Holy Saturday is a neglected day in parish life. Few people attend the Services. Popular piety usually reduces Holy Week to one day Holy Friday. This day is quickly replaced by another Easter Sunday. Christ is dead and then suddenly alive. Great sorrow is suddenly replaced by great joy. In such a scheme Holy Saturday is lost.
In the understanding of the Church, sorrow is not replaced by joy; it is transformed into joy. This distinction indicates that it is precisely within death the Christ continues to effect triumph.
–Alexander Schmemann (1921-1983)
A Holy Saturday prayer: Almighty & Eternal God, on the edge of sadness when all seemed lost, you restored to us the Savior we thought defeated and conquered. Help us to empty ourselves of self-concern that we might see your hand in every failure and your victory in every defeat. pic.twitter.com/RearMpyPhH
— W. David O. Taylor (@wdavidotaylor) April 3, 2021