Holy Saturday

Holy Saturday
Holy Saturday
	Statue of Christ in the tomb by Gregorio Fernández. (Monastery of San Joaquín y Santa Ana, Valladolid)
Official name	Holy Saturday
Also called	Easter Eve, Black Saturday
Observed by	Christians
Type	Religious
Significance	Memory of the day Jesus Christ's body lay in the tomb and the Harrowing of Hell
Date	Day after Good Friday
2024 date	March 30 (Western); May 4 (Eastern);
2025 date	April 19 (Western); April 19 (Eastern);
2026 date	April 4 (Western); April 11 (Eastern);
2027 date	March 27 (Western); May 1 (Eastern);
Frequency	annual
Related to	Easter

Holy Saturday (Latin: Sabbatum Sanctum), also known as Great and Holy Saturday, Low Saturday, the Great Sabbath, Hallelujah Saturday, Saturday of the Glory, Easter Eve,^[1] Joyous Saturday, the Saturday of Light, Good Saturday, or Black Saturday,^[1] among other names, is the final day of Holy Week, between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, and when Christians prepare for the Christian feast of Easter.^[2]^[3]

The day commemorates the Harrowing of Hell while Jesus Christ's body lay in the tomb. Christians of the Catholic, Lutheran, and Anglican denominations begin the celebration of the Easter Vigil service on Holy Saturday, which provides a transition to the season of Eastertide; in the Moravian Christian tradition, graves are decorated with flowers during the day of Holy Saturday and the celebration of the sunrise service starts before dawn on Easter Sunday.^[2]^[3] Congregations of the Reformed and Methodist denominations may hold either the Easter Vigil or an Easter Sunday sunrise service.^[4]

^ ^a ^b "Public Report on Audience Complaints and Comments, April–June 2006" (PDF). Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
^ ^a ^b Steenwyk, Carrie. "Easter Vigil". Christian Reformed Church in North America. Retrieved 3 April 2021. The Easter Vigil, also referred to as the Paschal Vigil or the First Service of Easter, is held either on the Saturday evening before Easter or very early Easter morning.
^ ^a ^b Cite error: The named reference Home was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Iovino, Joseph (18 March 2016). "Easter sunrise services: A celebration of resurrection". The United Methodist Church. Retrieved 19 April 2025.

[:0-1] "Public Report on Audience Complaints and Comments, April–June 2006" (PDF). Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 4 May 2013.

[Steenwyk-2] Steenwyk, Carrie. "Easter Vigil". Christian Reformed Church in North America. Retrieved 3 April 2021. The Easter Vigil, also referred to as the Paschal Vigil or the First Service of Easter, is held either on the Saturday evening before Easter or very early Easter morning.

[Home-3] Cite error: The named reference Home was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Iovino2016-4] Iovino, Joseph (18 March 2016). "Easter sunrise services: A celebration of resurrection". The United Methodist Church. Retrieved 19 April 2025.

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