Holy Thursday (Songs of Experience) "reduced to misery". The "Holy Thursday" referred to in the poem is Ascension Thursday, which in the Church of England and other parts of the Anglican Communion, can be used a synonym for the same feast; Thomas Pruen uses the term to refer to Ascension Day in his "Illustration of the Liturgy of the Church of England", published in 1820; however use of the term "Holy Thursday" to mean Ascension Day is rare, and the term is more generally applied by most Christian denominations to Maundy Thursday in Holy Week. On Ascension Day a service was held in St. Paul's
Holy Week the liturgical day starts from the evening before a calendar day, the prayers of Palm Sunday begin on the evening of Lazarus' Saturday. Throughout Holy Week, a paschal service is conducted each evening, starting on Sunday night (the eve of Monday), and every morning, up until Easter. These paschal services take place in the middle of the church, not on the altar, because Jesus suffered and was crucified on Golgotha, outside of Jerusalem. The altar is bared of all its coverings and relics. Each day service is divided into 5 "hours"; The First Hour, The Third Hour, The Sixth Hour,