BLOG POST | Hey Deacon!

If you were celebrating the Passover in Jerusalem in A.D. 30 you likely heard that the Sanhedrin had arrested Jesus of Nazareth. He was charged with blasphemy, punishable by death under Jewish law. But the Jews did not have the authority to carry out such a penalty. They had to approach Roman authorities to convince them that Jesus was also guilty of sedition and inciting an insurrection against Rome. The Roman procurator, Pilate, could not find serious fault with Jesus but succumbed to the demands of the Jews and allowed him to be put to death by crucifixion.

The day following the Crucifixion was the Jewish Sabbath, a day given to God, when no work could be done. It was Saturday, what we know as Holy Saturday - part of the Paschal Triduum. Holy Saturday is a unique day in the liturgical calendar where the Church invites us to recall the holiness of this Sabbath. It is a day of pray and waiting; a time that is still marked with mourning but is on the edge of rejoicing.

Historically there was no Mass on Holy Saturday. It was a day set aside for prayer and silence. Christians held an all-night prayer vigil that started Saturday night and ended at dawn on Easter morning. For many centuries there was even a strict fast on Holy Saturday, permitting no food in observance of this painful day. There is a homily from the 2nd century which confirms this in the church, “What is happening? Today there is a great silence over the earth, a great silence, and stillness, a great silence because the King sleeps; the earth was in terror and was still, because God slept in the flesh and raised up those who were sleeping from the ages. God has died in the flesh, and the underworld has trembled.”

We also know that Jesus “descended into Hell” on Holy Saturday. This fact is important enough that we profess this in the Apostle Creed. But what is the significance of this statement of faith?

The Catechism (CCC 633) offers clarity on this point.

Scripture calls the abode of the dead, to which the dead Christ went down, “hell” - Sheol in Hebrew or Hades in Greek - because those who are there are deprived of the vision of God. Such is the case for all the dead, whether evil or righteous, while they await the Redeemer: which does not mean that their lot is identical, as Jesus shows through the parable of the poor man Lazarus who was received into “Abraham’s bosom”: “It is precisely these holy souls, who awaited their Savior in Abraham’s bosom, whom Christ the Lord delivered when he descended into hell.” Jesus did not descend into hell to deliver the damned, nor to destroy the hell of damnation, but to free the just who had gone before him.

Holy Saturday is a time for us to be present in the Lord, leaving our own agendas at the door. It is a good day not to ask for anything but to simply spend time within the Spirit of the Lord.

Author Bio:
Deacon Dan Vaughn