First of all, I was moved to celebrate Holy Saturday with Our Lady as she has been a wonderful guide for me during seminary, and especially since coming to Rome. One particularly moving thing which was pointed out to me in my Mariology course is the idea that Mary went through the first Holy Saturday without the knowledge of the Resurrection to come on Easter Sunday. Mary, seeing her son and her Savior die a humiliating and painful death on the Cross ("anyone who is hanged is a curse of God" - Deuteronomy 21:23) had no human reason to continue hoping in the promises of God. Her hope is the model for how we should trust in God, even when we have no reason (humanly speaking) to do so. Imagine the loneliness she must have felt not knowing what would happen.
With this in mind, I watched "The Passion". Seeing how Mary was portrayed as the strong one through it all made me even more excited/comforted/passionate about turning to her for prayers and example in all aspects of my life. One of the scenes which really caught my attention was when Jesus was carrying the Cross. Mary wanted to get close to him and looking at St. John she said "take me to him". How fitting that our Blessed Mother should say this. She was always close to Jesus, both physically, as any mother is close to her child (flesh of her flesh) and spiritually. At the moment when all but one of the Apostles abandoned him, it was his mother who stood by him till the end. During his suffering she said "take me to him" and because of this we in turn say the same thing to her when we are suffering. Mother Mary, take us to him!
Related to this, is the scene when Jesus is carrying his Cross (I believe) with Mary on one side of the crowd walking with him and the Devil is portrayed mirroring her on the other side of the crowd. This scene reminded me of some of what I read in St. Louis de Montfort's book "True Devotion to Mary," especially how powerful Our Lady is against Satan. The lowly servant of the Lord is feared by Satan. She wants to protect us from his evil snares both in intense manifestations of evil and in the smaller temptations which we encounter daily. All temptations to sin and turn away from God are the works of the evil one. In all times of temptation, we should turn to Our Blessed Mother asking for her prayers and following her example of purity and holiness.
The finals scene I would like to recall serves as a sort of "how to". How do we follow our Blessed Mother's example? The scene is when Jesus has been arrested and is awaiting his death. He is in a cell underneath a courtyard which is now empty. Mary, walking into the courtyard senses that he is near. She walks around and eventually ends up right above where he is in chains. When she stops there, she puts her cheek to the ground and in both her face and in Jesus' there is an expression that both know the other is near. Mary was so united to Jesus, so united to God that she was able to know that he was near when she could not see him. We too, must be so familiar with God that we know that he is always near, especially in those times when we do not "see" him or "feel" his presence. We are bound to go through stages of spiritual dryness, but following our Blessed Mother, we will not lose hope in these times and we will come to see them as chances for growth and times where we must have true faith. It is only possible for us to make it through these times of darkness if we spend time getting to know and coming to love our Lord ever more through prayer. This is the crux of Pope Benedict's constant call for all people to have a personal experience of and relationship with Jesus Christ.
In these last hours of Holy Saturday, may our Blessed Mother guide you and protect you.
In Christ,
Patrick
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