Holy Saturday (Latin:Sabbatum Sanctum), also known asGreat and Holy Saturday (alsoHoly and Great Saturday),Low Saturday, theGreat Sabbath,Hallelujah Saturday (in Portugal and Brazil),Saturday of the Glory,Sábado de Gloria, andBlack Saturday orEaster Eve,[1] and called "Joyous Saturday", "the Saturday of Light", and "Mega Sabbatun" amongCoptic Christians, is the final day ofHoly Week, betweenGood Friday andEaster Sunday, when Christians prepare for the latter.[2][3]
The day commemorates theHarrowing of Hell whileJesus Christ's body lay in thetomb. Christians of the Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist, Anglican and Reformed denominations begin the celebration of theEaster Vigil service on Holy Saturday, which provides a transition to the season ofEastertide; in theMoravian Christian tradition, graves are decorated with flowers during the day of Holy Saturday and the celebration of thesunrise service starts before dawn on Easter Sunday.[2][3]
Whereas theGreat Sabbath in Jewish liturgy occurs thesabbath before theFeast of Unleavened Bread, thesabbath in the midst of the feast is celebrated as aSpecial Shabbat § Shabbat Chol Hamoed Pesach. InHebrews 4, Jewish Christians are admonished to make every effort to enter this sabbath and every sabbath in repentance, andPsalm 95 is excerpted by the author of Hebrews: "today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts." The entire Psalm 95 is read on Friday afternoon every week in synagogue prayers immediately beforereceiving the sabbath in rabbinic Judaism.
InEastern Orthodoxy this day, known asHoly and Great Saturday, is also calledThe GreatSabbath since it is on this day thatChrist "rested" physically in thetomb. But it is also believed that it was on this day he performed in spirit theHarrowing of Hell and raised up toParadise, having liberated those who had been held captive.
Oriental Orthodoxy
In theCoptic,Ethiopian andEritrean Orthodox Churches, this day is known asJoyous Saturday, otherwise known as the night of light and joy.[4] It is known as theSaturday of Good Tidings orGospel Saturday in theSyriac Church, which is also a day where Syriac Christians remember their departed.[5]
Syriac Christianity
In theSyriac Christian tradition, this day is known as ܫܲܒܬ݂ܵܐ ܕܢܘܼܗܪܵܐšábbṯā d-núhrā or theSaturday of Light.
In Western traditions, the day is usually calledHoly Saturday, although in theMoravian Church, the day is referred to as theGreat Sabbath and in theAnglican Communion, theBook of Common Prayer refers to the day asEaster Even.[6][7] Although the termEaster Saturday is usually applied to the Saturday inEaster week,[8][9] in English-speaking countries it is sometimes applied to Holy Saturday, including in legislation in the Australian states ofNew South Wales andQueensland,[10] and by Australian government agencies.[11] In the Catholic tradition, theBlessed Virgin Mary is honored on this day under the titleOur Lady of Solitude, referring to her grief at the death of her son.
Matins of Holy and Great Saturday (in parishes usually held on Friday evening)[12][13] takes the form of afuneral service for Christ. The entire service takes place around theEpitaphios, anicon in the form of a cloth embroidered with the image of Christ prepared for burial. The first part of the service consists of chantingPsalm 118, as usual at both Saturday matins and at funerals, but interspersed with hymns (enkomia orlamentations) between the verses. The predominant theme of the service is not so much one of mourning, but of watchful expectation:[14]
Today Thou dost keep holy the seventh day, Which Thou has blessed of old by resting from Thy works. Thou bringest all things into being and Thou makest all things new, Observing the Sabbath rest, my Saviour, and restoring strength.[15]
Near the end of matins, at the end of theGreat Doxology, the Epitaphios is taken up and carried inprocession around the outside of the church, while theTrisagion is sung, as is done when carrying the body to the cemetery in an Orthodoxburial.
Divine Liturgy of Holy Saturday in a Greek Orthodox church in the United States
On Saturday, avesperalDivine Liturgy of SaintBasil the Great is celebrated, called the First Resurrection Service (Greek:Ἡ Πρώτη Ἀνάστασις), named so because chronologically it was composed earlier than the Paschal Canon by St.John of Damascus[16] rather than because it occurs earlier liturgically.[17] This is the longest Divine Liturgy of the entire year and is performed later than on any other day of the year, "at the tenth hour of the day".[18]
On 'Lord, I call', four of the usual Sunday hymns from the Octoechos are sung, followed by four for the day, the doxasticon from Lauds the night before and the usual dogmatikon. After theLittle Entrance, there is no Evening Prokimenon, but there are 15Old Testament readings that recall the history of salvation, many of which relate to Passover, baptism, or the Resurrection (note that book names here are given according to the Septuagint):
Genesis 1:1-13 – God creates the universe
Isaiah 60:1-16 – Isaiah prophecies a golden age for Judah
Exodus 12:1-11 – God gives instructions for the first Passover
Jonah 1:1-4:11 – Jonah spends three days in the belly of a sea monster
Joshua 5:10-15 – Joshua celebrates Passover
Exodus 13:20-15:19 – The Israelites cross the Red Sea (note that the final 19 verses are sung as a canticle)
Zephaniah 3:8-15 – God promises refuge to Israel
3 Kings 17:8-24 – Elijah meets the widow of Zarephath and resurrects her son
Isaiah 61:10-62:5 – Isaiah celebrates a coming salvation
Genesis 22:1-18 – God tests Abraham by telling him to sacrifice his son Isaac
Isaiah 61:1-9 – Isaiah explains the role of a prophet and the relationship Israel will have with God
4 Kings 4:8-37 – Elisha resurrects the son of the Shunamite woman
Isaiah 63:11-64:5 – Isaiah remembers the crossing of the Red Sea and prays for his people
Jeremiah 31:31-34 – Jeremiah prophecies the new covenant
Daniel 3:1-89 – The Three Holy Youths are cast into a fiery furnace (note that the final 33 verses (and three extra-biblical ones) are sung as a canticle)
In place of the Trisagion, the baptismal hymn 'As many as have been baptised into Christ have put on Christ. Alleluia.' is sung. The Prokimenon is from Psalm 65 (66), made up of verses from the First Antiphon of Pascha: 'Let all the earth worship Thee: sing of Thee and praise Thy Name, O most High.' The Epistle is Romans 6:3-11, St. Paul's explanation of the role of death and resurrection in baptism. This is the standard epistle read at baptisms.
Unique to this day, the Alleluia is replaced with Psalm 81 (82) being sung: "Arise, O God, judge Thou the earth: for Thou shalt have an inheritance in all the nations" while the deacon performs acensing of the church. In Slavic tradition where the service is begun indark vestments, thehangings,altar cloths, curtain andvestments are changed tobright. In Greek and Arabic tradition, theclergy strewlaurel leaves (a symbol of victory) and flower petals all over the church to symbolize Jesus' triumph over death, often accompanied – especially in Cypriot custom[19] – by the congregation making a loud noise by stamping their feet, banging on pews and sticks, and even clanging pots and pans, all to symbolize Christ shattering the gates and breaking the chains of hell.
The liturgical atmosphere changes from sorrow to joy at this service. The faithful continue tofast and thePaschal greeting, "Christ is risen!", is not exchanged until after midnight during thePaschal Vigil since this service represents the proclamation of Jesus' victory over death to those in Hades. TheResurrection has not yet been announced to those on earth, which takes place during the Paschal Vigil.
The Gospel reading is Matthew 28:1-20, St. Matthew's account of the Resurrection. While the first fifteen verses are not read at any other time, the final five verses form one of the Sunday Matins Gospels and are the standard Gospel reading for baptisms.
The Cherubic Hymn is replaced by 'Let all mortal flesh keep silence', an analogous hymn from the ancientLiturgy of Saint James, and the Hymn to the Theotokos is replaced with the irmos from Ode 9 of the Canon the night before, Christ's promise to His Mother that she will be magnified following His Resurrection, but other than that the Liturgy proceeds as any other Liturgy of St. Basil. After the service, in many places, it is customary to break and bless bread as at a Vigil, but to omit the blessing of oil.
