4 April 2015
Holy Saturday
In the Third Week of Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius of Loyola invites us to meditate on the descent of Christ’s body from the Cross to the Tomb and in the morning from the Tomb, to the house where Our Blessed Mother was, after her Son was buried. On this Holy Saturday, let us meditate upon the life of the Blessed Mother on the morning after the crucifixion.
Mary has finally fallen asleep after she could not sleep all night long. In fact, she hasn’t slept at all since Jesus was arrested. She went through a lot yesterday. Even with all of her strength, she almost fainted when Jesus fell dragging the cross and finally died on the cross. After Jesus was taken to the tomb John brought Mary back to his home as Jesus commanded him from the cross. Mary Magdelene has been with Mary since the arrest of Jesus and helped to support her. She came with Mary to stay at John’s house. Magdelene tried to get Mary to eat last night but she could not take anything into her mouth.
Did her hope die? From the Cross, Mary received a new mission to become a mother of all those who believe in her son Jesus Christ. Perhaps while she could not sleep last night, Mary began to recall again the word spoken by the angel in answer to her fear at the time of the Annunciation: “Do not be afraid, Mary!” At the same time, the angel had also said to her: “Of his kingdom there will be no end”. In this faith, we can face the darkness of Holy Saturday with hope that the Holy Mother Mary will lead us towards the Joy of Resurrection on the Easter morning.