No Eucharist on Holy Saturday, but what about a prayer service?

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Every First Saturday of the month , we hold a 2 hour Eucharistic Adoration Liturgy before the Blessed Sacrament with adoration prayers and songs, including the Rosary and First Saturday prayers to Mary, and ending with a Benediction at my Parish Church.

This coming April, the First Saturday falls on Holy Saturday. Since there cannot be Mass and the Holy Eucharist at this time between the Passion and Resurrection (as we wait by the tomb ), obviously we cannot hold a Eucharistic Adoration. But can we gather and pray simple penitential prayers and sing psalms and other solemn hymns? Is this appropriate or should we just not hold any event and maintain the silence for the day?

We do have the usual Liturgical service that night for the Easter Vigil and early morning prayers. But this one, if we were to hole it would be from 10 a.m. to 12 noon. I would appreciate a quick response on this from anyone.
God bless you! Teresa
 
no liturgy on Holy Saturday until the Vigil begins
there can be a funeral service with no Mass and no communion if it is absolutely necessary, but most parishes would make you wait until Monday.
 
I do Morning Prayer at the usual mass time on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I think this is the recommended practice. I use a leader, lector and song leader [without accompaniment]. I divide the congregation so as to do the psalms and canticles antiphonally.

I have always been able to get a priest or deacon for leader, though a lay leader may be used if necessary. The leader usually gives a brief homily. If I were to use a lay leader I would use the second reading from the Office of Readings for the homily [always plagiarize from good authors. 😉 ].

I have printed handouts for each morning - color coded so I can reuse them. We received the various copyright permissiaons some years back. At that time we chanted them with paid cantors. However, the cost was questioned, and the cantors needed to prepare for Easter. So, I went to a simpler form. No one commented.

A hundred or so attend each day, usually more on Saturday because we go right into a rehearsal for the Vigil afterward.
 
Joe_Kelley said:
I do Morning Prayer at the usual mass time on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I think this is the recommended practice. I use a leader, lector and song leader [without accompaniment]. I divide the congregation so as to do the psalms and canticles antiphonally.

I have always been able to get a priest or deacon for leader, though a lay leader may be used if necessary. The leader usually gives a brief homily. If I were to use a lay leader I would use the second reading from the Office of Readings for the homily [always plagiarize from good authors. 😉 ].

I have printed handouts for each morning - color coded so I can reuse them. We received the various copyright permissiaons some years back. At that time we chanted them with paid cantors. However, the cost was questioned, and the cantors needed to prepare for Easter. So, I went to a simpler form. No one commented.

A hundred or so attend each day, usually more on Saturday because we go right into a rehearsal for the Vigil afterward.
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Bingo!
 
Joe_Kelley said:
I do Morning Prayer at the usual mass time on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I think this is the recommended practice. I use a leader, lector and song leader [without accompaniment]. I divide the congregation so as to do the psalms and canticles antiphonally.

I have always been able to get a priest or deacon for leader, though a lay leader may be used if necessary. The leader usually gives a brief homily. If I were to use a lay leader I would use the second reading from the Office of Readings for the homily [always plagiarize from good authors. 😉 ].

I have printed handouts for each morning - color coded so I can reuse them. We received the various copyright permissiaons some years back. At that time we chanted them with paid cantors. However, the cost was questioned, and the cantors needed to prepare for Easter. So, I went to a simpler form. No one commented.

A hundred or so attend each day, usually more on Saturday because we go right into a rehearsal for the Vigil afterward.
Click to expand...
Hello and God bless you, Joe!!
We have just decided within the half hour since I posted my question that we will not have the First Saturday prayer session on Holy Saturday (though we will have the early morning prayer). This is the time of deep silence, when the Eucharist is hidden, just as Jesus was hidden in the tomb, before His Resurrection.
We will have our 2-hour Eucharistic Adoration and Lenten recollection on Fri March 30 instead.
Teresa
 
A ceremony is “Preparation Rites on Holy Saturday”. It is described in the Rite of Christian Initation of Adults. The “elect” are those to be baptised:

"185. In proximate preparation for the celebration of the sacraments of initiation:
  1. The elect are to be advised that on Holy Saturday they should refrain from their usual activities, spend their time in prayer and reflection, and, as far as they can, observe a fast.
  2. When it is possible to bring the elect together on Holy Saturday for reflection and prayer, some or all of the following rites may be celebrated as an immediate preparation for the sacraments: the presentation of the Lord’s Prayer, if it has been deferred … the “return” or recitation of the Creed … the ephepheta rite … the choosing of a baptismal name …".
    (The Rites Volume One, Liturgical Press, 1990, ISBN: 0-8146-6015-0, page 138).
It then outlines how this ceremony could happen:
Song
Greeting, “the celebrant greets the elect and any of the faithful who are present, using one of the greetings for Mass or other suitable words.”
Readings
Homily, or an explanation of the text.
Celebration of the rites chosen
Concluding Rites: the celebration may be concluded with the prayer of blessing, and dismissal.

