Holy Saturday

Today is Holy Saturday (Latin: Sabbatum Sanctum), the Saturday of Holy Week, also known as the Great Sabbath, Black Saturday, or Easter Eve, Joyous Saturday or the Saturday of Light. It commemorates the day that Jesus Christ's body lay in the tomb and the Harrowing of Hell.

On this day Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows, is assigned the title Our Lady of Solitude, referring to her solace and grief at the death of her son Jesus.

In many churches, the chancel remains stripped completely bare or, sometimes, covered in black, ready for the great reveal .... it's Friday, but Sunday's coming.

Today we went to St Martin in the Fields for Allegri's Miserere. Fantastic! It ended its Scarlatti's Stabat Mater with the longest Amen ever, a conductor with the softest hands & an aggressive page-turning organist ... but it was superb and a great way to spend Holy Saturday.