Ruminations of an Irascible Hermit.: The Silence of Holy Saturday

Saturday, April 15, 2017

The Silence of Holy Saturday

"This day is meant to be one of recollection in silence and prayer besides the sepulchre of the Lord" says Fr Gabriel of St Mary Magdalene OCD in his book Divine Intimacy

This day of silence and prayer, can often be awkward. But why awkward you ask? We know that Jesus died for us and we are sorry that our sins caused his death, but we are also excitedly anticipating his resurrection which we will celebrate tonight. So we don't know whether to be sad, mournful, happy or excited. It is part of the mystery and paradox of Holy Saturday.

While we pray at the sepulchre of Jesus, reflecting on his lifeless, bruised and tortured body. We also take refuge in his wounds, knowing that there is healing and safety there.

Holy Saturday is the Jewish sabbath day, so even in his death he was fulfilling the Law. However we also know that Jesus says that He and the Father are always at work, and that he is the Lord of the Sabbath. In the deathly silence of Holy Saturday, Jesus has descended to Hell (the place of the dead according to the Creed) where he has gone to rescue Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses and all the Prophets, holy men and woman who have been waiting for redemption in the realm of the dead. So to outward appearances the dead inactivity of God is ironically a continuation of redemption and salvation.

How often in our lives do we think that God is quiet, ignoring us, or not present when in reality His power is working in the silence and darkness of our lives?

To finish with one last quote from Divine Intimacy :

"May this Saturday, a day of transition between the agony of Friday and the glory of the Resurrection, be a day of prayer and recollection near the lifeless body of Jesus; let us open wide our heart and purify it in His Blood, so that renewed in love and purity, it can vie with the "new sepulchre" in offering the beloved Master a place of peace and rest"

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Disclaimer

Please note. I am a Catholic layman, not a qualified theologian or philosopher. What I say and write here are my own personal thoughts and ideas, although I always try to conform my writings to the Magisterium of the Church.

I- with firm faith believe and profess everything that is contained in the symbol of faith: namely,

I believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen. I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven: By the power of the Holy Spirit, he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered, died and was buried. On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. I believe in the one holy catholic and apostolic church. I acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

With firm faith I believe as well everything contained in God's word, written or handed down in tradition and proposed by the church--whether in solemn judgment or in the ordinary and universal Magisterium--as divinely revealed and called for faith.

I also firmly accept and hold each and every thing that is proposed by that same church definitively with regard to teaching concerning faith or morals.

What is more, I adhere with religious submission of will and intellect to the teachings which either the Roman pontiff or the college of bishops enunciate when they exercise the authentic Magisterium even if they proclaim those teachings in an act that is not definitive.