Toward Easter - Daily Readings & Meditations for Lent 2025 - Day 46 / Holy Saturday

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The sacred stillness of Holy Saturday holds a unique place in our spiritual journey - that profound pause between the Crucifixion and Resurrection, where we are invited to contemplate the mystery of Christ's rest in the tomb. Through ancient liturgical texts and thoughtful meditation, we explore this day not as empty waiting, but as fertile ground where the seed of Resurrection quietly germinates.

"Today I am plunged in anguish, but tomorrow I will break my bonds." This powerful antiphon sets the tone for our reflection on what appears as defeat but secretly harbors victory. We join Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus at the hasty burial of Jesus before walking through the profound symbolism of the Easter Vigil ceremonies—the blessing of new fire, the lighting of the Paschal candle representing Christ risen, and the gradual illumination of darkness as this light spreads throughout the congregation.

The beautiful paradox of Holy Saturday emerges as we contemplate both loss and anticipation. "The sleep of death will be of short duration, followed by a glorious triumph," reminds us that beneath apparent defeat, God's redemptive work continues unseen. We offer practical spiritual resolutions for the day: spending time in recollection with Mary, seeking confession, praying for catechumens awaiting baptism, and remembering souls in purgatory. If you're journeying with us through Lent toward Easter glory, join our community in prayer for those entering the Church tonight, and prepare your heart for the magnificent celebration of Resurrection that awaits us all tomorrow.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Sancte.
Sancte Amare morti.
Decadastros In tes per avert.
Good morning everyone andwelcome to Holy Saturday here.

(00:36):
Tomorrow is Easter, but firstwe have to get through today.
So I assume, if you're watchingby now, that you've seen these
before.
So I'm not going to explain toomuch today.
So we're going to get rightinto our reading and meditation
here for Holy Saturday.
So, without further ado, herewe go.

(00:57):
Holy Saturday Hope.
Hope From the first antiphonfor Vespers for today, which is
Psalm 115, verses 1 and 6.
Today I am plunged in anguish,but tomorrow I will break my

(01:26):
bonds.
On Good Friday, the fall ofevening marked the beginning of
Sabbath rest.
Under the eyes of the attentiveholy women, two men hurriedly
performed the basic rites ofburial.
These were Joseph of Arimatheaand Nicodemus.
They did the best they could.
Nicodemus bought the myrrh andaloes.

(01:47):
Joseph the shroud, joseph's owntomb, carved out of the rock,
was offered for receiving thebody of Jesus hastily buried.
Joseph had only the time toroll the large stone before the
entry of the tomb and then heleft.

(02:07):
Henceforth.
A profound silence reigns overthis tomb, which will hold its
secret until Easter morning.
Jesus is the grain of wheatthrown into the earth for the
future harvest.
The silence and the immobilityof his body are fecund like the

(02:29):
silence and immobility of thehost in the tabernacle or in our
hearts.
Yes, the body of Jesus must notdeceive us.
The sleep of death will be ofshort duration, followed by a

(02:50):
glorious triumph.
May this Saturday, day oftransition between the anguish
of Good Friday and the glory ofthe resurrection, be a day of
recollection and prayer at thefeet of the lifeless body of
Jesus.
Let us open wide our heart, letus purify it in his blood so
that, renewed in charity andpurity, our soul may contest the

(03:11):
role with the new sepulcher inoffering to our Lord a place of
rest and peace.
Let us think also of our deardeparted Lord Jesus.
Grant us the grace to be soinflamed with heavenly desires
during these approaching feastdays of Easter that we might one
day come to the eternal feastof heaven, where we will rejoice

(03:35):
unendingly in thy vision, thesource of our happiness for
eternity.
And now, as a prayer, we makean act of hope in the name of
the father and the son and theholy ghost amen, my god.

(03:55):
I hope with firm confidencethou wilt give to me, by the
merits of jesus christ, thygrace in this world and, if I
observe thy commandments,eternal happiness in the other.
Our first thought of the day isfrom St Teresa of the Child
Jesus.
Our first thought of the day isfrom St Teresa of the Child

(04:29):
Jesus.
We can never have too muchconfidence in our good God, who
is so powerful and merciful.
We obtain from him as much aswe hope.
And our second thought is fromSt Padre Pio, reborn by baptism.

(04:50):
Let us correspond to the graceof our vocation.
Let us imitate the Immaculate,for she is our mother.
We have four resolutions today.
The first to pass the day inrecollection in company with the
Blessed Virgin, even if we haveto work in order to prepare

(05:20):
ourselves to renew the promisesof our baptism in the best state
of mind.
Number two to go to confession,if we have not already.
3.
To pray for the catechumens whoare going to receive baptism.
4.

