Holy Saturday is the darkest day of the Easter Triduum and, at the same time, the brightest day: a day of hope without limits. We would like a day so marked by sorrow to end quickly because it tests our adherence to the faith; we would like to shorten that day, we would like to erase it, and yet, in the Easter Triduum, it is a necessary day: we need to understand what happened, to face the reality of death, and to practice loving expectation, overcoming doubts through adherence to Jesus’ words.
The Descent into Hell
On Holy Saturday, we commemorate Christ who “descended into hell” to redeem all those who await his coming. What does this expression, “descended into hell,” mean? It means that in the realm of death, the voice of God resounded. The unthinkable happened: Love penetrated “into hell”; this tells us that even in the extreme darkness of the most absolute human solitude, we can hear a voice calling us and find a hand that takes us and leads us out. Christ conquered death and opened for people of all times the path of hope and salvation. Hope, waiting, and silence are therefore the feelings, the atmosphere, that pervade this day.
The Silence of Holy Saturday
Holy Saturday is a day of silence. Everything is quiet because - as an ancient homily says - “The King sleeps. The earth is silent because God made flesh has fallen asleep and awakened those who have slept for centuries.” For this reason, it is a day without a Eucharistic celebration and without celebrations concerning the burial of Jesus Christ, the mystery of faith that is Jesus’ descent into hell.
Holy Saturday is the day of God's rest, when Jesus' body lies resting in the tomb. Jesus appears to be dead forever: there is now nothing more to see or hear from him… His story appears to be a failure, and the apostles and his community are afraid and bewildered. Christ is dead. The tomb has received his body, and a stone closes it. Everything seems to be over. The mystery of Holy Saturday forces each of us to confront the mystery of death. Christ's death is our death. Christ, having descended into hell, has «descended into the mystery of death». Descended into our death. Thus we are placed before death: Jesus' death, but also our own death and the death of the people we love.
A Day of Prayer and Meditation
Holy Saturday, then, the day of great silence, the day of meditation and prayer while awaiting the announcement of the Resurrection, is well suited to prayer and meditation before that heartrending yet composed and majestic image that is the Shroud. Indeed, Pope Benedict XVI emphasized the profound connection between the Shroud, with the extraordinary image imprinted upon it, and the mystery of Holy Saturday: «It can be said that the Shroud is the Icon of this mystery, the Icon of Holy Saturday… the Shroud of Turin offers us an image of what his body was like, lying in the tomb during that time, which was brief chronologically (about a day and a half), but immense, infinite in its value and meaning… In that “time-beyond-time” Jesus Christ “descended into hell”.»
Under Mary's Mantle
When a serious illness, a difficult family or work problem, the death of a loved one, or a harsh, painful reality that is difficult for us or those close to us to bear knocks at our door, we live through our Holy Saturday. God seems absent, evil seems to prevail, and suffering seems meaningless… And even more strongly and forcefully, the silent cry rises in our hearts: What is the meaning of so much suffering? How can I give meaning to the tragedies I am experiencing? When will all this end?
These questions find an answer in the Virgin Mary, because she alone can teach us how to stand before the Son, even before the tomb, with an attitude of hope and trust. She remained silent at the foot of the cross in the immense grief of her Son's death and remains in the silence of loving expectation without losing faith in the God of life, while the body of the Crucified lies in the tomb. She hoped against all hope beneath the cross and all the way to the tomb; she lived Holy Saturday, instilling hope in the bewildered and disappointed disciples.
On Holy Saturday, in the time of the deepest darkness, of the abyss of suffering, Mary speaks to our hearts and, through her example, teaches us to believe even during the nights of faith, to proclaim the primacy of God and to love him even in his silences.
“The Russian mystics of the first centuries of the Church - Pope Francis recalled in this regard - gave their disciples some advice: in moments of spiritual turmoil, take refuge under the mantle of the holy Mother of God. The devil cannot enter there because she is a mother and, as a mother, she defends.”
Under Mary's mantle, and holding close to her, we too will find the strength to continue believing that Jesus Christ is alive and that, precisely when we see nothing and realize only that we are filled with suffering and death, he descends into us to bring salvation.
The risen Jesus will wipe the tears from our eyes
Yes, sooner or later in life we experience pain and suffering, but if we go all the way, we find Jesus, who went before us and awaits us with open arms. Then our waiting comes to an end: the risen Jesus will wipe the tears from our eyes and, with his hand in ours, will lead us to the merciful Father.
There truly is no dawn of Easter without Holy Saturday.
