Holy Week 2027 runs from Palm Sunday on Sunday, March 21, 2027 through Easter Sunday on Sunday, March 28, 2027. The Triduum — Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday — falls on March 25, 26 and 27.
Each of the eight days carries its own name, liturgy and observance, and the names differ between traditions: what Catholics call Maundy Thursday, many Protestant churches call Holy Thursday, and Orthodox churches call Great and Holy Thursday.
Orthodox Holy Week 2027 does not overlap with the Western week at all — it runs from April 25 to May 1, five weeks later.
Table of Contents
Holy Week 2027 dates
Every day of Western Holy Week 2027, with its alternative names and what is observed.
| Day | Date 2027 | Also called | Commemorates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palm Sunday | Sunday, March 21 | Passion Sunday, Palm and Passion Sunday | Entry into Jerusalem |
| Holy Monday | Monday, March 22 | Great and Holy Monday | Cleansing of the Temple |
| Holy Tuesday | Tuesday, March 23 | Great and Holy Tuesday | Teaching in the Temple |
| Holy Wednesday | Wednesday, March 24 | Spy Wednesday | Judas’s agreement to betray |
| Maundy Thursday | Thursday, March 25 | Holy Thursday, Great Thursday | The Last Supper, foot washing |
| Good Friday | Friday, March 26 | Great Friday, Holy Friday | The Crucifixion |
| Holy Saturday | Saturday, March 27 | Great Sabbath, Easter Vigil | Christ in the tomb |
| Easter Sunday | Sunday, March 28 | Resurrection Sunday, Pascha | The Resurrection |
The final three days — Maundy Thursday evening through Easter Sunday — form the Paschal Triduum, treated liturgically as a single continuous observance rather than three separate days.
Why Holy Week 2027 falls in March
Holy Week is fixed to Easter, and Easter 2027 falls early. Under the computus, Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the March equinox.
In 2027 the equinox is March 20 and the paschal full moon is March 22, so Easter lands on March 28 — six days from the earliest possible date of March 22.
Holy Week therefore opens on March 21, the day after the equinox. In a late-Easter year such as 2030, when Easter falls on April 21, Holy Week does not begin until April 14.
Holy Week 2027 services and observances by day
The liturgical shape of the week, for anyone planning attendance:
| Day | Typical services | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Palm Sunday, March 21 | Blessing of palms, procession, Passion reading | The longest Gospel reading of the year |
| Holy Monday to Wednesday | Weekday Mass, Tenebrae in some traditions | Chrism Mass often falls in this window |
| Maundy Thursday, March 25 | Mass of the Lord’s Supper, foot washing, altar stripping | Lent ends here in Latin Catholic reckoning |
| Good Friday, March 26 | Liturgy of the Passion, veneration of the cross | No Mass is celebrated; communion is from reserved elements |
| Holy Saturday, March 27 | Easter Vigil after nightfall | Baptisms and confirmations traditionally held |
| Easter Sunday, March 28 | Sunrise service, Easter Mass | Highest attendance of the liturgical year |
Chrism Mass timing varies by diocese. Many hold it on Maundy Thursday morning; others move it earlier in the week so clergy can be present at their own parishes for the evening liturgy.
Key Historical & Liturgical Facts
- It culminates in the “Easter Triduum”: While Holy Week begins on Palm Sunday, its core liturgical summit is the Paschal Triduum—a single three-day commemoration spanning Maundy Thursday evening, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday.
- The root of “Maundy” Thursday: The name derives from the Latin word mandatum (“commandment”), pointing to Jesus washing the disciples’ feet and delivering the mandate: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another” (John 13:34).
- The sole day without Mass: Good Friday is the only day of the liturgical year in the Roman Catholic Church where no standard Mass is celebrated. Instead, churches hold the Celebration of the Passion of the Lord, featuring the Liturgy of the Word, the Adoration of the Cross, and Holy Communion using hosts consecrated the evening before.
- Tenebrae and disappearing light: An ancient liturgical service held during the latter half of Holy Week, Tenebrae (Latin for “darkness”), features the gradual extinguishing of 15 candles until only one remains. That final candle is hidden behind the altar—symbolizing Christ in the tomb—followed by the strepitus (a loud crash made by slamming books or stomping), representing the earthquake at the crucifixion.
- The Easter Vigil is the oldest Christian liturgy: Celebrated after sundown on Holy Saturday, the Easter Vigil dates to the earliest centuries of Christianity. It traditionally begins in total darkness outside the church with the blessing of a new fire and lighting of the Paschal Candle.
Global Traditions
- Semana Santa in Spain & Latin America: Cities like Seville and Antigua, Guatemala, are world-renowned for massive penitential processions. Brotherhoods (cofradías) carry towering pasos (elaborate sculpted floats) depicting scenes of the Passion through streets carpeted in dyed sawdust and flowers.
- Visita Iglesia: A centuries-old tradition prominent in the Philippines and Latin America where pilgrims visit seven (or fourteen) different churches on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday to pray the Stations of the Cross and venerate the Blessed Sacrament.
- Western vs. Eastern timing: Western Christianity (Gregorian calendar) and Eastern Christianity (Julian calendar) frequently observe Holy Week on different dates. Easter must fall on the first Sunday after the full moon following the vernal equinox, but difference in calendar systems and lunar calculations causes them to diverge by several weeks in most years.
