Holy Saturday
Massimo Palombella
From the evening of Good Friday until the beginning of the Easter Vigil excluded, we are faced with the Christus dormiens. It is the day of silence and mourning, a day devoid of any liturgical celebration, as the Church contemplates and mourns the sleeping Bridegroom in the tomb.
The last Responsory of the Liturgy of the Hours of Holy Saturday (ad Matutinum ) before the liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council has the following text:
“R/. Sepúlto Dómino, signátum est monuméntum, volvéntes lápidem ad óstium monuménti: *
Ponéntes mílites, qui custodírent illum.
V/. Accedéntes príncipes sacerdótum ad Pilátum, petiérunt illum.
R/. Ponéntes mílites, qui custodírent illum”.
(R/. When the Lord was buried, the tomb was sealed and a stone placed at the entrance to the tomb: *
And they placed soldiers to guard him.
V/. The chief priests went to Pilate to ask him for guards.
R/. And they placed soldiers to guard it).
The attached music is by Tommaso Ludovico da Vittoria (1548-1611) and comes from the Office of Holy Week published in Rome in 1585 (Officium Hebdomadae Sanctae [Romae, Apud Alexandrum Gardanum, 1585]).
The live interpretation is by the Musical Chapel of the Milan Cathedral at the Concert held in the Milan Auditorium on 3rd April 2023.
Heartfelt greetings.