(05:41):
To pray for the solace in thedelivery of the souls in
purgatory.
Okay, we also have a readinghere on the liturgy for Holy
Saturday, so let me bring thatup.
Holy Saturday Explain to thechildren that Holy Saturday is

(06:06):
the most silent day of the year.
The divine body of Jesus restsin the tomb.
The church is deprived of herspouse, she can only express her
mourning.
There is no Mass today.
There is only the divine officewhere sadness and hope are
mingled.
The soul of Jesus is in limbo,where it brings joy to the souls

(06:28):
of the just who have beenawaiting the promise to Savior
since original sin.
In a few hours it will returnto the sepulcher to be once more
united to this body which itleft three days before in the
anguish of agony.
The evening will bring thefaithful back to the sanctuary
to celebrate Easter night.
It is good for children who areold enough to accompany their

(06:50):
parents.
If the prayers and ceremoniesare well explained ahead of time
, then they will be inspiringfor the children.
The office of the vigil preparesus for the mass of Easter night
.
It has two parts the Eastermessage and the baptismal
rebirth.
The Easter message and thebaptismal rebirth.

(07:11):
The celebration begins with theblessing of the new fire.
The priest lights the paschalcandle from its flame.
The candle represents Christrisen again.
The five grains of incensewhich are fixed into the candle
symbolize the five transfiguredwounds of Jesus risen.
The triumphal entry of thepaschal Candle into the darkened
church is a striking moment inthe ceremony.

(07:32):
The procession halts threetimes on its path Each time the
priest raises the Paschal Candle, singing Lumen Christi, the
light of Christ, in a more andmore powerful voice and on a
higher note.
On their knees, the faithfulrespond Deo gratias, thanks be

(07:55):
to God.
The clergy, then those inattendance, gradually light
their taper with the fire of thepaschal candle.
The entire nave of the churchis thus, little by little,
illumined.
This light which guides thepeople of God is Christ,
prefigured by the column of firewhich guided the Hebrews in the

(08:17):
desert.
When it has been brought to themiddle of the sanctuary, the
paschal candle is settled in itsstand and the priest intones
the chant of the exultant, whichcalls to mind the figures of
the Old Testament foretellingthis great day of resurrection.
Now that these figures have beenrealized, the priest exclaims

(08:37):
Let the angelic choirs of heavennow rejoice, let the divine
mysteries rejoice and let thetrumpet of salvation sound.
Forth the victory of so great aking.
Let the earth also rejoice,enlightened with the brightness
of salvation.
Sound forth the victory of sogreat a king.
Let the earth also rejoice,Enlightened with the brightness
of the eternal king.
Let it know that the darknessof the whole world is scattered.
Let our mother, the church,also rejoice, adorned with the

(09:00):
brightness of so great a light.
This is the night in which,destroying the chains of death,
christ arose victorious from thegrave.
For it availed us nothing to beborn unless it had availed to
be redeemed.
O inestimable affection of love.
To redeem a slave, thou didstdeliver up thy son.

(09:20):
O happy fault that merited topossess such and so great a
redeemer.
O truly blessed night whichcleanses sin, restores innocence
to the fallen and gladness tothe sorrowful.
Four readings from the OldTestament, commented by
admirable prayers, call to mindthe great designs of God in the

(09:42):
work of our redemption andproclaim our rebirth in Christ.
The litany of the saints nextprecedes the blessing of the
baptismal water.
The rites which we are about tofollow go back to the times of
the apostles.
It is the water of baptism thatgives life.
Let us be attentive to theceremonies and follow the

(10:03):
prayers that accompany thesevery expressive rituals.
With his hand outstretched, thepriest divides the water by
tracing a cross in it.
He shows by this sign that itis by virtue of the cross that
the waters have acquired thepower to regenerate souls.
It is the blood of our Lord,with the power of the Holy Ghost
that works in the soul throughthe water.

