Holy Monday Traditions

It’s Monday of Holy Week! According to the gospel of Matthew (Matthew 21:12-17), right after Jesus enters Jerusalem, he immediately goes to the temple. He drives out the money changers so it seems appropriate that the Monday and Tuesday of Holy Week are set aside for spring cleaning!

Traditionally, Monday and Tuesday of Holy Week have been used for accomplishing the bulk of the work for Easter day. Easter Sunday is the most important feast day and is a time for joyous celebration so as little work as possible was supposed to be done on that special day. Monday and Tuesday of Holy Week were set aside to get the bulk of the work out of the way. The cleaning, cooking, and ironing were done by Wednesday so that the rest of Holy Week and Easter could be enjoyed with no distractions.

I love this Holy Monday tradition, especially for us moms, where it seems like Easter brings more work and stress than normal. Years ago, I started trying to clean and prep at the beginning of the week and it did seem to help. We don't get everything done that was on my list and it still ends up being stressful but I like to think that we are getting enough of it done so that we can more fully participate in Holy Week.

Ways to celebrate:

Read Matthew 21:12-12 as a family. Have you ever seen Jesus act like this before? Why do you think he is so frustrated? What do you think the temple should have been like?

Spring clean! Assign chores to each family member, put on some good worship music, and clean your house!

If you have some things that you can make in advance for Easter, go ahead and make them. I make casseroles during these days and put them in the freezer. I set them out to thaw on Holy Saturday and simply pop them in the oven to make on Easter Day.