Holy Saturday, Great and Holy Saturday, the Great Sabbath, Hallelujah Saturday, Saturday of the Glory, Black Saturday, Easter Eve, Joyous Saturday, the Saturday of Light, or Mega Sabbatun

Saturday of Holy Week with Selected Illustrations by James Tissot, with Commentary by Tissot

Two Illustrations for Holy Saturday

• The Two Marys Watch the Tomb of Jesus

• The Watch Over the Tomb of Jesus

Tissot depicts the happenings on earth between the time of Christ’s burial and His Resurrection, as a time of waiting and mourning and hopelessness, but there is also a great thing happening in Hell that Tissot doesn’t illustrate. All those who by the Holy Spirit hoped in Christ but who died before His saving death on the Cross are being rescued to join the Saviour in Heaven.

Tissot Introduction

All the scenes we are about to reproduce will have a character peculiar to themselves. After the thunderbolt of the Passion there ensues a pause such as occurs in the wake of all great storms. The suffering of the Son of God, a suffering altogether human, in that His divinity could not suffer, came to an end at the same time as His mortal life. Every one is in a state of prostration after all the agony of the terrible day of Good Friday. The fact is, the events of that day succeeded each other with unexpected precipitancy, God alone knew why. The bold coup de main of the Sanhedrim, the condemnation of the night of Holy Thursday, the confirmation by Pilate of that condemnation, the scourging and the death all succeeded each other with a bewildering rapidity. The friends of Jesus, who have gone through all these agitating emotions, now experience a sense of lassitude which somewhat mitigates their grief; Pilate himself even, phlegmatic though he is by nature, seems to share the impression made on the believers in the Saviour; he, too, is astonished at the swift succession of events, and he needs the report of the centurion before he can believe that Jesus is really ‘already dead’. On the other hand, the extraordinary phenomena which accompanied this death are now at an end; the convulsions which rent the soil have ceased; the dead no longer appear to terrify the living; Heaven, conquered by the death of Christ, is reconciled with earth and rolls back her mantle of gloom as if it were a mourning garment no longer needed. Already whilst the Passion was still going on, little patches of blue had appeared here and there in the prevailing blackness, shining out timidly like some faint hope, but now they widen and spread till they occupy the whole of the sky; nature, so long under a ban, brightens up in the new flood of light, and a serene peace reigns everywhere. . . .

Now that the blood has been stanched and the limbs are composed, the form of the Saviour is restored to its old calm beauty, and the loving hearts of those gathered around it feel as if the actual presence of the Lord were given back to them. It had been so terribly hard to them to be debarred from getting close to Him on Calvary and to be unable to lavish cares on Him Who was all in all to them, in His time of Agony. Now, at last, their reverent zeal need fear no check; the Governor has given the sacred Body to an influential friend, Joseph of Arimathea. and the mourners are, therefore, safe from the brutal insults of the Jews. Guards will, it is true, come and take up their post at the entrance to the Sepulchre; but their arrival is delayed long enough for everything to be completed without interruption in the quiet walled-in Garden of Joseph.

The first impression we have to give, therefore, is of a tomb; but of a divine, a sacred tomb. True, in that tomb we feel all the oppressive gloom of death, we see caves hewn in the living rock, stones blocking the entrance, which roll slowly back in the grooves prepared for them; but with the gloom is mingled something of the serene majesty of the approaching Resurrection, we feel the freshness of the coming dawn after the overwhelming gloom of the preceding sunset. — The Apostles are once more together in the guest-chamber and there is something strange in their demeanour. They cannot understand what has happened; they are abashed and discouraged by the death of the Master, which He so often foretold, but in which they never believed. For the Messiah to have died without restoring His Kingdom surely was to have failed in the most essential part of His mission. This was, in fact, how the matter would be understood by every Jew and of course also by the disciples. When, therefore. He said to them: ‘I must die’ their astonishment was intense. On one occasion we know that Saint Peter so far forgot himself as to exclaim: ‘Absit a te, Domine'— ‘Be it far from thee, oh Lord! ‘ And after the Resurrection the first question the Apostles were sure to ask would be: ‘Si in tempore hoc restitues regnum Israel?’ — ‘Wilt Thou now restore the Kingdom of Israel?’ Now, however, not knowing what was about to happen they were all in a state of hesitation easily understood. Their feelings waver between faith in the promises of Jesus and certainty of the fact of His death; they have but a faint hope at the bottom of their hearts; but that hope is enough to save them from absolute despair, and its existence is what keeps them together, expecting they know not what.

The evening of Good Friday is passed in this manner and so is the whole of Saturday; the Holy Women meanwhile watching near the Sepulchre, their hearts warning them that something wonderful is going to happen. Then the guards arrive, take up their posts, light their lanterns and begin their vigil, but nothing happens yet.

The Two Marys Watch the Tomb of Jesus

St. Mark 15: 47

And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses beheld where he was laid.

Tissot Commentary

The precious body has been laid in the Tomb; the last farewell has been silently taken. The mourners have filed past the corpse resting in the cubiculum, or little chamber, referred to above, and have then slowly retired backwards as we all regretfully leave a place we love. The stone, the wedges removed, has rolled into its groove, it has been firmly fixed once more and the Sepulchre is closed. It is still, however, possible to enter the first chamber, for the outer aperture remains open. Everyone is gone now except two women who remain to watch the sacred spot from a distance. They intend to go back to it at the earliest possible moment to render yet more last services to the divine Master. At present, they must not dream of doing anything, for the Sabbath has begun; they must content themselves with reviewing every detail of the interment, so that they may know what to do the next morning. This is what Saint Mark implies when he says: ‘Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses beheld where he was laid.’ Then they take up their post on a rock opposite the entrance and wait. Time passes, but they are still there, they have too much food for meditation to be impatient. The night is closing in on them, still they do not move from their place, but with eager gaze they seem to strive to pierce through the stone closing the Tomb, to the form of Him they love.

The Roman Guards at the Tomb

St. Matthew 27: 62-65

Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate.

Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again.

Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first.

Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make is as sure as ye can.

So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.

Tissot Commentary

After their interview with Pilate, the members of the Sanhedrin, having obtained his authority, make their own arrangements for securing the Tomb. It is now Saturday evening; the guard arrives and takes up its position; the lanterns are lit and a scribe comes to seal the round stone carefully. The Jews consider this a necessary precaution, to guard against the watchmen themselves, who might have been bribed by the friends of Jesus. The wax seals impressed, the man leans against the stone and becomes drowsy. The night is calm; the guards lie down upon the ground and watch in silence. Nothing is heard but the continuous barking of the dogs who prowl about in noisy bands all night.

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