Statue of Christ in the tomb by Gregorio Fernández. (Monastery of San Joaquín y Santa Ana, Valladolid)
Official name
Holy Saturday
Also called
Easter Eve, Black Saturday
Observed by
Christians
Type
Religious
Significance
Memory of the day Jesus Christ's body lay in the tomb and the Harrowing of Hell
Date
Day after Good Friday
2023 date
April 8 (Western)
April 15 (Eastern)
2024 date
March 30 (Western)
May 4 (Eastern)
2025 date
April 19 (Western)
April 19 (Eastern)
2026 date
April 4 (Western)
April 11 (Eastern)
Frequency
annual
Related to
Easter
Holy Saturday (Latin: Sabbatum Sanctum), also known as Great and Holy Saturday (also Holy and Great Saturday), Low Saturday, the Great Sabbath, Hallelujah Saturday (in Portugal and Brazil), Saturday of the Glory, Sábado de Gloria, and Black Saturday or Easter Eve,[1] and called "Joyous Saturday", "the Saturday of Light", and "Mega Sabbatun" among Coptic Christians, is the final day of Holy Week, between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, when Christians prepare for the latter.[2][3]
The day commemorates the Harrowing of Hell while Jesus Christ's body lay in the tomb. Christians of the Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist, Anglican and Reformed denominations begin the celebration of the Easter Vigil service on Holy Saturday, which provides a transition to the season of Eastertide; in the Moravian Christian tradition, graves are decorated with flowers during the day of Holy Saturday and the celebration of the sunrise service starts before dawn on Easter Sunday.[2][3]
^"Public Report on Audience Complaints and Comments, April–June 2006" (PDF). Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
^ abSteenwyk, Carrie. "Easter Vigil". Christian Reformed Church in North America. Retrieved 3 April 2021. The Easter Vigil, also referred to as the Paschal Vigil or the First Service of Easter, is held either on the Saturday evening before Easter or very early Easter morning.
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HolySaturday (Latin: Sabbatum Sanctum), also known as Great and HolySaturday (also Holy and Great Saturday), Low Saturday, the Great Sabbath, Hallelujah...
and Lazarus Saturday, starting on the evening of Palm Sunday and concluding on the evening of Great Saturday. In Western Christianity, Holy Week is the...
holy, glorious and right victorious Martyrs, of our reverend and God-bearing Fathers…". For the Orthodox, Saturday — with the sole exception of Holy Saturday...
Lazarus Saturday is the day when, traditionally, hermits would leave their retreats in the wilderness to return to the monastery for the Holy Week services...
the Lamentation of the Most Holy Theotokos by Symeon the Logothete. On Friday night, the Matins of Holy and Great Saturday, a unique service known as The...
holiday), etc. Easter Saturday is therefore the Saturday after Easter Sunday. The day before Easter is properly called HolySaturday. Eastertide, or Paschaltide...
concludes either on the evening of Maundy Thursday (Holy Thursday), or at sundown on HolySaturday, when the Easter Vigil is celebrated, though in either...
death, and resurrection of Jesus. This period includes Good Friday and HolySaturday, and ends on the evening of Easter Sunday. The Mass of the Lord's Supper...
day. Holy and Great Saturday—The Burial of Jesus and the Harrowing of Hell (Matthew 28:1–20) One meal may be eaten with xerophagy. During Holy Week,...
Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem on Great Saturday, the day before Orthodox Easter. Orthodox tradition holds that the Holy Fire happens annually on the day preceding...
the Matins services of the last three days of Holy Week: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and HolySaturday. Polyphonic settings to replace plainchant have...
dates also affect when Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, HolySaturday, the Feast of the Ascension and Pentecost occur in a given year. Easter...
Easter baskets are typically blessed before the midnight service on HolySaturday, with their contents being consumed at the feast after the service....
and choirs singing "E Gene Pase". Early in the morning of HolySaturday, at 6.00 am, in the Holy Church of "Virgin Mary of Foreigners", the custom of the...
Polyeleos at Matins, the Epitaphios, which was placed on the altar on HolySaturday (either at Matins or the Midnight Office, depending on local custom)...
God and in man's response, especially in the events of Good Friday, HolySaturday, and Easter Sunday. Balthasar's soteriology, christology, and eschatology...
the two liturgical seasons of Lent and Easter in the Church calendar (HolySaturday is the last day of Lent, with the Easter Vigil being the first liturgy...
particular day: (a) Weekdays, (b) Saturday, (c) Sunday, and (d) a unique form which is observed only on HolySaturday as part of the Paschal Vigil. The...
The Harrowing of Hell is commemorated in the liturgical calendar on HolySaturday. According to The Catholic Encyclopedia, the story first appears clearly...
called the Paschal Vigil, the Great Vigil of Easter, or HolySaturday in the Easter Vigil on the Holy Night of Easter is a liturgy held in traditional Christian...
through HolySaturday): The season of Lent begins with Ash Wednesday and lasts until the final Saturday before Easter, HolySaturday. It includes "Holy Week...
of the last three days of Holy Week (Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and HolySaturday) in the evening of the previous day (Holy Wednesday, Maundy Thursday...
major holidays. Easter in Italy enters Holy Week with Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and HolySaturday, concluding with Easter Day and Easter...
followed. A similar celebration of matins and lauds of Good Friday and HolySaturday used to be held towards the close of each of the preceding days. This...
traditional dish to be eaten on Christmas Eve (for twelve-dish supper) and HolySaturday, as these are traditionally meatless feasts. This follows a pattern...
called Bright Saturday, The Bright and Holy Septave Saturday of Easter Eve, or The Bright and Holy Septave Paschal Artos and Octoechoes Saturday of Iscariot's...
25 March Cyprus National Day – 1 April Good Friday – date variable HolySaturday – date variable Easter Sunday – date variable Easter Monday – date variable...
the priest at the end of the Paschal Vigil (which is equivalent to HolySaturday), and distributed to the faithful. The egg is seen by followers of Christianity...
Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday, the sixth Good Friday or Holy Friday, and the last HolySaturday or the Great Sabbath in Eastern Rite traditions. Judd Jr...
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