Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Church

"I wait for the Lord, my soul waits and I hope for his word. My soul looks for the Lord more than sentinels for daybreak. More than sentinels for daybreak, let Israel hope in the Lord, For with the Lord is mercy, with him is plenteous redemption, And he will redeem Israel from all its sins." - Psalm 130:5-8

Prayer: Lord, we know that everything is in Your control and scripture tells us, 'Love is patient, Love is kind," and that You are love. Give us the grace to keep vigilance this day that we may rejoice with the disciples and Mary with the joy of seeing You rise from the dead. Amen.

Expectant Waiting

Holy Saturday is a day of faithful vigilance. Vigilance is defined as the action or state of keeping careful watch. And this is how we are to act throughout this day. We know that Jesus will rise from the dead, we have heard Him preach. We recall the many occasions where Jesus said, 'The Son of Man must be handed over to be crucified, but He will rise on the third day.' We continue to feel the weight of His death, the trial of the passion.

We place ourselves in the position of His followers. We look especially to Mary the Mother of God as she is the example par excellance of faithful vigilance. She feels the anguish of the death of her Son, yet she is ever faithful and remains close to God amidst her grief. In her example we remember to ponder the words of God that she has placed in her heart. We give thanks and praise to God amidst the grief, for all of those things that have been fulfilled, and we keep vigilance for those words that yet remain to be fulfilled. In all our faithful vigilance we remain close to God.

Our faithful vigilance continues into the evening when we keep vigil at the tomb. A vigil is a period of keeping awake during the time usually spent asleep, especially to keep watch or pray. And this is what the Easter Vigil is all about, we keep watch for the glorious moment that awaits us...

May God richly bless you!

-Fr. Jeremy

Here is a silent film attempting to explain some of the beauty of what God has done for us through His life, teaching, passion, death, and resurrection: