Holy Saturday (), sometimes known as Easter Eve or Black Saturday, is the day after Good Friday. It is the day before Easter and the last day of Holy Week in which Christians prepare for Easter. It commemorates the day that Jesus Christ's body laid in the tomb.

Holy Saturday is sometimes called Easter Saturday, though this phrase is more correctly applied to the Saturday in Easter Week.

Western practice

All Masses are severely limited. No Mass at all appears in the normal liturgy for this day, although Mass can be said on Good Friday and on Holy Saturday for an extremely grave or solemn situation with a dispensation from the Vatican or the local bishop. Many of the churches of the Anglican Communion as well as Lutheran, Methodist, and some other Churches observe most of the same; however, their altars may be covered in black instead of being stripped.

In some Anglican churches, including the Episcopal Church in the United States, provision is made for a simple Liturgy of the Word on this day, with readings commemorating the burial of Christ. Daily Offices are still observed.

Liturgically speaking, Holy Saturday lasts until 6pm or dusk, after which the Easter Vigil is celebrated, marking the official start of the Easter season. The service may start with a fire and the lighting of the new Paschal candle. In Roman Catholic and some Anglican observance, during the "Gloria" of the Mass - which has been absent during Lent and (which is the first Mass since that of Holy Thursday), the church statues and icons, in places where they are covered with purple veils during Passiontide, are dramatically unveiled. Some Anglican churches prefer to celebrate Easter and the lighting of the new Paschal candle at dawn on Easter Day. Baptisms may take place in this service and Baptism vows are often renewed.

Eastern practice

In Eastern Orthodoxy this day, known as Holy and Great Saturday, is also called The Great Sabbath since it is on this day that Christ "rested" physically in the tomb. But it is also believed that it was on this day he performed in spirit the Harrowing of Hades and raised up to Paradise those who had been held captive there. In the Coptic, Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Churches, this day is known as Joyous Saturday.

Matins of Holy and Great Saturday (usually held on Friday evening as per ancient church tradition based on Jewish practices) takes the form of a funeral service for Christ. The entire service takes place around the ''Epitaphios'' (Slavonic: ''Plashchanitza''), an icon in the form of a cloth embroidered with the image of Christ being prepared for burial. The first part of the service consists of chanting Psalm 118 with hymns (''enkomia'') interspersed between the psalm verses. The predominant theme of the service is not so much one of mourning, but of watchful expectation:

Today Thou dost keep holy the seventh day, Which Thou has blessed of old by resting from Thy works. Thou bringest all things into being and Thou makest all things new, Observing the Sabbath rest, my Saviour, and restoring strength.

Near the end of Matins, following the Lauds, at the end of the Great Doxology, the Epitaphios is taken up and carried in procession around the outside of the church, while all sing the Trisagion, exactly as is done in an Orthodox funeral service.

On Saturday afternoon, a vesperal Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great, is celebrated. This is the longest Divine Liturgy of the entire year and, traditionally, the latest. After the Little Entrance there are 15 Old Testament readings which recall the history of salvation. Just before the Gospel reading () the hangings, altar cloths, and vestments are changed from black to white and the deacon performs a censing of the church. In the Greek tradition the clergy strew laurel leaves and flower petals all over the church to symbolize the shattered gates and broken chains of hell and Jesus' victory over death. While the liturgical atmosphere changes from sorrow to joy at this service, the Paschal greeting, "Christ is risen!" is not exchanged until after the Paschal Vigil later that night, and the faithful continue to fast. The reason for this is that the Divine Liturgy on Holy and Great Saturday represents the proclamation of Jesus' victory over death to those in Hades, but the Resurrection has not yet been announced to those on earth (this will take place during the Paschal Vigil).

Great Lent was originally the period of catechesis for new converts in order to prepare them for baptism and chrismation on Pascha (Easter). Prior to the composition of the current Paschal Vigil of St John of Damascus this day's vesperal Liturgy was the main Easter celebration, and the traditional time to receive converts is still after the Vesperal Divine Liturgy.

In the afternoon, the faithful traditionally gather in church for the reading of the Acts of the Apostles in its entirety. Later that night (around 11.30 pm), the Paschal Vigil begins with the Midnight Office, during which the Canon of Holy Saturday is repeated. Then, all of the candles and lights in the church are extinguished, and all wait in darkness and silence for the proclamation of the Resurrection of Christ.

Cultural traditions

Notes

References

External links

Category:Saturday Category:Easter Category:Catholic liturgy Category:Eastern Christian liturgy Category:Holy Week Category:Christian terms

Biography

Conductor Anthony Barese edited Amleto's score in 2004 and presented the work on stage, thereby allowing a re-evaluation of its merits. Barese has also presented the marcia funebre with the Dallas Opera Young Artists' Symphony Orchestra.

In 1867 Faccio became director of the Milan Conservatory and in 1872 he was nominated director of Milan's Teatro alla Scala. Faccio conducted the first performance of Verdi's ''Otello'' (1887), which starred his long-time lover Romilda Pantaleoni as Desdemona, Francesco Tamagno as Otello and Victor Maurel as Iago. He also conducted ''Otello'' in its London premiere with Tamagno repeating his triumph as the Moor. He had previously conducted the first Italian performance of ''Aida'' (1872) and the premiere of the revised version of Simon Boccanegra (1881).

Faccio died in Monza at the young age of 51.

Depictions in media

External links

Category:1840 births Category:1891 deaths Category:People from Verona Category:Italian composers Category:Romantic composers Category:Opera composers Category:Italian conductors (music) Category:Music directors (opera) Category:19th-century Italian people Category:Milan Conservatory alumni