Even if you do not have elect, it seems reasonable to me to have a “Celebration of the Word of God”.

Pope Benedict seems to be encouraging more of these in the recent 2007 Apostolic Exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis at vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_ben-xvi_exh_20070222_sacramentum-caritatis_en.html :
“50. … In this regard, I would like to call attention to a pastoral problem frequently encountered nowadays. I am referring to the fact that on certain occasions – for example, wedding Masses, funerals and the like – in addition to practising Catholics there may be others present who have long since ceased to attend Mass or are living in a situation which does not permit them to receive the sacraments. At other times members of other Christian confessions and even other religions may be present. Similar situations can occur in churches that are frequently visited, especially in tourist areas. In these cases, there is a need to find a brief and clear way to remind those present of the meaning of sacramental communion and the conditions required for its reception. Wherever circumstances make it impossible to ensure that the meaning of the Eucharist is duly appreciated, the appropriateness of replacing the celebration of the Mass with a celebration of the word of God should be considered.”
 
On Holy Saturday, my parish is having morning prayer at 7:30 a.m. and blessing of food for Easter at 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. This is done every year.
 
quite right I should have given the exception that of course LOTH which is liturgical prayer, may be done in Church, in a group or privately on Holy Saturday. I thought OP was talking about a communion service (since it is First Saturday) which of course cannot be done. I should have also made the point that viaticum may always be taken to the dying, from the hosts that have been reserved in another location since the conclusion of the Mass of the Lord’s Supper. Those who participate in the Easter Vigil I believe do not recite Night Prayer
 
at my church we used to have a “blessing of the new fire” (maybe part of the rite for Holy Saturday? The fire would be kept up all day as a vigil “watch” at the tomb, and then used to light the Christ candle at the Holy Saturday vigil.

Don’t know if this was correct or not, and apparently we are not doing it this year, and I cant remember doing it for the past several years .
 
The blessing of the fire is part of the Easter Vigil, so it certainly should not be earlier on the Saturday. Similarly the fire preparation should not be too early.

The 2001 Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy has this:

“**Holy Saturday **
146. “On Holy Saturday, the Church pauses at the Lord’s tomb, meditating his Passion and Death, his descent into Hell, and, with prayer and fasting, awaits his resurrection” (footnote 151: CONGREGATION FOR DIVINE WORSHIP, Lettera circolare sulla preparazione ecelebrazione delle feste pasquali, 73).
Popular piety should not be impervious to the peculiar character of Holy Saturday. The festive customs and practices connected with this day, on which the celebration of the Lord’s resurrection was once anticipated, should be reserved for the vigil and for Easter Sunday.
*The “Ora della Madre” *
147. According to tradition, the entire body of the Church is represented in Mary: she is the “credentium collectio universa”(footnote 152: RUPERTUS DI DEUTZ, De glorificatione Trinitatis, VIII, 13: PL 169, 155D.). Thus, the Blessed Virgin Mary, as she waits near the Lord’s tomb, as she is represented in Christian tradition, is an icon of the Virgin Church keeping vigil at the tomb of her Spouse while awaiting the celebration of his resurrection.
The pious exercise of the Ora di Maria is inspired by this intuition of the relationship between the Virgin Mary and the Church: while the body of her Son lays in the tomb and his soul has descended to the dead to announce liberation from the shadow of darkness to his ancestors, the Blessed Virgin Mary, foreshadowing and representing the Church, awaits, in faith, the victorious triumph of her Son over death.”
 
There’s also a traditional “blessing of baskets” with the Easter foods which some parishes conduct, either during the day on Holy Saturday or after the Easter Vigil Mass.
 
chicago said:
There’s also a traditional “blessing of baskets” with the Easter foods which some parishes conduct, either during the day on Holy Saturday or after the Easter Vigil Mass.
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No, it is not for during the day on Holy Saturday.

The ceremony is described in the Book of Blessings, Liturgical Press, Minnesota, 1989, ISBN 0-8146-1875-8, pages 637-644. It is only for the USA, it is not in the Latin orginal of this liturgical book. The chapter’s title is “Order for the Blessing of Food for the First Meal of Easter”. In the Introduction it has the instructions on the timing:

“1702 According to custom, food may be blessed before or after the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday
[footnote 8: Festive customs and traditions associated with this day on account of the former practice of anticipating the celebration of Easter on Holy Saturday should be reserved for Easter night and the day that follows (Circular Letter Concerning the Preparation and Celebration of Easter Feasts, no. 76).]
or on Easter morning for the consumption at the first meal of Easter, when fasting is ended and the Church is filled with joy.”
 
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