Holy Saturday

References

Sources

1. 1.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 616)

   HOLY SATURDAY, the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. It is also referred to as Great Saturday, as in the Constitutions of the Holy Apostles (1951, p. 447) and in al-SAFI ibn al-‘Assal's Kitab al-Qawanin (1927, p. 140). Also, in spite of the fact that it commemorates the resting of Christ's body in the tomb, it is designated the Saturday of Joy because it heralds the Resurrection of Christ, which He had proclaimed to His disciples.

2. 2.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 616)

   Christ also promised them that they would see Him again, "and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you" (Jn. 16:22). It is a day of joy not only for the living but also for the dead who died in Christ (Is. 56:1-4; Lk. 4:18-21; Pt. 3:19), for on Holy Saturday Christ's spirit descended into HADES, the resting place of the souls of the dead.

3. 3.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 616)

   According to Matthew 27:62-66, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate and told him that while Jesus was still alive, He said that He would be raised from the dead after three days. They asked Pilate to give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day, lest the disciples steal Christ's body and tell the people that He had been raised from the dead, "and the last deception would be worse than the first." Pilate granted them their request: the stone was sealed over the grave, and a guard was posted.

4. 4.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 616)

   Holy Saturday is the only Saturday of the year on which total abstention from food is recommended:

5. 5.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 7 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 168)

   Similarly the APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTIONS state, "But keep the Sabbath and the Lord's day festival, because the former is the memorial of the creation, and the latter of the resurrection. But there is one only Sabbath to be observed by you in the whole year, which is that of our Lord's burial, on which men ought to keep a fast, but not a festival." They also say, "He appointed us to break our fast on the seventh day at the cock-crowing, but to fast on the Sabbath-day. Not that the Sabbath-day is a day of fasting, being the rest from the creation, but because we ought to fast on this one Sabbath on

6. 6.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 364)

   Good Friday is a day of total absention from food and drink. In early times this fast extended through Holy Saturday until dawn on Easter day, a practice referred to by Irenaeus (c. 130-200). According to Eusebius, quoting Irenaeus, ". . . Some think that they should fast one day, others two, yet others more; some moreover, count their day as consisting of forty hours day and night. And this variety in its observance has not originated in our time; but long before, in that of our ancestors." The Constitutions of the Holy Apostles enjoin a restricted diet throughout Holy Week: "Do you therefore

7. 7.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 616)

   As Good Friday draws to a close, the church prepares to celebrate the rising of the Savior from the dead, by abandoning the emblems of mourning put up throughout Holy Week, particularly on Good Friday.

8. 8.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 1 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 186)

   AGNUS DEI, Lamb of God, a designation of Jesus Christ based on Isaiah 53:7 and used by John the Baptist who, upon seeing Jesus Christ, said, "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (Jn. 1:29). ... Prayers said on Holy Saturday, include, ". . . Thou of Whom the Prophet Isaiah hath prophesied saying, "He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.'"

9. 9.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 245)

   The following are the main features of the Easter Sunday service: 1. The celebration of the Liturgy starts late on Holy Saturday evening, and ends in the early hours of Sunday, in conformity with the New Testament (Mk. 16:2, 9; Lk. 24:1; Jn. 20:1).