Summary: Today is Holy Saturday. Tonight the Triduum ends. This podcast is longer, so that we can look at a few more dimensions of this special day. We hear today about the ancient Roman Station, thoughts from St. Ambrose, St. Leo, Benedict XVI, a comparison of prayers for the blessing of the fire and of the Collects in both the Extraordinary and Ordinary Forms. I include some audio from this year’s, today’s, singing of Tenebrae by the Benedictines in Norcia, Italy. You will hear the beginning of Tenebrae, and the end with the “Terraemotus“. From Benedict XVI: Gregory of Tours recounts a practice that in some places was preserved for a long time, of lighting the new fire for the celebration of the Easter Vigil directly from the sun, using a crystal. Light and fire, so to speak, were received anew from heaven, so that all the lights and fires of the year could be kindled from them. This is a symbol of what we are celebrating in the Easter Vigil. Through his radical love for us, in which the heart of God and the heart of man touched, Jesus Christ truly took light from heaven and brought it to the earth— the light of truth and the fire of love that transform man’s being. He brought the light, and now we know who God is and what God is like. Thus, we also know what our human situation is: what we are and for what purpose we exist. Pray for Pope Francis. Subscribe in iTunes (I hope) HERE. Share/Bookmark
