Holy Saturday
Holy Saturday
Holy Saturday
Ho′ly Sat′urday
n.
| Noun | 1. | Holy Saturday - the Saturday before Easter; the last day of Lent |
| 单词 | holy saturday | |||
| 释义 | Holy SaturdayHoly SaturdayHoly SaturdayHo′ly Sat′urdayn.
Holy SaturdayHoly SaturdayHoly and Great Saturday, Saturday of Glory, Saturday of Light, Saturday of Mourning Holy Saturday falls the day before Easter. It constitutes the last day of Holy Week. Although most western Europeans know the day as Holy Saturday, many eastern Europeans call it Great Saturday. German speakers refer to it as Karsamstag, "Saturday of Mourning." On the island of Malta it is known as Sibt il Glorja, "Saturday of Glory." Christians from Iran and Iraq speak of Sabt al Noor, or the "Saturday of Light." This last name refers to the ancient custom of celebrating the Easter Vigil, held late at night on Holy Saturday, with the lighting of countless lamps and candles. Roman Catholic and Protestant churches usually do not offer religious services on this day. This silence reflects the belief that between his crucifixion on Good Friday and his resurrection on Easter Sunday, Jesus lay dead in the tomb (for more on crucifixion, see Cross). Easter Vigil services, held at night on Holy Saturday, are technically considered the start of Easter Sunday celebrations. Devout Christians have traditionally spent Holy Saturday in quiet meditation on the meaning of Jesus'death (see also Holy Sepulchre). History In early Christian times the faithful fasted and prayed on Holy Saturday in preparation for the evening's Vigil service. This service featured the baptism of newcomers to the Christian faith. In Rome candidates for baptism visited the bishop on Holy Saturday. They recited the Creed, a short summary of the Christian faith, in his presence as proof of their knowledge and understanding of Christian doctrine. Then the bishop exorcised the baptismal candidates of evil spirits and led a ceremony in which they formally rejected Satan and dedicated themselves to Jesus Christ. Afterwards the candidates returned home to pray and prepare themselves for their baptisms later that evening. In other places this recitation of the Creed took place on Maundy Thursday. This custom eventually died out as Christianity spread and adult baptisms decreased in number. From early Christian times onward, Holy Saturday services have involved the lighting of numerous lamps, candles, or torches (see also Easter Fires; Paschal Candle). An early Christian writer recorded the fact that Emperor Constantine (d. 337) "transformed the night of the sacred vigil into the brilliance of day, by lighting throughout the whole city . . . pillars of wax, while burning lamps illuminated every house, so that this nocturnal celebration was rendered brighter than the brightest day" (Weiser, 134). St. Gregory of Nyssa (335-394) described Holy Saturday evening as the "glowing night which links the splendor of burning lamps to the morning rays of the sun, thus producing continuous daylight without any darkness" (Weiser, 134). This seeming contradiction, a night as bright as day, echoed the seeming contradiction at the heart of the Easter festival, that is, life emerging from death. This light symbolism lost its impact in western Europe as religious officials began to offer the Easter Vigil service earlier in the day. Throughout the Middle Ages the vigil service slid slowly back into the daylight hours, moving from afternoon to midday, and, by the late sixteenth century, to morning. In the 1950s Roman Catholic authorities restored the Easter Vigil service to the evening of Holy Saturday. Orthodoxy Orthodoxy is one of the three main branches of the Christian faith. Orthodox Christianity split from Western Christianity - that is, Roman Catholicism, and later, Protestantism - about 1,000 years ago. Thus Orthodox traditions differ in some ways from those of Western Christians (see also Easter, Date of). For example, Orthodox Christians maintain the ancient Jewish custom of beginning each day at sundown. Therefore services held at Orthodox churches on the evening of Good Friday, in fact, mark the beginning of Holy Saturday in that faith tradition. Contemporary Orthodox Christians may attend several church services on Holy Saturday. Orthodox tradition holds that Jesus' Descent into Hell, that is, his journey to the netherworld to release the souls imprisoned by death, took place on Holy