~350 · Jerusalem and the wider Roman Empire
Development of the Easter Triduum Liturgy
During the fourth century, the Church in Jerusalem and across the Roman world developed the Easter Triduum — the three-day liturgical celebration of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil — into the structured form that remains the high point of the Catholic liturgical year.
Before the fourth century, Christians celebrated Easter, but the liturgies were simpler and varied widely from place to place. The legalization of Christianity under Constantine in 313 changed everything. Churches could now be built openly, and worship could become more elaborate. Jerusalem led the way. The pilgrim Egeria, a Spanish woman who visited the Holy Land around 381-384, wrote detailed accounts of the liturgies she witnessed there. On Holy Thursday, the bishop washed feet and celebrated the Eucharist in the evening. On Good Friday, the faithful venerated a relic of the True Cross, and the Passion was read aloud. The Easter Vigil began in darkness, with the lighting of a great candle, extended Scripture readings tracing salvation history from creation to resurrection, and the baptism of catechumens at dawn. These practices spread from Jerusalem throughout the Christian world over the following decades. By the end of the fourth century, the basic shape of the Triduum was recognizable across the Mediterranean. The structure was not invented by any single person or council. It grew organically as Christians sought to walk through the last days of Christ's life in real time, hour by hour. The Triduum became the anchor of the entire liturgical calendar — everything else revolves around it. The core elements Egeria described in the 380s are still present in every Catholic parish today: the foot washing, the veneration of the cross, the Vigil fire, the baptisms at Easter.
Why it matters
Established the Easter Triduum as the central liturgical celebration of Christianity, creating the structured three-day observance of Christ's passion, death, and resurrection that remains the summit of the Catholic liturgical year.
What Happened
After Christianity was legalized in 313, worship became more public and elaborate. Jerusalem's churches developed detailed liturgies for the final days of Holy Week, walking through Christ's last hours at the actual sites where they occurred. The pilgrim Egeria documented these practices around 381-384. The pattern — evening Mass on Thursday, veneration of the cross on Friday, a great Vigil with fire, readings, and baptisms on Saturday night — spread across the Christian world within decades.
Why It Still Matters
The Triduum is still the most important three days in the Catholic calendar. Every element Egeria described is still there: the washing of feet, the stripping of the altar, the solemn veneration of the cross, the Easter fire, the long readings from Genesis to the Gospels, the baptism of new members. No other Christian liturgy has this kind of continuity across seventeen centuries.