The Church commemorates Holy Saturday of Passion Week

The Burial of Christ. Mosaic from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Photo from open sources

On April 19, 2025, the Orthodox Church entered Holy Saturday of Passion Week – the final day before the Bright Resurrection of Christ.

On this day, the Church commemorates the bodily burial of Jesus Christ and His descent into Hades, where He trampled down the power of the devil and proclaimed victory over death.

One of the greatest miracles of the Orthodox Church takes place on Holy Saturday – the descent of the Holy Fire. This miracle occurs every year on the eve of Orthodox Pascha at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

According to Church tradition, the Saturday services begin on Friday evening, when the Shroud (Plashchanitsa) is placed in the center of the church. During Matins, after the Great Doxology, the Holy Shroud is carried out of the church by the clergy while the hymn “Holy God…” is sung, and a procession is made around the church in remembrance of Christ’s descent into Hades and His victory over hell and death. After the procession, the Shroud is brought back into the church and placed before the open Royal Doors, signifying that the Savior remains inseparably united with God the Father and that, through His sufferings and death, He has once again opened for us the gates of Paradise.

Holy Saturday concludes with the troparion of Passion Week. Priests begin the blessing of Paschal offerings.

At midnight, after the Canon of Holy Saturday, the clergy carry the Shroud to the Altar, where it will remain for forty days until the Feast of the Ascension, in memory of Christ’s forty-day presence on earth after His Resurrection from the dead.

Holy Saturday is a day of fasting. According to monastic rule, hot lenten food without oil is permitted; for laypeople, hot food with vegetable oil is allowed.

As previously reported by the UOJ, the descent of the Holy Fire in Jerusalem will be broadcast live.

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