Saturday. The service scheduled on the afternoon of Good Friday also belongs to Holy Saturday. It commemorates Jesus' burial and features a ceremonial cloth called the epitaphios embroidered with the image of Jesus reposing in death. At the end of the service the celebrant leads a short procession around the church carrying the Gospel book while others hold the epitaphios over it like a canopy. The procession ends at the kouvouklion, a ceremonial funeral bier that has been decorated with flowers. The priest lays the epitaphios down on the kouvouklion and then places the book on top of it. Clergy members and lay people approach the epitaphios one by one, bowing deeply before it and kissing both the cloth and the book. Clergy members offer each worshiper a flower from the kouvouklion. The bowing and kissing may be repeated up to three times. Parishioners take these flowers home with them and place them in the home ikonostasi, a special shelf or niche used to hold icons and other religious paraphernalia. The epitaphios remains on display in the church, inspiring worshipers to pray and to meditate on the death of Christ (see also Sin; Repentance; Redemption; Salvation). The epitaphios and funeral bier will also play an important role in the solemn evening services that follow several hours later. The high point of this service comes when clergy members pick up the funeral bier and lead the worshipers, each one carrying a lit candle, in a procession around the interior of the church. The procession serves as an emblem of Jesus' victory over death and darkness (see also Descent into Hell). Many processions actually exit the building and circle the church grounds or go around an entire city block before returning to the church. In Greece and other predominately Orthodox countries these processions make even longer trips through village and city streets. In some towns the procession includes a tour through the local cemetery where the bearers guide the bier over gravestones. In Athens, the Greek capital, the head of state and other political leaders play important roles in this procession. Upon returning to the church, those carrying the bier halt just outside the church doors, so that to gain re-admittance everyone must duck under the epitaphios. This mode of reentering the church is thought to confer a blessing. Before passing under the epitaphios worshipers blow out their candles, a gesture that signifies the death of Christ, and clergy members sprinkle rosewater, representing tears, on the congregation. Orthodox services continue on the morning of Holy Saturday. These morning services begin by addressing Jesus'Descent into Hell to liberate the dead and his observance of the Jewish Sabbath by resting in the grave (for more on Sabbath, see Sunday). Unlike the somber ceremony of the previous evening, the mood of this morning service lightens as it turns to consider the Resurrection. The clergy change their robes from dark to bright colors in the middle of the service, after which the priest scatters flower petals or bay leaves around the church while chanting, "Arise, O God, to the world." The leaves and petals represent Christ's triumph over death. Although celebrated on the morning of Holy Saturday, this observance technically serves as the vespers, or evening, service for Easter Sunday and thus as the Easter Vigil. Indeed, it resembles the Easter Vigil service observed by many Western Christians. A second Easter service, often referred to as the Resurrection service, is offered late at night on Holy Saturday. The Orthodox honor Holy Saturday with a variety of respectful names. They include Holy Saturday, Great Saturday, Holy and Great Saturday, and the Blessed Sabbath. Folk Customs Many people spend some part of Holy Saturday preparing for the Easter feast on the following day. In central Europe families prepare Easter breads, pastries, and meats on Holy Saturday. They boil and decorate Easter eggs on this day as well. In southern Germany old traditions encouraged housewives to bring baskets of Easter foods to church on Holy Saturday so that the priest might bless them (see also Germany, Easter and Holy Week in). In Poland schoolboys once engaged in an old Holy Saturday folk ritual known as "burying" the Lenten fare. After making off with a herring and a pot of rye gruel, typical Polish Lenten dishes, they "executed" the herring by means of a mock hanging and dashed the pot