Great Lent was originally the period ofcatechesis for new converts in order to prepare them forbaptism andchrismation and when there are converts received, that occurs during the Old testament readings during the vesperal divine liturgy. Before the midnight service, the faithful gather in church for the reading of theActs of the Apostles in its entirety. Preceding midnight thePaschal Vigil begins with theMidnight Office, during which theCanon of Holy Saturday is repeated, toward the end of which the epitaphios is removed from the center of the church and placed on the altar table where it remains until theAscension.[a] Then, all of the candles and lights in the church are extinguished, and all wait in darkness and silence for the proclamation of the Resurrection of Christ.
Holy Saturday and other named days and day ranges around Lent and Easter in Western Christianity, with the fasting days of Lent numbered
In theCatholic Church, thealtar remains stripped completely bare (following theMass of the Lord's Supper onMaundy Thursday). The celebration of the Sacraments is extremely limited:Holy Communion is given only asViaticum to the dying; whilePenance,Anointing of the Sick andbaptism may be administered because they, like Viaticum, are helpful to ensuring salvation for the dying. The day is the second day of the Paschal fast as outlined inSacrosanctum Concilium, Article 110.[20] In the Roman Catholic Church, plenary indulgence is obtained if two or more faithfuls pray the HolyRosary or if the faithful attends the celebration of the Easter Vigil and renews theirbaptismal promises, which are part of the liturgy of the same Mass.[21]
Lutheran, Anglican, Methodist, and other Churches observe many of the same customs as the Catholic Church; however, their altars may be covered in black instead of being stripped. The AnglicanBook of Common Prayer uses Easter Even to designate the day. In some Anglican churches, including theProtestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, provision is made for a simpleLiturgy of the Word on this day, with readings commemorating the burial of Christ. Daily Offices are still observed. In theMoravian Church, the day is known as Great Sabbath.[6]
In the Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican and Methodist traditions, Holy Saturday lasts until nightfall, after which theEaster Vigil is celebrated, marking the official start of theEaster season.[22]
In thepredominantly Catholic Philippines, the day is legally and colloquially known asBlack Saturday, given the colour's role in mourning. It commemorates the day that Jesus lay in his tomb.[23] Traditional taboos from the previous day are carried over and are sometimes broken; swimming is allowed in the afternoon. Most commercial establishments resume operations, with smaller enterprises remaining closed until or before Easter. Television and radio stations broadcast on shorter hours with special programming or remain off-air.[24]
In predominantly Catholic Poland,Święconka (Polish pronunciation:[ɕvʲɛnˈtsɔnka]), meaning "the blessing of the Easter baskets", on Holy Saturday, is one of the most enduring and beloved traditions. Baskets containing eggs, ham, bread, sweet breads, horseradish, and lamb cakes or butter lambs are brought to church to be blessed.[25]
Thechancel of aLutheran church on Holy Saturday is adorned with blackparaments, as black is the liturgical colour of this day in the Lutheran Churches.
^abSteenwyk, Carrie."Easter Vigil".Christian Reformed Church in North America. Retrieved3 April 2021.The Easter Vigil, also referred to as the Paschal Vigil or the First Service of Easter, is held either on the Saturday evening before Easter or very early Easter morning.
^Parry, Ken; Melling, David J.; Brady, Dimitri; Griffith, Sidney H.; Healey, John F. (1999).The Blackwell Dictionary of Eastern Christianity. Oxford: Blackwell. pp. 390–391.ISBN0-631-23203-6.
^Archbishop Averky (Taushev) (1976)."Great Saturday".Liturgics. Translated by ArchbishopLaurus Škurla. [Holy Trinity Monastery (Jordanville, New York)]. Retrieved14 September 2020.
^"Liturgical Seasons of the Church Year". St John Lutheran Church. Archived fromthe original on 7 November 2019. Retrieved11 April 2020.Holy Saturday is a day of waiting and yearning until evening when the Easter Vigil is celebrated. Some Anglican churches prefer to celebrate Easter at dawn on Easter Day.
