Communion

Today the Lord my God is waiting, silently in the Tomb, and I am invited to stand vigil with the Communion of Saints, outside it…

The Body of the Dead Christ in the Tomb (Hans Holbein the Younger)

How quiet the Church is on Easter Saturday.

There is no Mass held in all the world.

This is the day when Christ descended into Hell and triumphed over Hell.

And this is the day that we as the Church mourn.

This is one of my favourite days to visit the Church.  It is quiet and gentle and sad.

People are mostly bustling about preparing for tomorrow and the celebration of Easter.  Good Friday is over and the new Season is soon to begin – Lent will be finished and the Easter season will commence.

And on this solemn day – this quiet day – as I sit in the Church and reflect, I am quite overcome by the Communion of Saints.  You see, as Christ lays in the tomb, the whole Communion of Saints pray with baited breath for the greatest miracle that the world has ever seen.

This is the day when God stood still.  This is the day when the recompense for the sin of Eve was paid.  This is the day when Heaven trembles and the Earth stands still.  And from this day, all of the universe is restored.  The fall of humankind is undone through the actions of this day.  The silence of this day is a reminder of the terrible price demanded of my God. 

There are people who I have known and loved who have gone to their rest before me.  Those people may be in Heaven on this day.  They will be able to marvel at this sacrifice.  The angels are able to see this sacrifice and know it.  They can stand outside the tomb and marvel at the Love of the Lord.  They can shudder at the gates of Hell and know that their Lord and Master is within claiming dominion over the dead.

And when we celebrate the Holy Mass tomorrow, it will not be a sacrifice of one Mass or one person or one time.  It will be the sacrifice of the Universal Church.  “It is the sacrifice of the whole Church. Pray, brethren, although there may not be many present, although materially there may be only one person there, although the celebrant may find himself alone; because every Mass is a universal sacrifice, the redemption of every tribe and tongue and people and nation.  Through the communion of the saints, all Christians receive grace from every Mass that is celebrated, regardless of whether there is an attendance of thousands of persons, or whether it is only a boy with his mind on other things who is there to serve. In either case, heaven and earth join with the angels of the Lord to sing: Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus...” (Saint Josemaria, “Christ is passing by”, at 89).

And I have been reflecting on this today in the quiet of the Church.  For today the Lord my God is waiting, silently in the Tomb, and I am invited to stand vigil with the Communion of Saints, outside it…

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.