Holy Week is upon us! As with most parts of the liturgical seasons, they are best lived with everyone in our family involved. It’s not easy to live Holy Week as a family, but as with most things of our faith, simplicity is key! Choosing a few things this week to focus on or to try as a family will help from making everyone feel overwhelmed but will get everyone into the spirit of this week as we prepare for the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Our Lord.

Keep reading to get a few ideas to incorporate with your family this Holy Week.

Agree on an extra sacrifice.

As we suggested in our previous blog post, Lenten sacrifices can be more accessible when it is something that the whole family is doing. So why not do it for Holy Week?

Make an agreement as a family to give up one extra thing, whether it’s no dessert or snacks this week, or maybe it is saying a decade of the rosary one night; these small things will help ground us and remind us that this week is a solemn one. Also, encouraging older children to live fasting and abstinence on Good Friday cheerfully with the other adults in the house could be a good idea.

Strive for silence and solemnity

This week should be a solemn one. So consider small ways to remove distractions throughout the day. Cutting off the excess noise of music or TV in the background or during the Triduum can keep things solemn. Limiting time on phones or social media also removes extra noise from our brains, allowing us to focus on the holy days ahead. Try filling the time with prayer or a family rosary instead of your regular TV show.

Participate in the Triduum

Don’t feel like you have to hit every event this week but attending parts of the Triduum can help get the family into Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. There are great opportunities to get everyone involved, and there are so many tangible things to show our children in the culmination of our Faith.

Holy Thursday Mass is a beautiful way to discuss the Last Supper and the beauty of the Priesthood and Eucharist. The tradition of the Seven Churches is also a way to remember the day, especially if you have older kids or do it with other families. Services and the Stations on Good Friday bring the Passion of Our Lord to life (for tips on doing the Way of the Cross with Kids, read our post) and help us get into the day’s spirit. There is also the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday evening, which is a beautiful Mass and the chance for children to see others entering the Church as adults can spark meaningful conversations about

Holy Week as a family doesn’t have to be something you must struggle through. Pick a few of the suggestions above or make your own goals to live the week in a way that prepares your family the joy that is for Easter Sunday.

Remember, it is not about how much you do; it is about how you do it.