 23/04/2011 16:52 |
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April 23, Holy Saturday
Greek Orthodox icons: From left, Jesus is prepared for burial, with the Magdalene, the Virgin Mary, the Apostle John and Joseph of Arimathea; other icons show Jesus's descent to Hades.
Holy Saturday is celebrated with elaborate rituals in the Orthodox Church.
Let us return once more to the night of Holy Saturday. In the Creed we say about Christ’s journey that he “descended into hell.” What happened then?
Since we have no knowledge of the world of death, we can only imagine his triumph over death with the help of images which remain very inadequate.
Yet, inadequate as they are, they can help us to understand something of the mystery. The liturgy applies to Jesus’ descent into the night of death the words of Psalm 23[24]: “Lift up your heads, O gates; be lifted up, O ancient doors!”
The gates of death are closed, no one can return from there. There is no key for those iron doors. But Christ has the key. His Cross opens wide the gates of death, the stern doors. They are barred no longer. His Cross, his radical love, is the key that opens them. The love of the One who, though God, became man in order to die – this love has the power to open those doors. This love is stronger than death.
The Easter icons of the Oriental Church show how Christ enters the world of the dead. He is clothed with light, for God is light. “The night is bright as the day, the darkness is as light” (cf. Ps 138[139]12).
- Benedict XVI, Easter Vigil homily, 2007
Today's saint:
ST. GEORGE (b Roman Palestine 281, d Nicomedia [now part of Turkey] 303), Soldier and Martyr
One of the most popular saints especially in the Orthodox world, he is probably also the best-known of military saints.
His father was a famous Roman commander in Palestine in the time of Emperor Diocletian, and his mother was Judean,
but the family was Christian. George presented himself to the Emperor Diocletian in Nicomedia, then the eastern capital
of the Roman Empire, to be a soldier, and he soon became a member of his Palace Guard. However, the emperor decreed
in 302 that all Christians in the Roman army be arrested and offer sacrifices to the pagan Gods. George refused and
professed his faith before the emperor, who sought to bribe him with money and lands to change his mind. Diocletian
had no choice but to order his execution. He underwent many tortures including being dragged through the streets
before he was beheaded. His body was brought back to Palestine where Christians venerated him as a martyr. His cult
spread throughout the eastern Roman Empire and reached the west in the 5th century. He was canonized by Pope Gelasius I
in 494. The Crusades brought him new fame when the Crusaders rebuilt the fourth century basilica erected in his honor.
Chivalric orders dedicated to him sprung up all over Western Europe. England's Edward II put the Order of the Garter
under St. George's patronage, and by the 12th century, England's ships were flying the Cross of St. George. His name was
an English battlecry during the Hundred Years War. Today he is the patron saint of England, Greece, Portugal, and
Russia, among others. Images of St. George are all based on the legend of St. George and the dragon, akin to ancient
fables of a hero slaying a dragon to save a princess from death.
OR today.
Illustration: Crucifix, designed by Marko Rupnik, executed by Gilberto Proletto.
The main papal story in this issue is the historic broadcast participation of Benedict XVI yesterday when he answered seven questions sent in by viewers on a popular religious affairs program of Italian state TV. OR publishes the full transcript of the Q&A as well as an editorial on Christian communication. The second papal story is the Mass of the Lord's Supper Thursday evening. Page 1 international news: The dollar reaches a new low against the euro following the S&P warning about the risk to the US government's credit rating in the world financial market; concern for worsening post-election violence in Nigeria, Africa's most populous country and second leading oil producer; Japan orders preventive evacuation of five cities around the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant outside the current 20-km danger radius; and Moscow expresses concern over extension of the Libyan conflict as some Western nations send military advisers to help out anti-Qaddhafi rebels.
WITH THE POPE TODAY
9pm EASTER VIGIL MASS
St. Peter's Basilica
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 23/04/2011 16:56] |
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