To tell you that today is not Easter Saturday?

[TheFirstOHN]

Easter Saturday is on 27 April this year.

Are there eggs left? I've always assumed they'd be sold out by Saturday, so buy them earlier!

Yes, some churches hold a vigil on the evening of Low Saturday/Holy Saturday, which is either followed by, or is itself (not sure!) the first celebration of the Resurrection

In our house it’s Good Friday, Easter Saturday, Easter Sunday and then Easter Monday aka the chocolate holiday!

But you can start your chocolate holiday tomorrow and finish it on Easter Saturday. You can fit much more chocolate in that way.

Easter Saturday is also sometimes known as 'Bright Saturday'.
I think the Eastern Orthodox church mark it with a bread-breaking ceremony, but I don't know of any special traditions in the Western Church.

By the time they've done Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday vigil and Easter Sunday, I think most priests would want to give themselves (and their congregation) the following Saturday off.

Yes the palms are burnt during the vigil while Christ lies in the tomb before the resurrection.

In our house it's påskafton- Easter Eve- and it's about looking out for witches who will be flying home from the WItches' Sabbath to make sure they are safely home before the Resurrection. Different cultures, different traditions.

It’s quite useful to have a day of reflection between the sadness of Good Friday, (when we remove any decoration from church and hold a vigil to commemorate Christ’s torture and death in his loving sacrifice for ungrateful, jeering humankind), and the joy and happiness of the Resurrection on Easter Sunday morning.
As a feminist, I’m always struck by the fact it was the women who stayed loyally with Him at the foot of the cross, when the male disciples ran away, and it was a woman (Mary Magdalene) who was the first witness of his resurrection and bore the amazing news to the disciples and from thence to all of humanity.
Easter is a rollercoaster of emotion, and the biggest celebration of the Christian year. So much more than a “ chocolate fest”!

I’m in Ireland and it’s always been Holy Saturday

Thanks OP, I've been trying to tell people all week. And don't get me started on celebrating Easter weekend. Good Friday is not Easter. Easter begins with the vigil tonight if you are RC and not before!

Low week is the week after next.

What a lovely post babdoc. For the 1st time my Dh and I are doing the Tridium (spelling?) And finding the experience - not sure of the right word - of value.

Never heard that palms are burnt in the Easter fire they definitely aren't in my cathedral . They are usually burnt the week before Ash Wednesday.

I feel like I have stumbled into an episode of QI

@Baddoc - we’re not religious and don’t go to church so for our family it’s a holiday from work with time to have a party with family and friends with good food, drinks and too much chocolate. It’s one of my favourite bank holidays and the good weather makes it even better.

and for the atheists it's oh-shit-i-forgot-to-buy-Easter-Eggs Saturday.

”For Christians, today is the end of Holy Week, which can be marked with prayer and/or a vigil.”

Well yes. But my question was what’s Easter Saturday for, if today (and therefore the things you mention) isn’t it?

I'm in NI and have always called today Easter Saturday.

'Low Saturday' is Easter Saturday (i.e. the Saturday of Easter week, which starts on Easter Sunday - tomorrow). So Low Saturday is Saturday 27th April this year.

www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2019-04-27

In my RC parish, last year's palms are collected in the weeks coming up to the start of Lent. They are burned outside the church in a prayer ceremony on the eve of Ash Wednesday. The resulting ashes are used to mark foreheads of worshipers at Mass on Ash Wednesday, which is the start of Lent.

Right before the Easter Vigil Mass (tonight) a Paschal Fire is lit outside the church and the celebrants, choir, altar servers and congregation file into the darkened church with each person bearing a little candle lit from the Paschal Candle, which the celebrant lights from the fire. The symbolism is Christ the Light of the World, light/darkness, Resurrection/death.

Sometimes this service of light can be done with a small, sheltered fire and the congregation inside the darkened church, with the light passes to everyone's candle along the pews. We have had snow/sleet/hail/driving rain here at Easter - weather plays a part in determining the way the service of light is carried out.

This is not the night for burning palms. There are two fires associated with Lent and Easter, which are distinct.

www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/activities/view.cfm?id=1043

Why 'Good' Friday? Isn't it a very sad day?

I think it used to be God Friday but changed for some reason. When I went to church, I used to spend days in church this week! It would start with Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and then Easter Vigil on Saturday. I haven't been to any of them in years, but could probably recite all the gospel readings off by heart!

I thought Ash Wednesday was the day after Shrove Tuesday. I clearly know nothing!

It is the day after shrove Tuesday.

Threekids Ash Wednesday is the day after Shrove Tuesday.

pp said that the palms are burned now, to create the Ash which I presume must be stored until next Ash Wednesday (not sure as we don't do this in my Church)

Never heard that palms are burnt in the Easter fire they definitely aren't in my cathedral . They are usually burnt the week before Ash Wednesday.

You are right, Toddlerteaplease, they are not burned in the Paschal fire.

They are burned on Shrove Tuesday and the ashes used for ash on Ash Wednesday, the following day.

The palms distributed on Palm Sunday or left over from Palm Sunday are used the following year for burning for ashes for Ash Wednesday.

They are nicely dried out after a year so they burn well.

Easter Saturday traditionally was the day the white garments of those newly baptised at the Easter Vigil or another Easter Mass or service were set aside and normal clothing resumed.