Tag Archives: Holy Saturday

In the Hell of Life, Holy Saturday

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14th century manuscript illustrating the harrowing of hell

The Harrowing of Hell, 14th century (source)

“When one door closes another opens,” goes an old and popular saying. But what about that time in between, after one door closes but before another opens? What do we do then? As a friend of mine once said, “It’s hell when you are waiting in the hallway.” That’s where we are today. The door on Good Friday has closed. Jesus is dead. The door on Easter has not yet opened. The tomb is sealed and guarded. This is Holy Saturday, in-between time, tomb time.

Many, perhaps most, will not remember or celebrate this day, but, at some point, we all live this day. We all come to the Holy Saturday of our life, the hell of our life, and it always involves a death of some kind: the death of loved one, the death of a relationship, the death of a dream. Regardless of how it comes about someone or something has died and all the doors remain closed. Continue reading →

Christ is Risen, Christos Anesti – A Collection of Holy Week Postings

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Christos anesti ek nekron,
thanato thanaton patisas,
kai tis en tis mnimasi zoin harisamenos.

Christ is risen from the dead,
trampling down death by death,
and upon those in the tombs bestowing life.

The following is a collection of postings from Holy Week:

Life on the Edge – A Sermon for Holy Saturday; Matthew 27:57-66

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The collect and readings for Holy Saturday may be found here. The following sermon is based on Matthew 27:57-66.

Jesus is dead. His body is in the tomb.

We weren’t there that day, but we know what it is like when life takes us to the edge. It is a border where you know you cannot go back to the way things were. Life has changed. A loved one has died. A relationship has ended. A dream has forever been shattered. The life we so carefully planned has fallen apart. The walls of our security have been breached. What used to be is no longer. There’s nothing to go back to. This is life on the edge. The disciples knew that edge. So do we.

The Church calls life on the edge Holy Saturday. On one side it is bordered by Good Friday; on the other by the hope of Easter life and resurrection. But it’s not yet Easter and in the midst of profound loss and grief Easter can seem a long way off.

Holy Saturday is a time of waiting for the third day. It is a time of not knowing. It is a time of silence. The women in today’s gospel say nothing. They do nothing. They just sit. Joseph of Arimathea asks, for the body, cares for it, and then leaves. There’s not much else to do or that can be done.

We know we have to move on. But how? The way forward is not clear. There’s no where to go. Our entire world, it seems, has become a tomb and the tombs of our lives always look so secure.

They are secured not so much by sealing the stone and posting guards but by our own overwhelming sorrow, pain, and despair. Those things tell us nothing is getting out of the tomb. The silence of Holy Saturday says there are no good words to be spoken. The waiting of Holy Saturday says nothing is happening. The unknown of Holy Saturday says there is no future. Those are, however, illusions. Beneath the silence and stillness of Holy Saturday death trembles and hell cries out in fear.

No matter how secure we have made our tombs, they can never be secured from the love of God. The depth of God’s love is every bit as deep as our tombs. In the Holy Saturday of life Christ descends into the depths of our tombs, into the hell of our lives, breaking the bonds of death, and setting the captives free. His love fills the tomb, permeates its walls, and transforms it into a womb of new birth and life.

Christ’s triumph is not apart from death, but within death. On Holy Saturday Christ is trampling down death by death and giving life to those in the tombs. All and only for love’s sake.

Icon for Holy Saturday:
The Harrowing of Hell

Holy Week, Love Week

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Sr. Dorcee has a really thoughtful post, On Entering Holy Week, that reminds us this is a week of love. Love is what makes the week holy. Yes, there is a lot going on this week and yet each day and each liturgy reminds us that we are loved. Each liturgy expresses that in a different way. On Palm Sunday love leads the way to Jerusalem. That love washes feet on Maundy Thursday and gives itself to us in the holy supper. On Good Friday it is not so much death on the cross that saves us as love on the cross that saves us. Jesus loves us to and through death. On Holy Saturday love bids us to sit and wait in the silence and darkness of the tomb. Finally, that love empties the tomb on Easter Sunday, revealing itself as the dawn of a new day and the beginning of a new life.

Icon of Jesus, St. Catherine's Monastery

A Sermon for Holy Saturday, Matthew 27:57-66

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The collect and readings for Holy Saturday may be found here. The appointed gospel is Matthew 27:57-66.

When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. So Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. He then rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb. The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember what that impostor said while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ Therefore command the tomb to be made secure until the third day; otherwise his disciples may go and steal him away, and tell the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead,’ and the last deception would be worse than the first.” Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers; go, make it as secure as you can.” So they went with the guard and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone.

Most people will ignore and skip the Church’s remembrance of Holy Saturday. No one, however, gets to ignore and skip the reality of Holy Saturday in life. Holy Saturday is the in between time. The tragedy of the crucifixion is past but the glories of the resurrection are not yet here. We are neither here nor there. We are stuck in the middle. What was is no more and what will be is not yet clear or known. It feels as if there is no where to go and nothing to do.

Holy Saturday comes to us in many ways but it always seems to involve death; the death of Jesus, the death of a loved one, the death of a relationship, the death of hopes and dreams. In the church calendar Holy Saturday is one day once per year. Not so in life. Those of you who have suffered the death of a loved one know that you do not move from Good Friday to Easter Sunday in just one day. Holy Saturday can last months, years, even a lifetime. Holy Saturday calls us to the tomb. Where else is there to go?

That’s where Mary Magdalene and the other Mary are today. Joseph of Arimathea took Jesus’ body wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, laid it in the tomb, rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb, and went away. He left. Some will do that in the Holy Saturday of life. They will close up the tomb and walk away as if there is nothing there, no possibilities for anything new. The two women, however, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, are sitting opposite the tomb. They are silent. There is not much to say on Holy Saturday. What can be said? There are no easy or satisfactory answers.

Holy Saturday is a day of silence and stillness, waiting and wondering, remembering and hoping. Perhaps that is what faithfulness looks like on Holy Saturday. There is not much to do except be present to the reality of what is, to sit opposite the tomb.

Where is Christ on Holy Saturday? Reread the Apostles’ Creed. Remind yourself that on this day “He descended to the dead” or as another translation says, “He descended into hell.” Holy Saturday is when Christ descends into the hell of your life, breaking the bonds of death, and setting the captives free.

Holy Saturday is a difficult day. We so much want joy to replace sorrow. That’s not what Jesus does. Instead, sorrow is transformed into joy, the tomb becomes a womb, and death gives birth to new life. Christ’s triumph is not apart from death but within death. Christ is trampling down death by death and giving life to those in the tombs.

The two women of Holy Saturday will become the first people Jesus greets on Easter Sunday. So trust the silence and the waiting. Be still. Remember, wonder, hope. Pray. It is Holy Saturday and your Lord who loves you is at work.

The Harrowing of Hell