If anyone is to feast on Easter Sunday, food must be prepared.
If food is to be prepared for Easter Sunday, work must be done on Holy Saturday.
Or maybe you are better at planning ahead than I am!
I remember many Holy Saturdays when I thought wistfully of the words, “On the Sabbath day they rested according to the commandment” (Luke 23:56).
Since I became a mother, I have never rested on Holy Saturday. On the other hand, Saturday is not my Sabbath. And I usually rest on Easter Sunday or during Easter Week at some point, so it all works out.
This year our traditions are going by the wayside as some members of our extended family travel for a funeral taking place on Holy Saturday. Our Easter Sunday will be very unusual this year.
But Easter lasts for fifty days! And it would not be the same without hot cross buns. So this Holy Saturday, I’m making them even though not everyone will be here to eat them on Easter Sunday.
This is the photo which started the Grow Christians blog. It seems like a long time ago…
I have made these hot cross buns for the past few years, because they are delicious. I didn’t make up the recipe, though, so to honor copyright I’m not reproducing it here. Here’s the original version from Epicurious.
I don’t make this exactly as written. I ice with powdered sugar and milk mixed together, because strips of pastry dough make no sense to me. And I’ve never buttered a baking tray in my life. But other than that, this version of a hot cross bun is a solid favorite in my house, and I recommend it.
Today is a day for waiting and for preparing. It is a day of anticipation. We wait with hope.
Unlike the women who rested in observance of the commandment, we know what comes next in this story.
We are blessed to be preparing for a celebration.
A Prayer for the Day
O God, Creator of heaven and earth: Grant that, as the crucified body of your dear Son was laid in the tomb and rested on this holy Sabbath, so we may await with him the coming of the third day, and rise with him to newness of life; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
What do you do on Holy Saturday?
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I simply gather whatever I’m contributing to the easter meal the next day. I usually feast with friends from church because my immediate family are Jehovah’s witnesses and don’t celebrate easter. This year I’m supposed to make a salad and bring wine. I’m going to the holy Saturday service later today at my parish. That’s it.
I usually make a big batch of challah, and my kids like to help with the braiding and glazing. It is a meditative practice during what is also for me an exceptionally busy day of preparation for liturgy and feasting (and the cultural pieces of Easter–eggs, baskets, etc.).
That sounds both delicious and wise.