Holy Week hymns: Palm Sunday to Good Friday

Holy Week walks with Jesus through the last days before his death: the crowds waving palms as he rides into Jerusalem, the Last Supper and the garden of Gethsemane on Thursday, and the cross on Good Friday. Each of those days has its own hymns, and singing them in order is one of the most powerful ways a congregation can prepare for Easter.

Palm Sunday hymns begin in celebration — “All Glory, Laud and Honor,” “Hosanna, Loud Hosanna” — and turn quickly, as the day itself does, toward the cross in “Ride On! Ride On in Majesty!” Maundy Thursday hymns gather around the Lord's Supper and the night in the garden. The Good Friday hymns are among the deepest the church sings: “O Sacred Head, Now Wounded,” “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” “Alas! and Did My Savior Bleed.”

Every text here is in the public domain in the United States, taken from a hymnal printed before 1931. Print them in an order of service for a Tenebrae or Good Friday service, project them, or use “Print all lyrics” for one sheet for the whole week.

Many churches keep the Good Friday service plain, ending in silence rather than with a hymn of celebration; the hymns here suit that restraint. When Sunday comes, turn to the Easter hymns page.