of gruel against a tree or rock. This informal rite expressed their delight about the end of the long Lenten fast (see also Poland, Easter and Holy Week in). In the mountains of Austria people light bonfires on the evening of Holy Saturday (see also Easter Fires). Easter season fires are also known in Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands, although there they may be lit on Walpurgis Night rather than on Easter eve. In eastern Europe people prepare Easter baskets full of special Easter foods and decorated eggs on Holy Saturday. They bring the baskets to church where the priest blesses them. These baskets provide the family with breakfast on Easter Sunday morning. In Russia old traditions encouraged people to bring paskha, a special Russian Easter bread, to church on Holy Saturday for the priest's blessing (see also Russia, Easter and Holy Week in). In some regions priests visited homes on Holy Saturday, blessing the Easter feast that was already being set on the tables in preparation for the end of the Lenten fast. Families adorned these banquet tables with fresh spring flowers and dyed Easter eggs. According to old standards of Easter hospitality, each person who visited the home on that day was offered one of the family's painted Easter eggs. Further Reading Griffin, Robert H., and Ann H. Shurgin, eds. The Folklore of World Holidays. Second edition. Detroit, MI: Gale Research, 1999. Hopko, Thomas. The Orthodox Faith. Volume Two, Worship. Syosset, NY: The Orthodox Church in America, 1972. Monti, James. The Week of Salvation. Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor Publications, 1993. Rouvelas, Marilyn. A Guide to Greek Traditions and Customs in America. Bethesda, MD: Nea Attiki Press, 1993. Spicer, Dorothy Gladys. Festivals of Western Europe. 1958. Reprint. Detroit, MI: Omnigraphics, 1994. Tyrer, John Walton. Historical Survey of Holy Week. London, England: Oxford University Press, 1932. Weiser, Francis X. The Easter Book. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1954. Wybrew, Hugh. Orthodox Lent, Holy Week and Easter. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1997. Web Site "Holy Saturday," a document describing the beliefs and practices of Orthodox Christians concerning Holy Saturday, posted on the Orthodox Church in America web site: Holy SaturdaySlavic Orthodox Christians bring baskets of food to the church for the Blessing of the Pascha (Easter) Baskets on Holy Saturday. The baskets are filled with the foods from which people have abstained during the Lenten fast and which will be part of the Pascha feast. For many inhabitants of Mexican descent in Los Angeles, California, Holy Saturday is the day for a colorful ceremony known as the Blessing of the Animals, which takes place at the Old Plaza Church near Olvera Street. Christian Resource Institute 4712 N. Hammond Warr Acres, OK 73122 405-789-0449 www.cresourcei.org El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument 845 N. Alameda St. Los Angeles, CA 90012 213-680-2525 www.olvera-street.com Orthodox Church in America P.O. Box 675 Syosset, NY 11791 516-922-0550; fax: 516-922-0954 www.oca.org AmerBkDays-2000, p. 238 BkFest-1937, pp. 24, 41, 70, 87, 96, 148, 168, 184, 211, 227, 260, 275, 292, 301, 339 BkHolWrld-1986, Apr 11 DictFolkMyth-1984, p. 258 EncyEaster-2002, p. 284 EncyRel-1987, vol. 3, p. 439 FestWestEur-1958, pp. 9, 60, 94, 108 FolkAmerHol-1999, p. 172 FolkWrldHol-1999, p. 224 IndianAmer-1989, p. 274 OxYear-1999, p. 620 SaintFestCh-1904, p. 161 Celebrated in: Australia, Belize, Chile, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Mexico, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Georgia, Seychelles, Zambia, Zimbabwe Holy Saturday (Mexico) (Sábado de Gloria) The church bells, which have been silent since the Wednesday before Easter, ring on Holy Saturday, and there are folk beliefs associated with the ringing of the bells. For example, it is believed that plants or hair trimmed while the bells are ringing will grow back faster. Children are often smacked on the legs so that they'll grow taller. See also Burning of Judas Mexico Tourism Board 21 E. 63rd St., Fl. 3 New York, NY 10021 800-446-3942 or 212-821-0314; fax: 212-821-0367 www.visitmexico.com BkFest-1937, p. 227 BkHolWrld-1986, Apr 11 EncyEaster-2002, p. 406 FolkWrldHol-1999, p. 235 Celebrated in: Mexico Holy Saturday
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