“On this holy Saturday, we sit with the reality that Jesus came amongst us as a fellow human being, and like all flesh he died. On this day, we are invited to sit with the pain of death and not to rush on and minimise or discount the hurt it causes,” says The Rev’d Dr Ruth Mathieson
“But what actually happened to Jesus between Good Friday and Easter Sunday? The fact that Jesus’ body was in the tomb is undisputed, but there are various conjectures about what happened to Jesus’ spirit, or soul,” says The Rev’d Charlie Lacey from St Andrew’s, Springfield
“In the great liturgy of the Triduum, Holy Saturday comes as an awkward silence between the cross and the resurrection and the temptation is to fill it with noise and busyness. Many parishes will hold working bees or clean-up days on Holy Saturday in readiness for Easter Day…but if as Claude Debussy says, ‘Music is the silence between the notes’, we should respond to the invitation of Holy Saturday and stop, in silence and listen,” says Bishop Jeremy Greaves
“In the Easter story it’s helpful to remember/that resurrection new life/did not arrive quickly/and that disciples, family, and friends/were crushed – shattered – nothing mattered!/The tomb was sealed/and all hope of justice/through future kingdom/had been crushed –shattered…/nothing mattered, anymore!” says Bishop Cam Venables in his Holy Saturday poem