Holy Saturday: A Silence Which Tests Us

Holy Saturday is the day of silence: there is a great silence throughout the World; a silence lived by the first disciples in mourning and bewilderment, shocked by Jesus’ ignominious death. While the Word is silent, while Life is in the sepulchre, those who had hoped in him were put to a difficult test, they felt like orphans, perhaps even orphaned by God. This Saturday is also Mary’s day: she too lived it in tears, but her heart was full of faith, full of hope, full of love. The Mother of Jesus had followed her Son along the way of sorrows and remained at the foot of the cross, with her soul pierced. But when it all seemed to be over, she kept watch, she kept vigil, in expectation, maintaining her hope in the promise of God who raises the dead. Thus, in the world’s darkest hour, she became the Mother of believers, the Mother of the Church and the sign of hope. Her witness and her intercession sustain us when the weight of the cross becomes too heavy for each one of us.

–Pope Francis, from the General Audience Address on March 31, 2021

—New Ways Ministry, March 30, 2024