HOLY SATURDAY
This year I have been very conscious because of the calendar synchronicity of the parallels between our Easter celebration and the celebration of Passover. In our family we always had the tradition of preparing the foods for Easter, packing them in a beautifully decorated basket, and taking them to the nearby Church for a special blessing on Holy Saturday afternoon. I understand that this tradition was common in many of the Slavic and Eastern European countries. As I looked at the foods in the basket, I saw how many of them were also part of the Seder meal being celebrated by our Jewish friends.
There is the salt that represented the tears. There is the bitter herb of horseradish that represented the life of slavery in Egypt. There is the hard-boiled egg representing the new life the Israelites were to know as they left Egypt and bondage. There is the matzoh or unleavened bread representing the haste with which the Jewish people fled from Egypt. There is the meat, often lamb, which strengthened the Israelites for the journey and represented the sacrificial lamb.
This year, my great-nieces and great-nephew will be departing from the age-old tradition of preparing the basket. Instead, they will write their own blessing prayer based on what each of these foods prepared for Easter mean to our particular family. I am keenly curious to see what they will create as a blessing for our Easter food.
At the convent, Holy Saturday is an oddly curious day. The tabernacle in the Chapel is empty. There is no sanctuary lamp. The emptiness and silence in the Chapel is an awesome reminder of the emptiness of the tomb. Jesus, according to tradition, is no longer in the tomb but has descended into hell to free our ancestors fromb death and bring them into eternal life. That would mean the freeing of the prophets, of Moses, of David, of Adam and Eve. The gates of the netherworld are opened and all who had previously died but were manifestly good can now enter Paradise.
As we decorate the Chapel for the Easter feast, It becomes the symbol of that Paradise as the altar is adorned with a white altar cloth trimmed in gold, the Easter lilies, azaleas, daffodils, hyacinths and hydrangeas fill the Chapel with beautiful colors and scents. The statue of the Resurrection is brought into the Chapel and surrounded by flowers. Paradise becomes real as we fill the Chapel with the signs of Spring and new life.
We observe a relative silence throughout the day to encourage meditation on what all is silently transpiring “behind the scenes”, so to speak. What Jesus accomplishes in silence and secret will be made manifest in the glorious sounds of the Easter chants and hymns and the ringing of the bells once more. While there is hustle and bustle as we prepare for the Easter celebration, there is also the meditative spirit which reminds us that this Triduum we have been celebrating is the most solemn holiday of the Christian year. Culminating in the Easter Vigil Mass and the Easter celebration, these days are the epitome of our faith. We pray for those being admitted to the Church on this Easter Eve. We remember our own commitment to the Faith as we prepare to renew our baptismal promises.
May the blessings of the Risen Christ be with you. May you enjoy this festival of life and light with all those you love. And may we one day realize the fulfillment of the prayer of Jesus at his last supper with his disciples. May we one day be fully united in communion, not only with our Christian friends, but with our Jewish brothers and sisters, the Muslims with whom we share our father Abraham, and all children of the Holy One by whatever name they call the Divine throughout the world.
{ 0 comments }
