Holy Saturday is the day between Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection in the Orthodox Church. As part of their worship, many Orthodox churches contemplate the mystery of Jesus Christ's ascension into Hades,
Holy Saturday is commemorated annually on the Saturday preceding Easter. This year, the holiday is observed on April 15. According to Christian tradition, the day following Jesus’ death is known as Holy Saturday because he was placed to rest on that day. Several Orthodox Christian churches in the United States tend to observe Holy Saturday at a later date than the majority of western Christian churches. There are several names for Holy Saturday, including Holy and Great Saturday.
Holy Saturday is the day between Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection in the Orthodox Church. As part of their worship, many Orthodox churches contemplate the mystery of Jesus Christ’s ascension into Hades, the realm of the dead. According to the account of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection, death is ultimately defeated from within out. On this day, marked by the metamorphosis of sorrow into celebration, observant anticipation gives way to joy. Holy Saturday is regarded as a part of the Easter season, which is observed by both Orthodox and Western churches; however, the dates of Easter differ between denominations.
Even after the Council of Nicaea established Easter as a worldwide celebration for churches in 325 A.D., not all Christian churches celebrated Easter in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, which was introduced in 1582. Numerous Orthodox churches continue to observe Easter according to the Roman Julian calendar. To account for this, the Orthodox Easter season occurs later than the traditional Easter season, which occurs around the March equinox.
Orthodox circles are divided between New Calendarists, who use the revised Julian calendar to calculate the ecclesiastical year’s feasts, and Old Calendarists, who continue to use the original Julian calendar despite the revision of the Julian calendar. There have been multiple proposals to alter the date of Easter. In 1997, the World Council of Churches proposed a solution to the Easter date discrepancy between churches using the Gregorian calendar and churches using the Julian calendar. The proposal was denied. This reform has not been implemented at this time.
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The Easter hymn proclaiming Christ’s resurrection is sung.
In the Coptic, Ethiopian, and Eritrean Orthodox Churches, this day is known as “Joyous Saturday,” and in other traditions, it is also known as “Night of Light and Joy.”
On Orthodox Holy Saturday, during the Blessing of the Pascha (Easter) Baskets ceremony, Slavic Orthodox Christians bring food baskets to the church to be blessed by clerics.
The lights of the chapel are turned off at precisely midnight.
Individuals begin chanting “Christ is Risen” (Christ is Risen) as they ignite their candles from the candle of the person next to them at midnight.
| Year | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | April 15 | Saturday |
| 2024 | March 30 | Saturday |
| 2025 | April 19 | Saturday |
| 2026 | April 4 | Saturday |
| 2027 | March 27 | Saturday |
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