Holy Saturday: Into great silence

 

Opening Prayer

O Lord open our lips.
That our mouths may proclaim your praise.

O God, come to our aid.
O Lord, make haste to help us.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen.

Almighty God,
you have made us for yourself,
and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you:
pour your love into our hearts and draw us to yourself,
and so bring us at last to your heavenly city
where we shall see you face to face;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

‘The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it’.

[John 1.5]

 

On Holy Saturday we enter a place of great silence. Scripture is entirely silent about what happens during these silent hours and it can feel that after the events of Good Friday we are entering into the deepest and most silent of darknesses.

 

Ancient tradition is more helpful, and tells us that Jesus descends into Hell, and there seeks out the righteous dead, first and foremost Adam and Eve. In this Icon of Christ Harrowing Hell we see him raising Adam and Eve from their tombs. They are surrounded by the Patriarchs, Prophets and Kings, the righteous men and women of Israel, among them Moses, David and Solomon, and John the Baptist. The two beams Jesus is standing on are the gates of Hell, which he has broken down, and at the bottom lies Satan, who has been bound up and made a captive. His power now defeated.

 

But even as this takes place below, so above we must abide in silence above, as we await in darkness the words sung by the Deacon at the First Mass of Easter: ‘The Light of Christ …’

 

Closing Prayer

Almighty, ever-living God,

    whose Only-Begotten Son descended to the realm of the dead,

    and rose from there to glory,

grant that your faithful people,

    who were buried with him in baptism,

    may, by his resurrection, obtain eternal life.

Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

(one) God, for ever and ever.

Amen.