A Poem for Holy Saturday

The final poem in my Triduum corona sequence looks at Christ’s descent into Hell. It is, I think, easy to forget that the first to hear the good news of the resurrection were those already dead. This poem and this day reminds us that salvation is not just for the living. The dead also make up the Church, and all of us are united in the Love of God. What is more, Death need no longer be feared because the One who is Love has conquered it and turned it to his own purpose.

“Holy Saturday”

He went down to the lands without a sun
To make his final gospel proclamation.
The devil thought his victory had come;
He didn’t understand the plan of salvation.
Death could not contain the One who Is,
And lost so many captives he thought he’d gained.
Hell was harrowed, he destroyed the city of Dis
And so the sting of Death was thus contained.
By dying Christ has built for us a bridge,
A road that no longer leads us straight to Hell,
A road that leads us far away from the edge
Through a different kind of fire that makes all things well.

But still we had to wait for another sunrise
For him to give us a different kind of life.