HOLY SATURDAY
HOLY SATURDAY 3rd APRIL Father Weiser’s tells us of the history, customs and liturgy of Holy Saturday: “The original observance of Holy Saturday commemorated Christ’s rest in the tomb. In the early Church there was no service at all during the daylight hours, since the body of the Lord enclosed in the sepulchre shared the fate and humiliations of the human burial. Just as Christ rested in the grave for the whole Sabbath, so the faithful waited in prayer until the evening star announced the beginning of the Easter Vigil. In ancient days a strict fast called ‘the Passion Fast’ was kept until the morning of Easter Sunday; not even children were dispensed from observing it. The Holy Saturday Vigil was restored by Pope Pius XII to night time, leading directly into Easter Sunday. In the early centuries, the catechumens would assemble in the church during the afternoon, the men on one side, the women on the other. After an instruction by the bishop, the priests performed those rites whi...