Holy Saturday

Dear Little Hearts,

The Battle is over! The Victory is won, our Beloved lies sleeping, soon to rise !

Holy Saturday is a day that we traditionally refer to as "the day preparing the spices'... that means that now we spend this day preparing for the great celebration of the Easter Vigil and the Resurrection tomorrow. It is a day of hope.. a unique day of expectation.

Please take some time to reflect on this beautiful lesson from the Divine Office, it is the second lesson at Matins for Holy Saturday... it is a real gem. Have a blessed day.
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The Lord descends into hell - From an ancient homily on Holy Saturday

"What is happening? Today there is a great silence over the earth, a great silence, and stillness, a great silence because the King sleeps; the earth was in terror and was still, because God slept in the flesh and raised up those who were sleeping from the ages. God has died in the flesh, and the underworld has trembled.

Truly he goes to seek out our first parent like a lost sheep; he wishes to visit those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. He goes to free the prisoner Adam and his fellow-prisoner Eve from their pains, he who is God, and Adam's son.

The Lord goes in to them holding his victorious weapon, his cross. When Adam, the first created man, sees him, he strikes his breast in terror and calls out to all: 'My Lord be with you all.' And Christ in reply says to Adam: ‘And with your spirit.’ And grasping his hand he raises him up, saying: ‘Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light.

‘I am your God, who for your sake became your son, who for you and your descendants now speak and command with authority those in prison: Come forth, and those in darkness: Have light, and those who sleep: Rise. ‘I command you: Awake, sleeper, I have not made you to be held a prisoner in the underworld. Arise from the dead; I am the life of the dead. Arise, O man, work of my hands, arise, you who were fashioned in my image. Rise, let us go hence; for you in me and I in you, together we are one undivided person.

‘For you, I your God became your son; for you, I the Master took on your form; that of slave; for you, I who am above the heavens came on earth and under the earth; for you, man, I became as a man without help, free among the dead; for you, who left a garden, I was handed over to Jews from a garden and crucified in a garden.
‘Look at the spittle on my face, which I received because of you, in order to restore you to that first divine inbreathing at creation. See the blows on my cheeks, which I accepted in order to refashion your distorted form to my own image.

'See the scourging of my back, which I accepted in order to disperse the load of your sins which was laid upon your back. See my hands nailed to the tree for a good purpose, for you, who stretched out your hand to the tree for an evil one.

`I slept on the cross and a sword pierced my side, for you, who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side healed the pain of your side; my sleep will release you from your sleep in Hades; my sword has checked the sword which was turned against you.

‘But arise, let us go hence. The enemy brought you out of the land of paradise; I will reinstate you, no longer in paradise, but on the throne of heaven. I denied you the tree of life, which was a figure, but now I myself am united to you, I who am life. I posted the cherubim to guard you as they would slaves; now I make the cherubim worship you as they would God.

"The cherubim throne has been prepared, the bearers are ready and waiting, the bridal chamber is in order, the food is provided, the everlasting houses and rooms are in readiness; the treasures of good things have been opened; the kingdom of heaven has been prepared before the ages."

Prayer
Almighty, ever-living God, whose Only-begotten Son descended to the realm of the dead, and rose from there to glory, grant that your faithful people, who were buried with him in baptism, may, by his resurrection, obtain eternal life.
(We make our prayer) through our Lord. (Through Christ our Lord.)

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Source: Poor Clare Collentines TMD

See also: Liturgy of the Hours, Office of Reading, Holy Saturday. This writing comes from a homily from one of the greatest 2nd century Church Fathers, Saint Melito of Sardis.

Happy Easter

"The Exsultet is a poem, elements of which go back to St. Ambrose (+397). It is to be sung by a deacon (or priest or cantor) during the Easter Vigil as a hymn of praise to God for the light of the Paschal Candle. The text became part of the Roman liturgy around the 9th century. The text is theologically packed. It contains a summary of Easter’s mystery. Christ is risen: we too can rise in Him. This was prepared for from the fall of man, directed by a loving Father, and awaits only the end of the world, although our baptismal character allows us to live the reality now: Already, but not yet! "

Exsultet_2005.MP3 (15 MB)http://wdtprs.com/blog/podpress_trac/feed/6419/0/Exsultet_2005.MP3

Source: What Does The Prayer Say?

High Holy Days of Christianity and Easter Triduum

This last Sunday was Palm Sunday. It marked the beginning of Holy Week, the time when Christians all over the world celebrate those events that constitute the central doctrines of our faith. On Palm Sunday, the Gospel of Mark describes Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on the back of a lowly donkey. Jesus comes as a king whose rule is not about being served but serving.

The Easter Triduum occurs within Holy Week and is the culmination of the entire liturgical year, full of symbolism and sacred mysteries, mystery because the meaning is so profound as to be beyond any single explanation. It is a three-day period and celebration of the death and resurrection of Christ. The three days are counted as the Hebrews counted their days, from dusk to dusk. Therefore, the three days of the Easter Triduum are from dusk on Holy Thursday to dusk on Good Friday (day one), dusk on Good Friday to dusk on Holy Saturday (day two), and dusk on Holy Saturday to dusk on Easter Sunday (day three). Each of those days "tells" a different part of the story. We come to church at various times during those days, and when we are not in church, we try to live a quieter, simpler life, focusing more of our attention on Christ and less on the secular world.

Holy Thursday marks the end of Lent and the beginning of the Triduum. [click here for liturgical year] There is a service in the Church, centered around the story of the observance of Passover by Jesus and his followers before his crucifixion on Friday. There is a wonderful account of this Passover in the Gospel of John. Read and consider here the description of this extraordinary God. This God of humble love who dwells in inaccessible light and who came to dwell among us – this God who washes feet, pouring himself out for loving service, like water in a basin. On this night, he institutes the Holy Eucharist and the Priesthood. He becomes the Lamb of God, broken bread and poured out wine, no longer bread but His Body, no longer wine, but His Blood.We remember his prayers and suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane. Was this not where the battle was fought and the humanity of Christ cried out, "Father, if thou art willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done." What cup, we wonder. The Fourth Cup not consumed during the Passover but on the cross of Good Friday when Jesus is executed in the manner of the common criminal of his day.

Good Friday is a day of fasting and abstinence. We recall the suffering of Jesus in the scourging, the crowning with thorns, and the carrying of his cross down the Via Dolorosa. We remember his crucifixion and that something monumental has happened. God has died that we might live. We memorialize this in a Church service again. The service is a continuation of what began on Holy Thursday.

The Easter Triduum reaches its high point in the Easter Vigil, celebrated on Saturday night. We recite the words: “Night truly blest when heaven is wedded to earth and man is reconciled with God!” This celebration is a long one. We proclaim with fire and song that Christ is risen. We listen to the Scripture stories of God's interaction with humankind from creation through to the resurrection. The joy continues on with Easter services on Sunday morning and songs of praise, “Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia!”

Sources or other interesting links:
http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=33089http://www.nativity.org/Triduum.htmlhttp://www.priestsforlife.org/columns/columns2003/03-03-24triduum.htmhttp://www.zenit.org/article-25544?l=english

Holy Thursday: The God Who Washes Feet

By Deacon Keith Fournier4/9/2009
Catholic Online (http://www.catholic.org/)

This God, before whom all the Nations will one day bend the knee, bends His human knee and washes feet.

CHESAPEAKE, VA (Catholic Online) – On this Holy Thursday as we begin the great Triduum, the Three Days, we will read this wonderful account in the Gospel of St. John which reveals the depth of the Love of Jesus Christ and invites us into to a new way of living our lives now in Him: (continued reading here)