Holy Saturday. Easter Vigil. The Church waits with Mary before the tomb

Holy Saturday commemorates the day when Jesus Christ was in the tomb after His death. It is the day after Good Friday and the day before Easter Sunday. It is also known as Easter Eve

After Jesus died on the cross on Good Friday, Joseph of Arimathea, a wealthy member of the Sanhedrin and a secret disciple of Jesus, asked Pontius Pilate for the body of Jesus to be buried. Pilate agreed.

Joseph of Arimathea sprinkled the body of Jesus with myrrh and aloe, wrapped it in a layer of fine linen. He placed it in a tomb he had made for himself and rolled a huge stone over it and left. With this, Joseph fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 53:

"He was given a grave with the wicked and a tomb with the ungodly, though he had committed no violence nor was there any deceit in his mouth."

His mother, Mary, the Apostles - particularly St. John and Mary Magdalene - mourned this great loss.

Commemoration of Holy Saturday.

Today, on this Holy Saturday, we also reflect on the Lord´s generous dedication to a death on the cross for all our sins.

Some people continue to fast until nightfall. No Holy Communion service takes place until evening, when many churches celebrate the Easter Vigil. It is at this time that the Easter Candle is lit.

The priest lights a new candle every year. It will illuminate all the Holy Masses that will be celebrated during the next 40 days, until the celebration of Jesus´ Ascension into Heaven, then it is taken away from the altar.

The Easter candle contains five grains of incense, representing the five wounds of Jesus. The lighting of the candle recalls the light and life of his resurrection. The baptismal font, which is emptied on Holy Thursday, is replaced with freshly blessed water.

Traditionally, catechumens - those new to the faith - are baptized on this day. This reminds us of Scripture: if we are baptized into Christ, we will die in Christ and find eternal life with him.

What happened to Jesus while he was dead?

Reflecting now on the moment of Jesus and his rest in the tomb: although his body was there, his spirit had gone to Sheol - the place of the dead - to free the souls of righteous children and adults.

Jesus descended into this Hell, although this place where He went is not like the hell or purgatory we know today. His presence illuminated all these righteous souls from the beginning of time - Adam, Eve, Noah, Moses - and thus, Sheol became a paradise until Jesus´ Ascension to Heaven.

After His ascension, Jesus opened the gates of heaven to all of them, where they live with Him now and forever.

Very early the next day (Sunday), at the tomb, something tremendous happened. This is how the Gospel of Matthew recounts it (28:1-9):

"After Saturday, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to visit the tomb. Suddenly, there was a great earthquake: the angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled away the stone from the tomb and sat on it.

He looked like lightning and his clothes were white as snow. When the guards saw him, they trembled with fear and were as dead as a doornail. The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus, the Crucified One. He is not here, for he has risen as he said he would. Come and see the place where He was and go at once and say to His disciples, "He has risen from the dead and He will go before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. This is what I had to tell you".

The women, frightened but full of joy, quickly left the tomb and ran to tell the disciples the news. Suddenly Jesus came out to meet them and greeted them, saying, "Rejoice! They came to him, embraced his feet, and fell down before him.

Holy Saturday is the time when we learn to trust in God´s eternal sacrifice of love that death can neither subjugate nor comprehend.

On Holy Saturday we begin to see that it is God Himself who has made death His instrument; not to terrify us, but to call us more intimately to His side.

In the purifying darkness of Holy Saturday we discover the Sabbath of our waiting, we discover a solid hope.

Only Christ can take us to Easter morning, and so it is with all the Saturdays of our life. May this Holy Saturday be for you a day of recollection and of opening your heart to the resurrection of love. Amen.