ought to do nothing except what He did. For Scripture says, "For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you show the Lord’s death until He comes" (1 Corinthians 11:26). Therefore, as often as we offer the cup in remembrance of the Lord and of His passion, let us do what the Lord is known to have done. And let this be the conclusion, dearest brother: if any among our predecessors, either through ignorance or simplicity, did not observe and keep what the Lord instructed us to do by His example and teaching, he may, by the Lord’s mercy, be granted pardon for his simplicity. But we cannot be pardoned, because we are now warned and instructed by the Lord to offer the Lord’s cup mixed with wine, according to what the Lord offered, and also to send letters about this to our colleagues, so that the gospel law and the Lord’s tradition may be kept everywhere, and so that there may be no departure from what Christ both taught and did.
-
Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Background
...according to Your will on the holy apostles of You, the eternal God. Grant by Your name, O God, who search the hearts, that this Your servant, whom You have chosen to be a bishop, may feed Your holy flock, and discharge the office of a high priest to You, and minister to You blamelessly night and day; that he may appease You, and gather together the number of those who shall be saved, and may offer to You the gifts of Your holy Church. Grant to him, O Lord Almighty, through Your Christ, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, so that he may have power to remit sins according to Your command; to give forth lots according to Your command; to loose every bond, according to the power that You gave the apostles; that he may please You in meekness and a pure heart, with a steadfast, blameless, and unreprovable mind; to offer to You a pure and unbloody sacrifice, which by Your Christ You have appointed as the mystery of the new covenant, for a sweet savor, through Your holy child Jesus Christ, our God and Savior, through whom glory, honor, and worship be to You in the Holy Spirit, now and always, and for all ages. And when he has prayed for these things, let the rest of the priests add, Ame
-
Early Liturgies, Liturgy of Adaeus and Maris Supporting witness
O Lord God Omnipotent, Yours is the Holy Catholic Church, inasmuch as You, through the great passion of Your Christ, bought the sheep of Your pasture;
-
Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Background
... during those hours or days when they go through such things, do they refuse to pray, or to touch a Bible, or to receive the Eucharist? If they admit that they do, then it is plain that they are without the Holy Spirit, who always remains with the faithful. For Solomon says about holy people, "So that each one may prepare himself, so that when he sleeps it may keep him, and when he rises it may speak with him," Proverbs 6:22. For if you think, woman, that when you are in your seven days of separation you are without the Holy Spirit, then if you were to die suddenly, you would depart without the Spirit and without sure hope in God. Or else you must understand that the Spirit is always inseparable from you, since He is not confined to a place. But you need prayer and the Eucharist and the coming of the Holy Spirit, because in this matter you have committed no sin. For neither lawful union, nor childbearing, nor menstrual cleansing, nor a nighttime emission can defile a person's nature or separate the Holy Spirit from him. Nothing can do that except impiety and unlawful conduct. For the Holy Spirit always remains with those who have Him, as long as they are worthy. And when He depa
-
Early Liturgies, Divine Liturgy of St. Mark Direct teaching
O Sovereign and Almighty Lord, King of heaven, while we show forth the death of Your only-begotten Son, our Lord, God, and Saviour Jesus Christ, and acknowledge His blessed resurrection from the dead on the third day, we do also openly declare His ascension into heaven, and His sitting on the right hand of You, God and Father, and await His second terrible and dreadful coming, in which He will come to judge righteously the quick and the dead, and to render to each man according to his works.
-
Early Liturgies, Divine Liturgy of St. James Direct teaching
and being about to endure His voluntary and life-giving death by the cross, He the sinless for us the sinners, in the night in which He was betrayed, nay, rather delivered Himself up for the life and salvation of the world,
More related quotations from this section 2 shown
-
Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness
17. And because we make mention of His passion in all sacrifices (for the Lord's passion is the sacrifice which we offer), we ought to do nothing else than what He did.
-
Cyprian, Treatises Supporting witness
But as often as you communicate with the sufferings of Christ, rejoice in all things, that also in the revelation made of His glory you may rejoice with gladness.
Common Questions
Did early Christians observe Holy Week?
Yes. Early church writings describe the Great Week, fasting, and rest connected with Christ’s Passion and resurrection.
Did early Christians connect Jesus’ death to Passover?
Yes. Writers such as Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Methodius, and others link Christ’s suffering to Passover and call him the true Passover.
Did early Christians treat the resurrection as part of Holy Week?
Yes. Several texts pair the Passion with the resurrection, especially in the week of fasting and remembrance.
Source Index for Holy Week and the Passion of Christ
The guided sections above show the strongest quotations. This compact index highlights 160 ranked source links from 237 compiled sources for deeper study.
Source index 160 ranked links shown
Early Christian Writings 80 shown of 146
Primary-source quotations from early Christian writers and church documents.
Bible Passages 80 shown of 91
Related Bible passages saved for comparison with the early Christian quotations.
Related Resources
Course Lesson
How Did Early Christians Practice the Holy Kiss, and Should it Still Be Practiced Today?
Open a related course lesson for more teaching connected with Holy Week and the Passion of Christ.
Course Lesson
What Was the Early Christian View on the Laying on of Hands for the Holy Spirit and Forgiveness of Sins in Baptism?
Open a related course lesson for more teaching connected with Holy Week and the Passion of Christ.
Site Page
The Christian Calendar and Holy Days
Compare another early Christian topic page with related source quotations.