The Chains are Broken

We are in the midst of the great Easter Triduum.  We began on Holy Thursday with the celebration ofthe institution of the Priesthood and the Eucharist, and the universal call to charity.  We continued through yesterday, good Friday with the Passion and burial of Our Lord.  Tonight will we celebrat the "night that even now throughout the world, sets Christian believers apart from worldly vices and from the gloom of sin, leading them to grace and joining them to his holy ones. This is the night when Christ broke the prison-bars of death and rose victorious from the underworld."   The night of the Lords resurrection.   But, dear Christians, let us not let this day pass us by without reflecting at least briefly on Holy Saturday.

With the sealing of the tomb of Jesus, we profess in the creed that after he was buried he "descended to hell", to the realm of the dead.   Why did he do this?  St. Peter tells us in his letter that Jesus "went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly did not obey." (1 Peter 3:19)  The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains this:

 The gospel was preached even to the dead."The descent into hell brings the Gospel message of salvation to complete fulfilment. This is the last phase of Jesus' messianic mission, a phase which is condensed in time but vast in its real significance: the spread of Christ's redemptive work to all men of all times and all places, for all who are saved have been made sharers in the redemption. (CCC 634)

Many it is often seen that this is the reason for the earthquake that followed the death of Jesus. In the ancient service of tenebrae, Holy Saturday mattins, the monks would slam their Psalters against the choir stalls to recall the breaking of the bondage of death.  Christ has freed the souls of the just!

This mystery has been depicted in ancient art.

Even in his death, when many imagine Jesus in a cold tomb sleeping soundly, he went to ransom the souls of the just from the reach of Satan so that he may complete the work of our redemption.  I do believe that this is what was captured in this scene from the Passion of the Christ when we see the devil screaming furiously in an empty space.

So, spend some time today reflecting on the great work of our redemption as we leap tonight into the Glory of the Lord's resurrection.

In order to help you here is the text of an ancient homily from an unknown author that dates back at least to the fourth century:

Something strange is happening—there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear. 

He has gone to search for our first parent, as for a lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, he has gone to free from sorrow the captives Adam and Eve, he who is both God and the son of Eve. The Lord approached them bearing the cross, the weapon that had won him the victory. At the sight of him Adam, the first man he had created, struck his breast in terror and cried out to everyone: “My Lord be with you all.” Christ answered him: “And with your spirit.” He took him by the hand and raised him up, saying: “Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”
I am your God, who for your sake have become your son. Out of love for you and for your descendants I now by my own authority command all who are held in bondage to come forth, all who are in darkness to be enlightened, all who are sleeping to arise. I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be held a prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead. Rise up, work of my hands, you who were created in my image. Rise, let us leave this place, for you are in me and I am in you; together we form only one person and we cannot be separated. 

For your sake I, your God, became your son; I, the Lord, took the form of a slave; I, whose home is above the heavens, descended to the earth and beneath the earth. For your sake, for the sake of man, I became like a man without help, free among the dead. For the sake of you, who left a garden, I was betrayed to the Jews in a garden, and I was crucified in a garden.
See on my face the spittle I received in order to restore to you the life I once breathed into you. See there the marks of the blows I received in order to refashion your warped nature in my image. On my back see the marks of the scourging I endured to remove the burden of sin that weighs upon your back. See my hands, nailed firmly to a tree, for you who once wickedly stretched out your hand to a tree. 

I slept on the cross and a sword pierced my side for you who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side has healed the pain in yours. My sleep will rouse you from your sleep in hell. The sword that pierced me has sheathed the sword that was turned against you. 

Rise, let us leave this place. The enemy led you out of the earthly paradise. I will not restore you to that paradise, but I will enthrone you in heaven. I forbade you the tree that was only a symbol of life, but see, I who am life itself am now one with you. I appointed cherubim to guard you as slaves are guarded, but now I make them worship you as God. The throne formed by cherubim awaits you, its bearers swift and eager. The bridal chamber is adorned, the banquet is ready, the eternal dwelling places are prepared, the treasure houses of all good things lie open. The kingdom of heaven has been prepared for you from all eternity.