# Holy Saturday: Walking the Steps of the Passion
*2009-04-09*

> Bill reflects on the solemnity of Holy Saturday, shares a Lenten prayer and a heartfelt meditation on the Steps of the Passion, and looks forward to the joy of Easter.

## Remembering Holy Thursday

I hope everyone had a good Good Friday. I spent Holy Thursday in adoration until midnight in the church garden, and from 11 to 12 I prayed the Passion. The wind seemed to blow through the garden, and I felt the weight of Jesus’ suffering and the emptiness of abandonment. It was a moving, heartbreaking experience, yet it reminded me of His steadfast love even in the darkest moments.

## A Lenten Prayer for Our Journey

Dear Lord, as I make my Lenten journey with You, send me Your Spirit. Help me to turn away from sin, to fast and pray so that I may know You better. Renew me through this journey, that I might share Your grace with the world. Amen.

## The Steps of the Passion

Oh, sweet Jesus, filled with anguish, praying to the Father in the garden of Gethsemane, sweating blood in Your agony—have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy.

Oh, sweet Jesus, betrayed by a kiss, handed over to the wicked, arrested, bound like a thief, and abandoned by Your disciples—have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy.

Oh, sweet Jesus, pronounced worthy of death by the unjust counsel of chief priests and elders, led before Pilate, mocked and scourged—have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy.

Oh, sweet Jesus, stripped of Your clothes, scourged cruelly—have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy.

Oh, sweet Jesus, crowned with thorns, beaten, blindfolded, clothed in a purple robe, mocked—have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy.

Oh, sweet Jesus, condemned by the Jews, sentenced unjustly to die on the cross—have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy.

Oh, sweet Jesus, bearing the cross, led to the place of execution like a lamb to the slaughter—have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy.

Oh, sweet Jesus, counted among the thieves, given bitter wine mixed with gall, suffering excruciating pain for hours on the cross—have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy.

Oh, sweet Jesus, who died on the cross, pierced by a lance, from which blood and water flowed—have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy.

Oh, sweet Jesus, taken down from the cross, laid in the tomb, anointed with perfume—have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy.

## Hope for Easter

Tomorrow is Easter Sunday. I wish you all a very happy Easter. May God be with you, whether you are at the altar or unaware of the day’s meaning, that you may encounter the risen Christ.

*In the silence of Holy Saturday we enter Christ’s suffering, trusting that the joy of the Resurrection awaits.*