Holy Saturday

Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator

Holy Saturday is by its very nature a quiet day. The drama of the passion and death of Jesus has given way to the silence of our waiting, our vigil, as we look forward to the glorious "Alleluia" and "Exsultet" of Easter. 

Bach included the following meditation in his Passion according to St. John. I think it aptly captures our mood until the sun sets on this day of mourning and the Easter fire lights up our darkness.  

" Dissolve, my heart, in floods of tears to honor the Almighty! Tell the world and heaven your distress: your Jesus is dead."  

Our tears also move us to consider our resolve in the face of Jesus’ sacrifice:  

"Oh help us, Christ, God’s Son, through your bitter suffering, so that always obedient to you we may shun all wrongdoing, and thinking of your death and its cause, we may profit from our reflections, and in this way, however poor and inadequate it may be, give you an offering of thanks!"