Holy Saturday explained

(Vatican Radio) In a series of reflections, the Secretary of the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, Archbishop Arthur Roche, walks Vatican Radio through the Holy Week liturgies, explaining their significance, symbolism and place within the history of Christ’s Passion, Death and Resurrection.

He explains the Great Silence of Holy Saturday, when the Crucifix is shrouded and the Tabernacle is empty .

Listen:

“The keeping silence with Our Lord as he rests in the tomb and in a very special way, Christians throughout different parts of the world have always associated this day with Our Lady grieving for her Son but waiting for her Son to be born again in the Resurrection. The Church keeps silence but it also celebrates the traditional prayers of the Church through the Office of Readings, constantly remembering – through the Psalms-the coming of Christ. It’s a very special moment. It is a moment not to be lost in our own thoughts and prayers that day. To be able to stop and pause for a few moments and to think of all the sadness and suffering that has passed but also in expectation all the life that is going to be ours through the Resurrection of Christ”.

Produced by Emer McCarthy