On Holy Saturday the Church waits at the Lord's tomb in prayer and fasting, meditating on his Passion and Death and on his Descent into Hell, and awaiting his Resurrection.
The Church abstains from the Sacrifice of the Mass, with the sacred table left bare, until after the solemn Vigil, that is, the anticipation by night of the Resurrection, when the time comes for paschal joys, the abundance of which overflows to occupy fifty days.
Holy Saturday is a day of profound mystery. Christ is dead and yet he remains busy at work, descending to the underworld to free the righteous held captive in the chains of death, awaiting the One who could open the gates of heaven. The mournful suspense of Holy Saturday is thus imbued with the hope of the Resurrection. Though death continues to intrude into our earthly life, claiming friends and family - and eventually ourselves, too - we know that our longing to exult in the fullness of redemption is not in vain. The Son of God himself has passed through death to rob it of its apparent futility. In Jesus, life wins.
all of the above from Magnificat, Holy Week, 2023
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