Central Biblical Figures
- Jesus of Nazareth: The focal figure of the entire week, moving chronologically from the triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, through the Last Supper, betrayal, trial, crucifixion on Good Friday, and resurrection on Easter Sunday.
- Pontius Pilate: The Roman prefect of Judea who presided over Jesus’s trial. Pressured by local religious authorities and crowd sentiment, he famously washed his hands of legal guilt before handing Jesus over for execution.
- Judas Iscariot: One of the Twelve Apostles who betrayed Jesus to the chief priests for thirty pieces of silver, identifying him with a kiss in the Garden of Gethsemane on Spy Wednesday/Holy Thursday.
- Simon Peter: The leader of the apostles whose denial of Jesus three times before the rooster crowed—and subsequent repentance—forms a poignant dramatic arc across Maundy Thursday night and Good Friday morning.
- Mary, the Mother of Jesus (Mater Dolorosa): Accompanied Jesus along the Via Dolorosa to Golgotha, standing at the foot of the cross (Stabat Mater). She remains the most revered maternal figure in Holy Week devotions and Marian processions worldwide.
- Mary Magdalene: Present at the crucifixion, observed Jesus’s burial, and is recorded across all four canonical Gospels as the first witness to the empty tomb and the risen Christ, earning her the early church title Apostola Apostolorum (“Apostle to the Apostles”).
- Simon of Cyrene: A passerby from North Africa compelled by Roman soldiers to help carry Jesus’s cross to Calvary, memorialized in the Fifth Station of the Cross.
- Joseph of Arimathea & Nicodemus: Secret disciples and members of the Sanhedrin who boldly petitioned Pilate for Jesus’s body, wrapping it in linen and placing it in Joseph’s newly hewn tomb before sunset on Good Friday.
Traditional & Ceremonial Figures
- The Costaleros / Bearers: In Spanish and Latin American traditions, teams of men carry the massive pasos (sculpted religious floats depicting the Passion) on their necks and shoulders through narrow streets for hours at a time as an act of penance.
- The Nazarenos (Penitents): Procession participants dressed in long tunics and conical hoods (caperuzas or capirote). The tall hoods—dating back to medieval times—were designed to conceal the penitent’s identity so that an act of atonement before God remained anonymous and humble.
- The Centurion / Longinus: In community passion plays (popular across Italy, Mexico, and the Philippines), actors play the Roman soldier who pierced Jesus’s side with a lance and declared, “Truly this man was the Son of God.”
- Veronica: While not named in the canonical Gospels, Christian tradition commemorates Saint Veronica as the woman who stepped forward from the crowd to wipe Jesus’s face with her veil along the road to Calvary.
Orthodox Holy Week 2027
Eastern Orthodox churches observe the same week using the Julian calendar, which produces a different set of dates.
| Day | Western 2027 | Orthodox 2027 | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palm Sunday | March 21 | April 25 | 35 days |
| Holy Thursday | March 25 | April 29 | 35 days |
| Good Friday | March 26 | April 30 | 35 days |
| Holy Saturday | March 27 | May 1 | 35 days |
| Easter, Pascha | March 28 | May 2 | 35 days |
The 35-day gap in 2027 is one of the widest possible. The two dates can also coincide exactly, as they did in 2025 and will again in 2028.
The separation depends on whether the Julian and Gregorian paschal moons fall in the same lunation.
Orthodox Great Lent also runs on its own schedule. It begins on Clean Monday, March 15, 2027, and ends on Friday, April 23, before Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday. Orthodox tradition has no Ash Wednesday.
What Holy Week 2027 is not
Holy Week is not a period of public holidays in the United States. Good Friday closes the stock exchanges but not federal offices, banks or the postal service.
In the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and much of Europe, Good Friday and Easter Monday are both public holidays.
Holy Week is not the last week of Lent in every tradition. Latin Catholic reckoning ends Lent on Maundy Thursday evening, March 25, when the Triduum begins.
Lutheran, Anglican, Moravian and Western Orthodox reckoning runs Lent through Holy Saturday, March 27.
Both are correct within their own tradition, which is why published Lent end dates for 2027 differ by two days.
Holy Week 2027 does not include Easter Monday, March 29. That day begins Eastertide, the fifty-day season running to Pentecost on May 16.
Frequently asked questions
What are the dates of Holy Week 2027?
Sunday, March 21 through Sunday, March 28, 2027. Palm Sunday opens the week on March 21, Maundy Thursday falls on March 25, Good Friday on March 26, Holy Saturday on March 27, and Easter Sunday closes it on March 28.
When is Maundy Thursday 2027?
Thursday, March 25, 2027. It is also called Holy Thursday and commemorates the Last Supper. In Latin Catholic reckoning it marks the end of Lent and the start of the Paschal Triduum. It is not a public holiday in the United States.
Why is Orthodox Holy Week five weeks later in 2027?
Because Eastern churches apply the paschal rule using the Julian calendar, which now runs 13 days behind the Gregorian. In 2027 that offset places the Julian paschal moon in the following lunation, adding a full lunar month on top of the 13-day difference. Orthodox Holy Week runs April 25 to May 1, with Pascha on May 2.
