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)
It really is neglected. In fact it is often relegated into the day when the Church is put back together for Easter, particularly if their is an Easter Vigil set for that evening. As the Alter Guild bustles to get everything ready, Holy Saturday falls into neglect and any sober reflections on what a life without Jesus is like falls away.
The Easter Vigil is very, very beautiful. I haven’t been in years because the service is so long and thus hard on my painful muscles and joints but I decided this afternoon that I’d attend this time, nonetheless. When I used to go, it was so poorly attended, despite the rector at my former parish talking it up and encouraging folks to “come and see.”
I’m eager to see how my new parish does the vigil and how many attend. I think I’ve talked some friends who have never been to the Vigil to come, as well. The transition from darkness to light, from stillness to alleluias and glorias is magnificent. When I attend Easter Sunday services, I can’t help feeling that I’m playing catch-up and that I’ve missed the most poignant moments.