BETHLEHEM – Holy Saturday is that moment in the spiritual calendar for Roman Catholics that captures the time between despair from the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Good Friday and the joyfulness of his rising from the dead on Easter Sunday, according to a Catholic author, columnist and retreat leader.
The three days on the church calendar from Holy Thursday through Holy Saturday are known as the Triduum and are the bridge between the 40 days of Lent and the start of the 50-day Easter season, said Mary DeTurris Poust of Delmar.
“There’s no regular Mass on Good Friday. There’s no regular Mass, like morning Mass, on Saturday. We’re almost in this suspended state for that period where we’re on the waiting stage,” Poust said about Easter Mass being celebrated.
“I kind of like Holy Saturday because this spiritual waiting period where we’re almost seeing two sides of emptiness – the emptiness of the kind of despair that comes from Good Friday and Calvary and then the empty tomb which comes with all that hope that’s coming,” Poust said.
The arrival of Easter brings a chance to begin again in the year, Poust explained. People may see their New Year’s resolutions on Jan. 1 as a new beginning then treat Lent the same way as a time to give up something.
Poust presented workshops and retreats on Lent entitled, “You Can’t Fail Lent” and “Halfway There: Inspiration for the Second Half of Lent,” that address people’s worries about Lent.
“I think sometimes people see it as like New Year’s resolutions 2.0 and, you know it’s like what you didn’t figure out what you didn’t do right in January, maybe you get a do over during Lent. The point of Lent is not do those surface things. It’s really about something much deeper,” Poust said.
“It’s really more about the relationship with God than those…
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