Holy Saturday Rest

A Holy Saturday Sermon from St. John Chrysostom

He descended into hell by Gustave Dore (1832-1883)

I'm breaking my Holy Week silence a few hours early to share a wonderful Holy Saturday sermon sent to me by a dear friend and colleague who used to sidewalk counsel with me at an abortuary in Alexandria next door to Bishop Ireton High School. May it lead us all to a greater sense of gratitude for Christ's monumental event of salvation. The patriarchs and faithful of the Old Testament waited thousands of years to be released from their dark prison as they looked toward the coming of the Savior. May we pray in profound gratitude today and sing Hosannah with them for our release from the devastating consequences of sin!

Holy Saturday Silence

Tradition tells us that on Holy Saturday Jesus went Sheol, the place of the dead, to escort those waiting in darkness for release. The gates of heaven open and the saints go marching in. 

Holy Saturday Rest and Preparations for the Easter Sunday Celebration

2016 lamb cake

Preparing for Easter family dinner is a favorite time -- the celebration and feast after the fast, the assurance that joy is the ultimate fulfillment of suffering.

I was up early this morning because I woke at 5:00 a.m. and couldn't get back to sleep. The sky was just beginning to lighten when I came downstairs. Is that the way it was that first Easter morning as Mary and the other women came to the tomb? Quiet except for the birds chirping as they began their day?

Prayers, coffee, a peek outside to make sure the bee yard rests undisturbed across the field, a pat for the dog who isn't ready to get up just yet.

And now the preparations. The lamb cake mixed and baked and ready to be iced. The turkey breast in a bowl of cold water to defrost, anticipation of the grandchildren coming to color eggs and help decorate the lamb. And Jesus and Mary at the center of it all.