Today is Holy Saturday. Eastern church traditions refer to this day as The Saturday of Light.
Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus come to care for Jesus' body. They honor Jesus with a proper burial, with linen cloths and customary ointments. Jesus' body is laid in the tomb.
In the tomb,
Light is given to darkness.
Life relinquishes to death.
Deeper than the darkest night,
The everlasting Light.
Beyond the depth of all deaths,
The breath of Life.
This holy night, we proclaim with faith and confess with our tongue, the promised resurrection of Jesus Christ, our hope and our salvation.
As night falls, gather your heart, perhaps gather with loved ones, for this offering.
Profess aloud the proclamation for this night.
Respond in your heart with the confession below. May it be a prayer throughout this night. May you awake the dawn with this confession before the risen Christ.
Proclamation for The Saturday of Light
Even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you. (Psalm 139:12)
If I ascend to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. Even there your hand will guide me; your right hand will hold me fast. (Psalm 139:11)
I am the Alpha and Omega, who was and is and is to come. Do not be afraid, I am the first and the last; and the living one. I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever more. (Revelation 1:8,17-18)
. . .
The light is no more
Yet all creation speaks
The light dwindles into darkness
It seems so fragile;
but the dark gathers it.
The life dwindles into the depths of the earth
It seems so lost;
but the dark holds it.*
Love's radiant light
rebirths relinquished life.
Light is lord over darkness
Life is lord over death
Christ is Lord of all. Amen.
*Adapted from The Earth Cries Glory: Daily Prayer with Creation
Confession
Love so amazing
Love so divine
Demands my soul
my heart
my all.
When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
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