A Sacred Journey Remembered
Holy Week 2026 drew the Cathedral community through the full arc of Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection. From the waving of palms to the thunder of Easter alleluias, these are the services that shaped our Lenten journey into Easter joy. Watch the recordings below and return to these holy days whenever you need them.
Palm Sunday — March 29, 2026
The Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem
Palm Sunday held two realities in tension, as it always does: the crowd’s shouts of “Hosanna” and the shadow of the Cross falling just ahead. The Liturgy of the Palms opened with procession and joy; the solemn reading of the Passion brought us quickly to our knees. Together, these two movements set the tone for the week to come — a week that would take us from celebration to crucifixion to empty tomb.
Palm Sunday: Liturgy of the Palms
The 11:00 am service opened with the full Procession of the Palms and the singing of the Passion, as the Cathedral Choir led the congregation through Matthew’s account of Christ’s final days. Canon Bradley Varnell preached, and the service featured choral music by Bruckner and Gesualdo alongside Gabriel Fauré’s Missa Brevis.
Santa Eucaristía, Rito II, en Español
The Spanish-language Palm Sunday liturgy gathered the Cathedral’s Hispanic community in the courtyard for the Blessing of the Palms before processing into the sanctuary. Canon Luz Montes presided and preached, leading the congregation through the Passion of Matthew in a service woven together with beloved Spanish-language hymnody including Hosanna and Nada Te Turbe.
Palm Sunday Choral Evensong with Organ Recital
The day drew to a close with a 4:15 pm organ recital by rising organist Katherine Jolliff — named one of The Diapason‘s Top 20 Under 30 — featuring works by Elgar, Bach, and Brahms. Solemn Evensong followed at 5:00 pm, with the Cathedral Choir singing Herbert Howells’ Collegium Regale and a solo ensemble performing Mendelssohn’s setting of Psalm 22, as the Cathedral entered the silence of Holy Week under incense and candlelight.
Maundy Thursday — April 2, 2026
The New Commandment and the Institution of the Eucharist
On Maundy Thursday, the Cathedral gathered around the table and the basin. Taking its name from the Latin mandatum — commandment — this evening called us to the humility of Christ who knelt before his disciples and washed their feet. The night ended in silence: the Stripping of the Altar left the sanctuary bare, a haunting image of abandonment that opened the Triduum and readied our hearts for the darkness ahead.
First Eucharist of Maundy Thursday
The noonday Maundy Thursday service gathered the Cathedral community around the basin and the table, with The Very Rev. Nathaniel Katz, Dean, presiding and Rev. Canon Liz Kronenberg, Canon Vicar preaching. The congregation was invited into the ancient ceremony of the foot washing — a hands-on enactment of Christ’s call to servanthood — before receiving the Eucharist together and departing in the solemn spirit of the Triduum.
Maundy Thursday Holy Eucharist and Stripping of the Altar
The evening’s bilingual service drew English and Spanish-speaking worshipers together for foot washing, Eucharist, and the haunting conclusion of the Stripping of the Altar. The offertory anthem was Maurice Duruflé’s Ubi Caritas — “Where charity and love are, there is God” — and the service closed with the congregation kneeling in silence as the sanctuary was emptied of all its furnishings, the cross veiled in black, and the Sacrament carried away for the Night Watch.
Good Friday — April 3, 2026
The Crucifixion of Our Lord
The most solemn day of the Episcopal year was observed with fasting, the Veneration of the Cross, and the ancient chanting of the Solemn Collects — prayers offered for the whole broken world at the foot of the Cross. The evening’s Stations of the Cross, presented bilingually through the lens of a migrant’s journey, brought the suffering of Christ into vivid and contemporary relief.
Liturgy for Good Friday, Rite II
Ministers entered in silence, and the congregation knelt in wordless prayer before the liturgy began. Rev. Canon Bradley Varnell officiated and preached, leading the Cathedral through the Passion Gospel according to John, the ancient Solemn Collects, and the Veneration of the Cross. Offerings from this service were donated to Episcopal Church ministries in Jerusalem and the Middle East.
