Holy Saturday

Rembrandt, Entombment of Christ, c. 1639

The Descent of Christ into the Underworld in the Albani Psalter (book illumination, England 12th century)

Holy Saturday (Latin: Sabbatum Sanctum), also called Great and Holy Saturday, Saturday of the Glory, Great Sabbath, Black Saturday (Philippines), Hallelujah Saturday (Portugal and Brazil), or Easter Eve, is the seventh and last day of Holy Week before Easter Sunday. In Christianity, this day commemorates the burial of the Christ and, according to Eph 4:9 LUT and 1 Pet 3:19 LUT, his descent into the underworld, where the Christ preached and freed some of those imprisoned here in limbo, namely all the biblical righteous since Adam. Rudolf Steiner also points out

„...that the event of Golgotha was not merely an event for the physical world, but had a spill-over effect into all spiritual worlds, just as the descent of the Christ into the underworld was a real fact, ...“ (Lit.:GA 118, p. 127f)

The Christ thus united with the whole earth and thus became the new spirit of the earth, just as he had once been the leading spirit of the sun before his descent from the cosmic heights.

Emil Bock, one of the co-founders of the Christian Community, explains:

„Now we stand between Good Friday and Easter. The body has been taken down from the cross and laid in the grave. Mankind has not taken any notice of this, but the archetypal thoughts of God are mysteriously woven into the events. Providence has arranged it in such a way that the cross and the grave are located at a place that was experienced thousands of years ago as a centre of the earth. Between Golgotha, the rocky hill that continues into the moon-like rock mass of the Temple Mount, and the tomb, the surroundings of which form the beginning of the garden landscape on the Zion Mount, there was once a primordial fissure in the surface of the earth. Ancient mankind saw the tomb of Adam in this horrible maw. Here, for the first time, death came upon humanity. And so, from very ancient times, this primordial gorge, which tore the face of the city of Jerusalem in two, was associated with the idea that here was the gateway to the underworld. In this place the cross rose yesterday and the tomb stands today.

As we try to penetrate the inside of the event, it is as if the curtain of another sphere is torn apart once again. The night realm of death opens up before us, the holy of holies, in which the souls of the dead weave, but have come under the magical spell of the power of death. Then, in the saturnine darkness of the sphere of death, we encounter an unexpected light. He who died on the cross has entered the realm of the dead. Now there dwells one who is not subject to the magical coercive power of death, but is free from all anaesthesia. He carries the full sunlight of his genius abruptly through death. Thus, while the dark sabbath of the grave reigns on earth, the sun rises in the realm of the dead. This is the meaning of Christ's journey to hell. A glimmer of hope shines in the realm of the dead. The spell of death is loosened because the prospect of a future victory of the human soul over the spectre of the underworld becomes clear. When it was still Holy Saturday on earth, it was already Easter in the realm of the dead. Before the earthly people noticed anything about Easter, the deceased noticed it.

How will the drama continue? The question has not yet been decided whether there will also be an Easter in the world of earthly corporeality. Will the victory over death that shines in the realm of the soul also be won in the realm of matter?

The earth, which is dying because it is in danger of completely losing its connection with heaven, has been given a remedy. It has taken into itself the body and blood of Christ. These were the first components of earthly matter that were completely permeated by the spirit. They are the germ of a new spirit-illumined matter.“ (Lit.: Bock, p. 361f)

„The cosmic communing of our earth planet takes place on Good Friday and Holy Saturday, before the Easter victory has yet been fully won. Therefore, the physical-real body and the physical-real blood of the man Jesus of Nazareth has been the medicine that the earth received.“ (Lit.: Bock, p. 363)

Literature

• Emil Bock: Die drei Jahre, Urachhaus Verlag, Stuttgart 1981, ISBN 3-87838-229-4
• Judith von Halle: Der Abstieg in die Erdenschichten auf dem anthroposophischen Schulungsweg, Verlag am Goetheanum, Dornach 2008
• Rudolf Steiner: Das Ereignis der Christus-Erscheinung in der ätherischen Welt, GA 118 (1984), ISBN 3-7274-1180-5 English: rsarchive.org German: pdf pdf(2) html mobi epub archive.org

References to the work of Rudolf Steiner follow Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works (CW or GA), Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach/Switzerland, unless otherwise stated. Email: verlag@steinerverlag.com URL: www.steinerverlag.com. Index to the Complete Works of Rudolf Steiner - Aelzina Books A complete list by Volume Number and a full list of known English translations you may also find at Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works Rudolf Steiner Archive - The largest online collection of Rudolf Steiner's books, lectures and articles in English. Rudolf Steiner Audio - Recorded and Read by Dale Brunsvold steinerbooks.org - Anthroposophic Press Inc. (USA) Rudolf Steiner Handbook - Christian Karl's proven standard work for orientation in Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works for free download as PDF.

Holy Week

Palm Sunday | Holy Monday | Holy Tuesday | Holy Wednesday | Maundy Thursday | Good Friday | Holy Saturday | Easter