Saturday, April 19, 2025

Holy Saturday 2025

Gregory DiPippo

The Harrowing of Hell, by Duccio di Buoninsenga, 1308-11
R. Recessit pastor noster, fons aquae vivae, ad cujus transitum sol obscuratus est; * nam et ille captus est, qui captivum tenebat primum hominem: hodie portas mortis et seras pariter Salvator noster disrupit. V. Destruxit quidem claustra inferni, et subvertit potentias diaboli. Nam et ille.

R. Our Shepherd hath departed, the font of living water, at Whose passing the sun was darkened; * for he that held the first Man captive, was himself taken: today our Savior hath broken asunder the doors and bars of death. V. Indeed, he destroyed the fortress of hell, and overthrew the powers of the devil. For he that held. (Tenebrae of Holy Saturday, fourth responsory)

Posted Saturday, April 19, 2025 Comment

Labels:

More recent articles:


The Suscipe Sancta TrinitasMichael P. Foley
Lost in Translation #125 After the lavabo, the priest goes to the middle of the altar, looks up to Heaven, and, bowing, asks the Triune God to receive his entire offering: Súscipe, sancta Trínitas, hanc oblatiónem, quam tibi offérimus ob memoriam passiónis, resurrectiónis, et ascensiónis Jesu Christi, Dómini nostri, et in honórem beátae Maríae s...

Pope Leo XIVGregory DiPippo
Today, the Sacred College of Cardinals elected His Eminence Robert Cardinal Prevost, hitherto Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, as the 267th Pope and bishop of Rome; His Holiness has taken the name Leo XIV. He is the first American Pope, a native of Chicago, Illinois; he became a member of the Order of St Augustine in 1977, and served as the su...

The Basilica of St Victor in MilanGregory DiPippo
The church of Milan today celebrates the feast of the martyr St Victor, a Christian soldier from the Roman province of Africa, who was killed in the first year of the persecution of Diocletian, 303 AD, while serving at Milan under the Emperor Maximian. He is usually called “Maurus - the Moor” to distinguish him from the innumerable other Saints ca...

The Solemnity of St Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church 2025Gregory DiPippo
From the Encyclical Quamquam pluries of Pope Leo XIII on St Joseph, issued on the feast of the Assumption in 1889. It is providential that the conclave to elect a new pope should begin on this important solemnity; let us remember to count Joseph especially among the Saints to whom we address our prayers for a good outcome of this election. The spe...

Why the Traditional Mass Should Remain In LatinPeter Kwasniewski
In spite of attempts to suppress it, the traditional Latin Mass is here to stay. It may not be as widespread as it was in the halcyon days of Summorum Pontificum, but neither is it exactly hidden under a bushel, as the early Christians were during the Roman persecutions. In many cites, gigantic parishes run by former Ecclesia Dei institutes are pac...

An Illuminated Manuscript of St John’s ApocalypseGregory DiPippo
In honor of the feast of St John at the Latin Gate, here is a very beautiful illuminated manuscript which I stumbled across on the website of the Bibliothèque national de France (Département des Manuscrits, Néerlandais 3), made 1400. It contains the book of the Apocalypse in a Flemish translation, with an elaborately decorated page before each chap...

Gregorian Chant Courses This Summer at Clear Creek Abbey Gregory DiPippo
Clear Creek Abbey in northwest Oklahoma (diocese of Tulsa: located at 5804 W Monastery Road in Hulbert) will once again be hosting a week-long instruction in Gregorian chant, based on the course called Laus in Ecclesia, from Monday, July 14, to Friday, July 18. The course will be offered at three different levels of instruction:1) Gregorian initiat...

The Feast of St Vincent FerrerGregory DiPippo
The feast of St Vincent Ferrer was traditionally assigned to the day of his death, April 5th, but I say “assigned to” instead of “kept on” advisedly; that date falls within either Holy Week or Easter week so often that its was either translated or omitted more than it was celebrated on its proper day. [1] For this reason, in 2001 the Dominicans mov...

Good Shepherd Sunday 2025Gregory DiPippo
Dearest brethren, Christ suffered for us, leaving you an example that you should follow His steps; Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth; Who, when He was reviled, did not revile. When He suffered, he threatened not, but delivered Himself to him that judged Him unjustly; Who His own self bore our sins in His body upon the tree: that...

The Gospel of Nicodemus in the Liturgy of EastertideGregory DiPippo
By “the Gospel of Nicodemus”, I mean not the apocryphal gospel of that title, but the passage of St John’s Gospel in which Christ speaks to Nicodemus, chapter 3, verses 1-21. This passage has an interesting and complex history among the readings of the Easter season. For liturgical use, the Roman Rite divides it into two parts, the second of which...

For more articles, see the NLM archives: