What is Holy Saturday?

Holy Saturday is a crucial day for the church to remember and, in many churches and traditions, to recover. Holy Saturday calls us to live into the uncomfortable middle between Christ's death on Good Friday and his resurrection on Easter Sunday. This day reminds us that we also live in a "middle time": the time between Christ's resurrection and second coming. This calls us into the space of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, one of broken hope and the pain of Christ's dying.

How do I plan a service for Holy Saturday?

The Saturday after Good Friday, which recalls the day when the crucified Christ visited among the dead while his body lay in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. In the ancient church, those preparing for baptism and perhaps others continued the fast they began on Good Friday. Holy Saturday ends at sunset. Fasting and other preparations end at sunset or with the Easter Vigil, which begins the celebration of Easter.

When is Holy Saturday?

Holy Saturday occurs the Saturday before Easter

What associated objects or symbols may be used for Holy Saturday?

• Darkness
• Tomb

What themes may be associated with Holy Saturday?

• Waiting
• Contemplation
• Mourning

Bible passage ideas for Holy Saturday

Set in B minor, Bach's "Crucifixus" mass is a lament that is heavey with sorry and loss. Despite this, the mass makes us pay attention when Bach chose to unexpectedly end the movement in G Major. "In his genius, Bach does not then start the following "Et Resurrexit" with music. No, "Et Resurrexit" begins with a beat-and-a-half rest that, someone has suggested, may be the most eloquent silence Bach ever wrote into a score. For a beat and a half, the silence fills with expectation and hope until trumpets and timpani burst out in a D-major celebration of Jesus walking out of his tomb." Article by Cornelius Plantinga Jr. 

The great pause between Bach's two movements is Holy Saturday. We Christians know what's coming. Holy Saturday is all about preparation. Waiting for Sunday now feels like vigil. Saturday has a vigilant feel because we know it's getting to be time for the timpanist to set up and the trumpet players to pull their instruments from their cases. D major is almost here.

• Matthew 27:62–66, the Pharisees guard Jesus' body
• Mark 15:42–47, Joseph of Arimathea buries Jesus' body
• Luke 23:50–56, Jesus' body laid in the tomb
• John 19:41–20:1, a new tomb

Worship ideas for Holy Saturday

"It has always bothered me that on Holy Saturday we are left to our own devotional devices. What are some ways to get from Friday to Sunday without finding ourselves so caught up in regular tasks that we lose the continuity of this observance?" Scripture Meditation or Sermon by Debra Rienstra from The Twelve

"Today a grave holds him who holds creation in the palm of his hand. A stone covers him who covers with glory the heavens." Hymn from Global Worship

"We must remain in Holy Saturday: a people who know pain, but a people who are even more promised perfection." Article about Theology by David Vincent Meconi from Homiletic and Pastoral Review

"May we not say that though death is our ending it holds life in gestation as the night is the womb of day, and as awakening circumscribes sleep, entombing it with brightness?" Poetry by Kevin Nichols from Global Worship 

Find more sermon ideas for Holy Saturday from Zeteosearch.org.