The Most Holy Night | Jude S. Agbatar, SC.

The Most Holy Night

Jude S. Agbatar, SC. 

Introduction

The most holy night is the night in the life of the Christian faith where the Lord Jesus Christ broke free the gate of hell, saving the souls held captive for their negligence of God’s instructions especially in the days of Noah and the great father Adam. The night is the night of all nights. The night that sacraments of christian initiation are administered: Baptism, Holy Eucharist and Confirmation (catholic tradition). The Most Holy night, which is known better as the Holy Saturday, is a celebration that has so many connotations that one would hardly cover it’s scope at a single presentation, hence we will limit our work to the history of the Most holy night, what the Most Holy Night is about and the significance of the celebration. To do this, we will simply be expository in unraveling the history and mystery behind the celebration.

Traditional notes on the Most Holy Night

Holy Saturday is the day the church celebrates the 40-hours long waiting of the disciples of Jesus after his death and burial on the Good Friday. Holy Saturday is the last day of lent and the third day of the triduum. It is the day between good Friday and Easter Sunday. By the 4th century the holy night began at nightfall with the lighting of the new fire and candles according to the people’s number and the great Easter candle. Traditionally, fasting was not allowed on Saturdays and Sundays and so holy Saturday was the only Saturday in which Christians were in a fast awaiting the resurrection of Christ after Good Friday, which was broken at the Eucharistic celebration at the vigil Mass.

The Most Holy Night: what is it about?

This night is the night the church celebrates the victory of Christ over death. It is the night in which Christ arose in all his glory with the souls held captive for ages in Hades. Thus, the church invites her worshippers to rejoice with great joy for the great triumph of Christ. The priest especially invites the people with blessings to join him as he sings the praise of God. For this his(Christ) singular sacrifice paid the debt humanity incurred since creation.

This particular night also commemorates, symbolically, the passing of the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt to the promised Land. In this same way the night celebrates our redemption from slavery in the vices of this world to the light of Christ. This night also shows God’s great love for us. For he gave his son to ramson us from death, and by so doing broke the gate of hell open to free those condemned by the necessary sin of Adam. This is the night that all our brokenness have been restored. This is also the night in which the church give God the highest praise for all he has done for humanity as we celebrate the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ from his victory over death.

Significance of the Most Holy Night

This is the night the church celebrates the restoration of humanity: we are expected to open ourselves to receive this restoration by disposing ourselves, which has been prepared by prayer and penance over the time of lent, to receive our restoration as children of God.

The church celebrates the sacraments this night: we all as christians are invited to the renewal of our baptismal promises. It is another opportunity to reclaim our place in our relationship with God which we lost through sin. Let us make good use of the opportunity.

This night is a night of hope: Remember the disciples of Jesus were waiting in hope for his rising from the dead. In our own time we wait in hope for the second coming of our Lord. We also wait in hope for his intervention in our life situations. We must have made many prayer requests during this time of Lent. This night is the night we receive assurance that God, who never abandons his people, will not abandon us.

This night is the night of new life: We are a people of new life. Let us then go into the world and show the fruits of our prayer and fast. One serious sin in our lives must be defeated by the virtue of the merit of Christ this night. Let us mark and ensure that, we resolve to let go that particular sin keeping us in bondage.

It is the night Christ bids peace to us(John 20:19-21) and sends us out in boldness to the world after filling us with the holy spirit (John 20:22) Let us bear testimony of the events of Christ to the world by word and deed.

Conclusion

We come into the holy week with prior preparation to celebrate, in its fullness, Christ’s mysteries. Holy Saturday which is the Most Holy Night is the culmination of this celebration. The night celebrates and reminds us of who we are. Knowing who we are now gives us a responsibility to keep that which we are. Each one of us will receive something new from the forthcoming celebration of the Most Holy Night, let that be what will set us apart from unbelievers, and move us towards evangelization. Let us not forget to participate in the celebration of the forthcoming Most Holy Night bearing in mind that, passion precedes resurrection. Happy Easter in advance.