Great and Holy Saturday is a deeply significant day in the Christian liturgical calendar, marking the solemn pause between the death of Jesus on Good Friday and His resurrection on Easter Sunday. This day emphasizes themes of Sabbath rest and Jesus’ victory over hell, sin, and death. Just as God rested on the seventh day of creation, Jesus' body rested in the tomb, signifying the completion of His earthly work of salvation. Holy Saturday invites Christians to enter into this sacred rest, reflecting on the mystery of Christ's death and the hope of His resurrection. 

The observance of ritual on Holy Saturday deepens the spiritual significance of the day. Many Christian traditions include readings from Scripture that point to Christ’s redemptive work. The rituals often include the lighting of candles, symbolizing the hope and light of Christ breaking the darkness of death. This day also features the banging of pots and pans as symbols for "waking the dead," marking the transition from death to new life. These readings and rituals serve to connect believers to the anticipation and mystery of Christ’s resurrection. 

Incorporating Sabbath rest and readings into the observance of Holy Saturday allows us to disconnect from the busyness of life and focus on spiritual renewal. It is a time to pause, reflect, and remember how God rescued us from the captivity of the grave, waiting in hope for the triumph of life over death in the resurrection of Christ. Through readings and rituals, Holy Saturday becomes a vital practice that connects us to the deeper rhythms of faith, preparing us for the joy and victory of Easter. 

Reading: Romans 6:3-11 

“The Lord awoke as one asleep, and arose saving us.” (Ps 78.65) 

Liturgy: 

Hell, who had filled all people with fear, trembled at the sight of You, and in haste he yielded up his prisoners, O Immortal Sun of Glory. 

You have destroyed the palaces of hell by Your Burial, O Christ. You have trampled death down by your death, O Lord, and redeemed earth’s children from corruption. 

Death seized You, O Jesus, and was strangled in Your trap. Hell’s gates were smashed, the fallen there set free and carried from beneath the earth on high. O Savior, death’s corruption could not  touch your holy flesh. 

O my Life, my Savior, dwelling with the dead in death, You have destroyed the iron bars of hell and have risen from corruption. 

Prayer: 

God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we place our trust in you. We remember in silence that you sent your Son to us to die for us, to be buried for us, to arise for us. Today we still our hearts in humble gratitude that you have won victory over sin and death by your life-giving death on the cross, Jesus. Amen. 

Reflection: 

“Christ lies dead, yet he is alive. He is in the tomb, but already he is ‘trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life.’ There is nothing more to do now but to live through the evening of the Blessed Sabbath on which Christ sleeps, awaiting the midnight hour when the Day of our Lord will begin to dawn upon us, and the night full of light will come when we will proclaim with the angel: ‘He is risen, he is not here; see the tomb where they laid him’ (Mk 16:6).” – Thomas Hopko