Over the last few years, our family has slowly been incorporating traditions into our daily life to remind us of the life of the Church. This has included devotions, candles, colors, hymnals, incense, and most recently, a family altar that serves as a place to keep our devotional items. A couple of years ago, I saw someone on Instagram make these dyed eggs for each day of Holy Week. I thought it was a great idea not only to teach about Holy Week but also to continue the Christian tradition of making Easter eggs. It took me a while to get around to it, but last year I made some of my own along with some items to put in them to teach about the events of Holy Week. Since then, I thought about how others might also like to add a Holy Week tradition with their family to teach about these events. On each day of Holy Week, I encourage you to refer to this fantastic timeline with scripture references created by Rev. Wolfmueller.

Supplies: Hollow wooden eggs, watercolor paint, craft paint, items to put in the eggs, Bible

I painted these with acrylic craft paint, but looking back, a nice watercolor paint would work well for the colored part. You can find a salt dough recipe here for the items (if you want to make them). These are like the hollow wood eggs I bought, but not the exact ones.

You might wonder why I painted the eggs the way I did. While I give some extra explanation below, mostly I painted them this way for two reasons: the first is that I think the successive colors are beautiful, and the second is that they are a reminder of the rainbow after the Flood when the Lord promised to never destroy the earth by water again. Then, He saved eight people on the ark through the waters of the Flood. Now, we are saved through the waters of baptism. This baptism now saves us because of Christ’s sacrifice for us. I also considered adding all the scripture passages below, but instead of reinventing the wheel, I suggest you use Rev. Wolfmueller’s well-made document. Or, choose a gospel to read through on each day of Holy Week as you talk about the events, colors, and items and what they mean.

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Palm Sunday

• Events:
  • Triumphal Entry
• Color:
  • The liturgical color for Palm Sunday to Maundy Thursday is scarlet
  • I painted the egg red as the start of the rainbow
• Symbol:
  • Palm Branch
• Item:
  • Palm Leaf

Holy Monday

• Events:
  • Fig tree cursed
  • Cleansing of the temple
• Color:
  • The liturgical color for this day is scarlet, but for the sake of continuing the rainbow, this egg is orange.
• Symbol:
  • Fig Tree
• Item:
  • Cord, dried leaf, coins

Holy Tuesday

• Events:
  • Withered tree testifies
  • Tribute to Caesar
  • Widow’s mite
  • Jesus speaks of the end
  • Parables
  • Judas agrees to betray Jesus
• Color:
  • The liturgical color for this day is scarlet, but for the sake of continuing the rainbow, this egg is yellow, which is also fitting for the number of money events this day.
• Symbol:
  • Money bag with coins
• Item:
  • Coins

Holy Wednesday

• Events:
  • Woman anoints Jesus’ feet
• Color:
  •  The liturgical color for this day is scarlet, unless there is a chrism service, in which case it is white. But for the sake of continuing the rainbow, this egg is green, which also can relate to the olive oil used.
• Symbol:
  • Jar
• Item:
  • I wouldn’t put olive oil or perfume in the egg, but getting them some or connecting it to the oil in the chrism service is ideal. I also made a little jar from salt dough.

Maundy Thursday

• Events:
  • Passover
  • Jesus washes the disciples’ feet
  • Betrayal predicted
  • Institution of the Lord’s Supper
  • Gethsemane
• Color:
  • The liturgical color for this day is scarlet, but for the sake of continuing the rainbow, this egg is blue.
• Symbol:
  • A cup with bread above it
• Item:
  • I made a cup and loaf out of salt dough, but pointing things out at the Maundy Thursday service would be ideal so as to not confuse children that any bread or drink is the Eucharist.

Good Friday

• Events:
  • Betrayal, arrest, and desertion
  • Examined by chief priests and Roman governors
  • Suicide of Judas
  • Crucifixion
  • Darkness Final words
  • It is finished
  • Curtain torn
• Color:
  • The liturgical color for this day is black, but for the sake of continuing the rainbow, this egg is purple, which also corresponds to the royal robe put on Jesus.
• Symbol:
  • A crown of thorns and nails
• Item:
  • Nails, thorns, seamless fabric, torn fabric, hyssop

Holy Saturday

• Events:
  • Soldiers sent to guard the tomb
  • Jesus’ body rests in the tomb
  • Harrowing of hell (there’s no particular day for this, it is just between Christ’s death and resurrection)
• Color:
  • The liturgical color for this day is both black and white (for the Easter Vigil), but for the sake of representing the stripped altar of the night before, this egg is bare save the symbol of the tomb.
• Symbol:
  • The closed tomb
• Item
  • Spear, seal

Easter Sunday

• Events
  • Jesus is risen! Alleluia!
  • Stone is rolled away
  • Women go to the tomb to anoint the body
  • Angel appears
  • Disciples go to tomb
  • Jesus appears to Mary, on the road to Emmaus, and to the disciples
• Color:
  • The liturgical colors for this day are white and gold.
• Symbol:
  • ChiRho
• Item:
  • Spices, white cloth