Holy Thursday.--A name commonly given to ASCENSION DAY (which see);
not to be confounded with Thursday in Holy Week, which is more
properly known as Maundy Thursday.
Holy Week.--The last week in Lent is so called and among the
ancients was known also as "The Great Week," because of the
important events in the last week in our Lord's Life which it
commemorates. It is a week of solemn and awful memories, a holy
time of deepest devotion and searchings of heart. The Church has
always kept it as such. From day to day, amid the solemnities of
worship, we follow our Lord in His Passion, live it over again, as
in Psalm and Hymn, in Proper Lessons, in Epistles and Gospels and
pleading, prayers the whole record of the Royal Reception, the final
Teachings, Betrayal, the cruel mockery, the desertion, and the
awful Agony on the Cross, the Death and the Burial of the Lord
of Life is solemnly recited as a memorial before God. Each {138} day
is significant, thus: The first day of the week, the Sixth Sunday in
Lent, is called Palm Sunday, in reference to the palms strewn in our
Lord's way on His entrance into Jerusalem; _Monday_ and _Tuesday_
witnessed the final disputations with the Jews; _Wednesday_ stands
out as the day of the Lord's Betrayal and the beginning of the events
which reached their climax on Good Friday; _Thursday_ is ever to be
remembered as the day of the Commands, first, concerning love, and
secondly, the institution of the Blessed Sacrament with its "Do this
in remembrance of Me"; _Good Friday_, the day of the Crucifixion and
Death, and _Saturday_, Easter Even, which commemorates the Descent
of our Lord's soul into Hell while His Body rested in the grave.
Homilies.--The two books of Homilies or Sermons referred to in the
XXXVth Article of Religion. The first volume was written during the
reign of Edward VI, in 1542, and the second in 1563. They treat of
such topics as "Good Works," "Repentance," "Prayer," "The number of
the Sacraments," "The Right Use of the Church," etc. The Books of
Homilies are received in the American Church so far as they are an
explication of Christian Doctrine and instructive in piety and
morals. The list of subjects treated of in the Second Book is given
in the XXXVth Article of Religion.
Hood.--An ornamental fold hanging down the back, denoting the
academical degree which the person officiating has taken in College
or University. It is made of silk, the color indicating the degree
according to the University usage. The Church of England {139} by
canon enjoins that every minister, who is a graduate, shall wear his
proper hood during the time of divine service. The hood is quite
commonly worn in the United States by both Bishops and Clergy.