Holy Saturday … review
It is hard to believe that Easter weekend was almost a month ago. The day after our Holy Saturday service Paul Riley and I jumped on a plane and flew to Haiti. Our trip overshadowed what I think was a great weekend of worship and reflection and I haven’t had the opportunity to talk to any of you about it. I would love to hear your thoughts and stories from our Holy Saturday service, the Easter Sunday brunch (thanks Kelly for the photos), and the entire Lenten season.
Could you give a little input? Feel free to leave a comment below or send me an e-mail here: Paul Hill.
Here are a couple of questions you can respond to:
• What were your general impressions? (odd, exciting, fun, reflective, etc…)
• In your opinion (there are no right or wrong answers on this one), what was the main message? Was there more than one?
• Is there anything else you would like to share about the evening, weekend, or season of Lent?
Thanks for your input. Would any of you like to share your digital images with us from that night?
easter weekend was great for me. the most difficult yet favorite moment was when Melanie began painting over the sins and the red drops started hitting the floor while we sang “nothing but the blood” – awesome.
I loved that there were few words at the Saturday service. It was powerful to do something visual and aesthetic. I personally got more out of it than I would have another sermon. We traveled Sunday morning and missed the brunch, but I also like the idea of doing something celebratory together on Easter–again, rather than sit and listen to a sermon
. Not that I have anything against sermons or anything…it’s just that there are so many other ways to grow.
As one who preaches, I agree with you. I have had several conversations with other preachers who all acknowledge the difficulty of bringing a message on Easter morning. St. George’s Orthodox church preaches/reads the same single page sermon (written by St. John Chrysostom 1600 years ago) every year on Pasca.
Experiencing the message in a different way is really important. We don’t really lack the information about Easter as we do as the experience of the resurrection.
As I reflect on the Holy Saturday service, I realize that it is difficult to find words to describe just how meaningful the experience was to me. It was so humbling to write my sins on the canvas, once again being reminded of the forgiveness that comes through the cross of Christ. But then when Melanie brushed over my sins with the symbolic red paint, I was brought to tears once again as I realized that she had forgiven me, too. I knew that if I had written every sin I had ever committed, Melanie would wash over every one of them and love me unconditionally. It was a powerful evening for me–a good reminder that our Savior has called us to love and forgive in a world that knows little about sacrificial love. Thank you for letting me be a part of Holy Saturday.
–Melanie’s Mom
Paul, I don’t think that I can add much of anything to what has already been said. I agree with Michele that the visual / aesthetic aspect was powerful. It was a great service; I got much more out of it than I think I would have at a traditional service. For me, it was all great, but what stands out was how the service ended. The absolute quiet of the chapel, and being handed the nail as my palm was marked with red, and Paul Riley told me to remember what Jesus had done for me- if I’d been a cartoon character the thought bubble above my head would have had an “!” in it as I saw Christ’s death in a somehow new or different way than before. It’s hard to explain. Maybe because so many of the Easter services I had attended before had been focused on the resurrection, that to take time to think about Christ’s death, was profound for me. Thank you.