Holy Saturday is the day in the Christian liturgical calendar that Commemorates the 40-hour-long vigil that the followers of Jesus Christ held after his death and burial on Good Friday and before his resurrection on Easter Sunday. Holy Saturday is the last day of Lent and of Holy Week, and the third day of the Easter Triduum, the three high holidays before Easter, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday.
Holy Saturday Commemoration
Holy Saturday is always the day between
Good Friday and Easter Sunday. The date of Easter is set by the Ecclesiastical
Tables, constructed at the Ecumenical Council of Nicea (325 CE) as the first
Sunday that follows the first full moon after the spring equinox (with some
adjustment for the Gregorian calendar).
Holy Saturday in the Bible
According to the Bible, Jesus’ followers
and family held a vigil for him outside his tomb, awaiting his foretold
resurrection. Biblical references to the vigil are fairly terse, but accounts
of the burial are Matthew 27:45–57; Mark 15:42–47; Luke 23:44–56; John
19:38–42.
“So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took
down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of
rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. Mary Magdalene
and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where he was laid.” Mark 15:46–47.
There are no direct references in the
canonical Bible to what Jesus did while the apostles and his family sat vigil,
except his last words to Barabbas the thief: “Today you will be with me in
paradise” (Luke 23:33–43). The authors of the Apostles’ Creed and the
Athanasian Creed, however, refer to this day as “The Harrowing of Hell,” when
after his death, Christ descended into hell to free all the souls who had died
since the beginning of the world and allow the trapped righteous souls to reach
heaven.
“Then the Lord stretching forth his hand,
made the sign of the cross upon Adam, and upon all his saints. And taking hold
of Adam by his right hand, he ascended from hell, and all the saints of God
followed him.” Gospel of Nicodemus 19:11–12
The stories originate in the apocryphal text “Gospel of
Nicodemus” (also known as the “Acts of Pilate” or “Gospel of Pilate”), and are
referred to in passing in several places in the canonical Bible, the most
significant of which is 1 Peter 3:19-20, when Jesus “went and made a
proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey, when
God waited patiently in the days of Noah.”
The History of Commemorating Holy Saturday
In the second century CE, people kept an absolute fast for the
entire 40-hour period between nightfall on Good Friday (recollecting the time
Christ was removed from the cross and buried in the tomb) and dawn on Easter
Sunday (when Christ was resurrected).
By Constantine’s realm in the fourth century CE, the night of
the vigil of Easter began Saturday at dusk, with the lighting of the “new
fire,” including a large number of lamps and candles and the paschal candle.
The paschal candle is very large, made of beeswax and fixed in a great
candlestick created for that purpose; it is still a significant part of Holy
Saturday services.
The history of fasting on Holy Saturday has varied over the
centuries. As the Catholic Encyclopedia notes, “in the early Church, this was
the only Saturday on which fasting was permitted.” Fasting is a sign of
penance, but on Good Friday, Christ paid with his own blood the debt of his
followers’ sins, and people, therefore, had nothing to repent. Thus, for many
centuries, Christians regarded both Saturday and Sunday as days on which
fasting was forbidden. That practice is still reflected in the Lenten
disciplines of the Eastern Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches, which
lighten their fasts slightly on Saturdays and Sundays.
Easter Vigil Mass
In the early church, Christians gathered on the afternoon of
Holy Saturday to pray and to confer the Sacrament of Baptism on
catechumens—converts to Christianity who had spent Lent preparing to be
received into the Church. As the Catholic Encyclopedia notes, in the early
Church, “Holy Saturday and the vigil of Pentecost were the only days on which
baptism was administered.” This vigil lasted through the night until dawn on
Easter Sunday, when the Alleluia was sung for the first time since the
beginning of Lent, and the faithful—including the newly baptized—broke their
40-hour fast by receiving Communion.
In the Middle Ages, beginning roughly in the eighth century, the
ceremonies of the Easter Vigil, especially the blessing of new fire and the
lighting of the Easter candle, began to be performed earlier and earlier.
Eventually, these ceremonies were performed on Holy Saturday morning. The whole
of Holy Saturday, originally a day of mourning for the crucified Christ and of
expectation of His Resurrection, now became little more than an anticipation of
the Easter Vigil.
20th Century Reforms
With the reform of the liturgies for Holy Week in 1956, those
ceremonies were returned to the Easter Vigil itself, that is, to the Mass
celebrated after sundown on Holy Saturday, and thus the original character of
Holy Saturday was restored.
Until the revision of the rules for fasting and abstinence in
1969, strict fasting and abstinence continued to be practiced on the morning of
Holy Saturday, thus reminding the faithful of the sorrowful nature of the day
and preparing them for the joy of Easter feast. While fasting and abstinence
are no longer required on Holy Saturday morning, practicing these Lenten
disciplines is still a good way to observe this sacred day.
As on Good Friday, the modern church offers no Mass for Holy
Saturday. The Easter Vigil Mass, which takes place after sundown on Holy
Saturday, properly belongs to Easter Sunday, since liturgically, each day
begins at sundown on the previous day. That is why Saturday vigil Masses can
fulfil parishioners’ Sunday Duty. Unlike on Good Friday, when Holy Communion is
distributed at the afternoon liturgy commemorating Christ’s Passion, on Holy
Saturday the Eucharist is only given to the faithful as viaticum—that is, only
to those in danger of death, to prepare their souls for their journey to the
next life.
The
modern Easter Vigil Mass often begins outside of the church near a charcoal
brazier, representing the first vigil. The priest then leads the faithful into
the church where the paschal candle is lit and the mass is held.