By Preet Anupam Beck csc –
Holy Saturday: Today is the Holy Saturday, the third day of EasterTriduum. Following the Catholic tradition, starting immediately after the Good Friday service, no Mass or Communion takes place until the Easter vigil night.
In the Apostles’ Creed we profess that Jesus descended into hell. The Catechism of the Catholic Church comments that Jesus descended to hell as a saviour. He proclaimed the Good News to the spirits imprisoned there. The word “hell” used in the Apostles’ Creed refer to the abode of all dead, whether righteous or evil, until they are admitted to heaven. This abode of the dead is the “hell” into which the Creed says, Christ had descended. His death freed the just who had gone before him from exclusion from heaven.
Today, we commemorate this incident which is traditionally handed down to us by the Church. We honour silence and stillness today because God has fallen asleep in the flesh, and has raised all who slept ever since the world began. Commemorating this event, we wait for the Easter Vigil Mass which takes place today after sundown. It is the greatest celebration of the event of Christ. The Holy Saturday prepares us for Easter, the day of the resurrection of our Lord. The Holy Saturday is a reminder that I do not have to worry about my afterlife here on earth if I am a righteous person. Jesus will come for me even till the abode of dead to take me to the house which he has prepared in his Father’s house.