Holy Week is the annual Christian observance commemorating Jesus’ last week on earth and the events leading up to his resurrection on Easter Sunday. It is the final week of Lent, and the week prior to Easter Sunday.
The dates of Holy Week are defined by the date of Easter Sunday, which is a moveable feast, and therefore it falls on different dates from year to year. The Week includes days like Palm Sunday, Holy Monday, Holy Tuesday, Spy Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday.
Holy Week 2021: Dates, full calendar here:
| S.No. | Day | Date | Holy Week 2021 Days |
| 1 | Sunday | March 28, 2021 | Palm Sunday or Passion Sunday |
| 2 | Monday | March 29, 2021 | Holy Monday |
| 3 | Tuesday | March 30, 2021 | Holy Tuesday or Fig Tuesday |
| 4 | Wednesday | March 31, 2021 | Holy Wednesday or Spy Wednesday |
| 5 | Thursday | April 1, 2021 | Maundy Thursday |
| 6 | Friday | April 2, 2021 | Good Friday |
| 7 | Saturday | April 3, 2021 | Holy Saturday |
| 8 | Saturday | April 3, 2021 | Easter Vigil |
| 9 | Sunday | April 4, 2021 | Easter Day (Easter Sunday) |
What Is Palm Sunday?
Palm Sunday is the first day of Holy Week, a seven-day span that culminates the day before Easter Sunday. The feast commemorates Jesus’ triumphant arrival in the city of Jerusalem for Passover, where he was greeted by a crowd of people laying palm branches at his feet.
According to the World Catholic Library, “Because the palms are blessed, they may not be discarded as trash. Instead, they are appropriately gathered at the church and incinerated to create the ashes that will be used in the follow year’s Ash Wednesday observance.”
Many churches hand out palm leaves to their congregation on Palm Sunday, often blessed first by the clergy. People take them home and hang them on their walls, alongside Christian art, or fold them into cross shapes.
What is Easter Day?
The yearly celebration of Jesus’ resurrection is the oldest feast of the Christian Church, and the resurrection has been a central belief of the Christian faith from its beginning.
The eighth-century historian Bede wrote that Easter, the English word for the holiday, came from the Anglo-Saxon goddess Eoster, the goddess of spring and fertility.
