On Holy Saturday, He Opens the Gates of Heaven

The crucifixion is over and Jesus is in the tomb.....as Catholics we believe that on Holy Saturday Christ descended into Hell to open the gates of Heaven to those gone before. Tomorrow he rises from the dead, Hallelujah 

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church:  

Paragraph 1. Christ Descended into Hell

632 The frequent New Testament affirmations that Jesus was "raised from the dead" presuppose that the crucified one sojourned in the realm of the dead prior to his resurrection.⁴⁷⁸ This was the first meaning given in the apostolic preaching to Christ's descent into hell: that Jesus, like all men, experienced death and in his soul joined the others in the realm of the dead. But he descended there as Savior, proclaiming the Good News to the spirits imprisoned there.⁴⁷⁹

633 Scripture calls the abode of the dead, to which the dead Christ went down, "hell" - Sheol in Hebrew or Hades in Greek - because those who are there are deprived of the vision of God.⁴⁸⁰ Such is the case for all the dead, whether evil or righteous, while they await the Redeemer: which does not mean that their lot is identical, as Jesus shows through the parable of the poor man Lazarus who was received into "Abraham's bosom":⁴⁸¹ "It is precisely these holy souls, who awaited their Savior in Abraham's bosom, whom Christ the Lord delivered when he descended into hell."⁴⁸² Jesus did not descend into hell to deliver the damned, nor to destroy the hell of damnation, but to free the just who had gone before him.⁴⁸³

634 "The gospel was preached even to the dead."⁴⁸⁴ The descent into hell brings the Gospel message of salvation to complete fulfilment. This is the last phase of Jesus' messianic mission, a phase which is condensed in time but vast in its real significance: the spread of Christ's redemptive work to all men of all times and all places, for all who are saved have been made sharers in the redemption.

635 Christ went down into the depths of death so that "the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live."⁴⁸⁵ Jesus, "the Author of life", by dying destroyed "him who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and [delivered] all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong bondage."⁴⁸⁶ Henceforth the risen Christ holds "the keys of Death and Hades", so that "at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth."⁴⁸⁷

Today a great silence reigns on earth, a great silence and a great stillness. A great silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. . . He has gone to search for Adam, our first father, as for a lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, he has gone to free from sorrow Adam in his bonds and Eve, captive with him - He who is both their God and the son of Eve. . . "I am your God, who for your sake have become your son. . . I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be a prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead."⁴⁸⁸

IN BRIEF

636 By the expression "He descended into hell", the Apostles' Creed confesses that Jesus did really die and through his death for us conquered death and the devil "who has the power of death" (Heb 2:14).

637 In his human soul united to his divine person, the dead Christ went down to the realm of the dead. He opened heaven's gates for the just who had gone before him.

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476 Eph 4:9-10.

Agnus Dei

Today is Holy Thursday and tonight we Catholics commemorate the Lord's  Last Supper. The celebration of the first Eucharist in that upper room. Mass of the Last Supper is held after sundown.

 The priest washes the feet of 12 as Jesus washed the feet of the disciples.

This special Mass commemorates the institution of Holy Communion through Jesus's words "this is my body" and "this is my blood"  & direction to "do this in memory of me". At the end of Mass the hosts (which we believe is the consecrated Body of Christ) is removed from the tabernacle and carried in a procession to the lower church where it is placed in the other tabernacle.

After the procession the altar is stripped bare and bells of the church go silent until the "Gloria" at the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday.

Mass will not be held on Good Friday. The Communion for that day will come from these already consecrated hosts that were moved from the church on Holy Thursday. That day is reserved for Stations of the Cross at 3 pm, the hour Jesus died and for readings that account the Passion of Christ. It is very solemn.

Easter time is my favorite time of the church year. It's rich with symbolism and tradition. Tradition that my parents, grandparents, great grandparents.....my family all the way back to the early church, shared in. This tradition makes me what and who I am.

Tonight I will be joining my daughter at the Shrine of St. Anthony for the Mass of the Last Supper.

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 Agnus Dei, 

quitollis peccata mundi: miserere nobis. 

Agnus Dei, 

quitollis peccata mundi: miserere nobis. 

Agnus Dei, 

quitollis peccata mundi: dona nobis pacem.

Translation:

Lamb of God

who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.

Lamb of God

who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us

Lamb of God

who takes away the sins of the world, grant us peace.

.

May Their Souls....

...and all the faithful departed rest in peace. Amen.

St. Vincent de Paul Icon

So a month ago, I went with my Dad to a funeral. He wanted to go to his Mother's grave and so we did. On the way home he said he remembered going to a little graveyard in Clifton Park with his mother to see the graves of his two brothers who died as babies.  I asked him did he want to go and he did. It seems at his age (he's 82) he wants to tie things up going places for one more time.

Well we drove for over a hour looking and looking for the cemetery. He kept saying things had changed. I gave up. We left. Later I went online to find the cemetery. It is "St. Vincent Cemetery". I read there had been major desecration to the point that the church had tombstones bulldozed to keep people from finding the dead and it was left to become an overgrown jungle. That to me was unthinkable. I keep saying to myself, what happened to the 7th Corporal Act of Mercy-Bury the Dead? How was this possible?

Sad piles of tombstones litter the grounds

Searching online I found a group on Yahoo, dedicated to the restoration of the graveyard. It had just gone up online a couple weeks before. I joined. I was obsessed with helping out. I'm sure it was my Grandmother prompting me to save her babies.

It's been a whorlwind couple of weeks. I have found myself at the Maryland Archives every week rummaging through and recording the Internment Records for St. Leo's church for those buried at St. Vincent's. Most of those buried there were poor immigrants and mostly children and babies. So sad. There I find the record for my Uncle Angelo who died at 6 weeks. My poor grandmother. My heart sinks and is sadden for her loss.

Does this look like a cemetery?

In a short time, our group raised $1,250 and the church (St. Vincent de Paul) gave us another $1,250. We paid a landscaper to come clear out everything but the large trees. Now you can walk throughout but it doesn't look and feel like a cemetery.

I visited the cemetery yesterday with one of the group leaders. We met someone from the Friends of Clifton Park, a very knowledgeable woman. She gives me hope.

I couldn't help but cry as I walked around the cemetery. Seeing the tombstones in piles and some piled over with soil.  Looking at an old map trying to find my uncles. Praying for all the dead who rested below my feet as I walked. My church (the Roman Catholic Church) may have let the dead down but I won't let them down.....I remember what I was taught by Sister Trenta...that 7th Corporal Work of Mercy. She was a good teacher!  But I wonder, will we ever make it a dignified resting place?

God help us. St. Vincent de Paul Pray for us!
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The icon above was painted by me  for  a friend, Sister Liz Sjoberg of the Daughters of Charity.