Good Friday Stations of the Cross: A Migrant’s Way, Bilingual
Leaflet
This bilingual evening service walked the Stations of the Cross through the lens of the migrant experience — placing the suffering of Christ in direct conversation with the displacement and vulnerability faced by migrants today. Offerings collected at this service were donated to the Diocese of Texas’ Migration with Dignity fund, providing emergency support to those impacted by deportations.
Holy Saturday — April 4, 2026
The Great Vigil of Easter
Before the alleluias, there was darkness. The Great Vigil of Easter — the most ancient service in the Episcopal tradition — began in silence and shadow, recalling the day Christ lay in the tomb. New fire was kindled. The ancient stories of God’s saving deeds were proclaimed. And then, at last, the First Eucharist of Easter broke open the night. Lent was over. The fast was ended. The feast had begun.
The Great Vigil of Easter
The community gathered first in the darkness of the courtyard, where new fire was kindled and the Paschal Candle lit. The Very Rev. Nathaniel Katz, Dean, led the procession into the Cathedral as the light spread from candle to candle through the darkened nave. The Exsultet was sung, three Vigil readings proclaimed God’s saving deeds from Creation through the Valley of Dry Bones, and Baptismal vows were renewed before the First Eucharist of Easter broke open the night. Rev. Canon Luz Montes preached, and the Cathedral Choir sang Randall Thompson’s Alleluia and an anthem by Gerre Hancock’s Missa Resurrectionis. The service concluded with the recessional hymn Victory and the Toccata from Widor’s Symphony No. 5.
Easter Sunday — April 5, 2026
The Resurrection of Our Lord
Easter Day — the Feast of Feasts, the Christian Passover, the eighth day of creation — filled the Cathedral with festal music, joyful alleluias, and the ancient, triumphant proclamation: He is risen. From the quiet Sunrise Eucharist to the grandeur of the Festival Choral service, the community gathered to affirm once more its baptismal covenant and its hope in the resurrection. The word withheld throughout Lent returned at last, and it echoed off every stone.
Easter Sunday Holy Eucharist, Rite I
The Festival Choral Eucharist filled the Cathedral with brass, timpani, incense, and the voices of the full Cathedral Choir for the great Feast of the Resurrection. Rev. Canon Liz Kronenberg, Canon Vicar, presided; The Very Rev. Nathaniel Katz, Dean, preached. The service featured Gerre Hancock’s Missa Resurrectionis, choral anthems by Vaughan Williams and Peter Philips, Psalm 118 in a setting by Canon for Music Robert Simpson, and the organ prelude and postlude anchored by Widor’s celebrated Toccata. The Easter Music was given to the glory of God in honor of Robert L. Simpson, Canon for Music, by a friend of the Cathedral.
Día de Pascua: La Santa Eucaristía: Rito II
The Cathedral’s Spanish-language community filled the sanctuary with joyful song for the Easter Eucharist, presided over by the Rev. Alex Montes-Vela with Rev. Canon Luz Montes preaching. The liturgy opened with Levanto un Aleluya and was woven throughout with beloved Spanish-language hymnody, including El Señor Resucitó, El Cielo Canta Alegría, and Cristo Resucitó — a fitting proclamation of resurrection joy in the full voice of the Cathedral’s bilingual community.
Easter Day: The Well Contemplative Eucharist
As Easter Day drew to a close, The Well gathered in its signature style — intimate, unhurried, and contemplative — with Rev. Canon Luz Montes presiding. Accompanied by harp, flute, and cello under Music Coordinator Becky Baxter, the service centered on the Easter Gospel according to Matthew, candle lighting, healing prayer with anointing, and quiet intercessions for a world in need of resurrection. The Well’s Easter liturgy offered a gentler, more reflective path into the Great Fifty Days — one that lingered in the mystery of the empty tomb long after the day’s alleluias had faded.