Holy Saturday

Jesus is laden in the Sepulchre, at Saint Patrick Church, in Grafton, Illinois. Photo taken in October, 2010.

God is dead. We killed Him.

He is in hell because of us.

 —

Recall what Our Lord said before his Passion:

“This night all of you will have your faith in me shaken, for it is written: ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be dispersed’”

All of the men turned and fled, in fear of their lives; only the women — and one boy — had the courage to remain. Imagine how the disciples might have felt on that first Holy Saturday: lost, betrayed, confused, fearful, distrustful, full of doubt, full of rage. Was their faith in vain? To whom shall they go? But their shepherd was killed, and one of their own betrayed Him. Surely His mother Mary knew better?



Christ in the tomb, at Shrine of Our Lady of Sorrows, in Starkenburg, Missouri. Photo taken in February 2012.

But we are told that Christ had a new flock to minister to, those who had gone before us, all the souls of the righteous who were waiting in the darkness of Hades. Iconography of the ‘Harrowing of Hell’ for Holy Saturday shows Christ, triumphant, rescuing these souls, including Adam and Eve, who got us into this predicament.



Christ Leading the Patriarchs to Paradise, by Bartolomé Bermejo (or Bartolomé de Cárdenas), ca. 1480. [source]