Today is Holy Saturday, the day before Easter. It is the seventh and final day of Holy Week, and part of the second day of the Easter Triduum. It officially ends at dusk tonight, so Easter celebrations can actually begin this evening. Before this point, however, celebration of mass is prohibited and Holy Communion is only allowed as Viaticum.
It is believed that on this day Christ performed in spirit the Harrowing of Hell and raised up to Paradise those held captive there. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
“He descended into hell” affirms that Jesus did really die, and through his substitutionary death he conquered death and the devil. In his human soul united to his divine person, the dead Christ went down to the realm of the dead. He opened heaven’s gates for the just who had gone before him.
St. Thomas Aquinas further explained the doctrine, contending that “when Christ descended into hell, by the power of his Passion he delivered the saints from this penalty whereby they were excluded from the life of glory.”
Today we went to church for a Polish tradition of blessing the food. We filled two Easter baskets with a little of each type of the foods we will be eating tomorrow, including spices and toppings like sugar and horseradish, and placed them on the altar of the church. The pastor walked out and said a few prayers and blessed all of our baskets with Holy Water.
Tomorrow is Easter Sunday and I hope all you Christians out there reading this make it a point to go to mass. God Bless!
2 Comments
I was originally thinking that tonight I could make bank in the Jewish male category given that no one will be out except Jews. Are you now telling me that “easter celebrations begin tonight” meaning that’s not the case? You’re crushing my dreams, Holato.
the Easter Vigil Mass was great b.c after it, we were to indulge in our goodies that we gave up for Lent