(10:25):
Then the celebrant asks God tochase far from these waters the
influence of evil spirits.
Extending his hand over thewater and touching it, the
contact of this sacred handoperates by virtue of the
priesthood that resides in him.
He next blesses the water threetimes by making three times

(10:46):
over at the sign of the cross.
Then he calls to our mind thefour rivers which fructified the
earthly paradise, as he onceagain divides the water with his
hand and sprinkles the fourpoints of the compass, showing
thus that the whole earth shouldreceive the preaching of holy
baptism.
At that moment, using a slightlysimpler tone, he invokes on the

(11:07):
water the fructifying action ofthe Holy Spirit, whose name
means breath.
He is the divine breath, thatviolent wind which was heard in
the upper room on Pentecost.
The priest expresses thisdivine character of the third
person in breathing three timeson the water in the form of a
cross.
He asks the Holy Spirit tobless this water himself, so

(11:31):
that it might receive the powerto purify souls.
Next, taking the paschal candlethree times, he dips the lower
end of it in the font, moredeeply each time, chanting each
time in a higher tone.
May the virtue of the HolyGhost descend into all the water
of this font.
Of it in the font, more deeplyeach time, chanting each time in
a higher tone.
May the virtue of the HolyGhost descend into all the water
of this font.
This rite expresses the mysteryof the baptism of Christ in the

(11:53):
Jordan.
The water receives on this daythe power promised by the action
of the two divine persons.
Before removing the candle fromthe water, the priest once more
leans over the font andbreathes again on the water, no
longer in the form of a cross,but in tracing the greek letter
sigh, which is the first letterof the word spirit in greek.

(12:14):
He does so in order to unite ina visible symbol the power of
the holy ghost and the power ofchrist.
Then he withdraws the candlefrom the water, saying here may
the stains of all sins be washedout, that all who receive the
sacrament of regeneration may beborn again, new children of
true innocence, through our LordJesus Christ, thy Son, who

(12:36):
shall come to judge the livingand the dead and the world by
fire, amen.
At this point, a little of thewater is set aside to be used
for sprinkling those inattendance after the renewal of
the baptismal promises.
Next, the celebrant pours intothe water, in the form of a

(12:56):
cross, the oil of catechumens,then the holy chrism in the same
way.
Finally, taking the chrism inhis right hand and the oil of
catechumens in his left, hepours both of them at the same
time and says, as he performsthe sacred libation which
expresses the overabundance ofthe baptismal grace, may this

(13:16):
mixture of the chrism of ourLord Jesus Christ and of the
Holy Ghost, the Comforter, bemade in the name of the Holy
Trinity.
Amen.
Of the Holy Ghost, theComforter be made in the name of
the Holy Trinity.
Amen.
If there are baptisms, they areperformed at this time.
The clergy goes in processionto the baptismal font to bring

(13:36):
the water there and singing thecanticle Secret Service.
As the heart panteth after thefountains of water, so my soul
panteth after thee, o God.
My soul hath thirsted for theliving God.
Then they returned to thesanctuary for the renewal of the

(13:57):
promises of baptism, duringwhich all of the faithful hold
their burning taper in theirhand.
At the end, the celebrantsprinkles them with holy water.
While the choir takes up againthe rest of the litany of the
saints, the candle is placed onits stand on the gospel side, a
symbol of Jesus risen again.
It will be lit at every Massuntil Ascension Day.

(14:18):
The altar candles are then litwhile the celebrant and his
ministers return to the sacristyto vest in the white vestments
of the mass and thus ends theseason of lent.
And there we are.

(14:43):
That was a rather long readingthere in the liturgy, so I do
not have much to add other thanI hope you have a blessed Holy
Saturday today.
Let's just go back over ourresolutions real quick.
So we remember those.
So we remember those.

(15:05):
So resolutions for today are topass the day in recollection
with the company of the BlessedVirgin, to go to confession, if
we haven't already.
To pray for the catechumens whoare going to receive baptism
and to pray for the solace andthe delivery of the souls in
purgatory.

(15:27):
So if you are, if any of you whowatch or listen to this on
YouTube or Rumble or audiopodcast, if any of you are a
catechumen and are going to bebrought into the church tonight,
one, we're all praying for youto be brought into the church
tonight.
One, we're all praying for you.
Two, let us know in thecomments on YouTube or Rumble or

(15:50):
on audio podcasts.
In the description there shouldbe a link where you can text us
a message.
It won't give us your phonenumber, so don't worry, it's
anonymous.
But if you're a catechumenwho's coming to the church
tonight, let us know so we canpray for you by name.

(16:13):
But if you are someone cominginto the church, congratulations
, and we are so happy to haveyou and we'll be praying for you
.
But for everyone else, thankyou for joining me on this
46-day journey through Lent.
We are going to continue thesethrough the Easter octave, but

(16:39):
if you're listening to thistoday, then we made it through
Lent.
So I hope everyone has had ablessed Lent and let's all spend
the day in silence andrecollection and preparation for
Easter tomorrow.
So thank you all so much.
I hope you have a blessed HolySaturday and I'll see you all
again tomorrow on Easter Sunday.

(17:00):
Thank you.