Our community has a special hymn which we use only on Holy Saturday. It begins: Silence and stillness reign on Earth today,

The King is asleep, exhausted from the fray.

After the bitter struggle we commemorate on Good Friday, Holy Saturday is imbued with an altogether different flavor. There is a particular sweetness to this day in its sense of peace, of rest, of waiting. While the Lord’s disciples did not understand His words foretelling the Resurrection, we have already received the Holy Spirit’s enlightenment and know His glory, a glory which tinges this day like the first glow of dawn.

And of course, as we eagerly await the celebration of Christ’s victorious Resurrection, we set to work with all sorts of preparations. The Sacristy is filled to bursting with lilies, candles, and incense. The kitchen has every oven and burner fired up to ready the meal for the Easter Solemnity. Nary a Nun is idle this day, although the King may be resting! Like Mary Magdalen who could not wait for the sun to rise to visit the tomb, we can hardly contain our anticipation of the glory Sunday will reveal.