Pope Leo XIV by Catholic Church England and Wales (Mazur/cbcew.org.uk) / Flickr
Pope Leo XIV spoke at the Sept. 24 General Audience about Christ’s descent into hell on Holy Saturday and how it profoundly shows God’s love and His efforts to reach human beings even when they are at their lowest or in the darkest of places.
Though it appears to be a day of silence, there is “an invisible action of salvation” that is being fulfilled, Pope Leo said.
“Christ descends into the realm of the dead to bring the news of the Resurrection to all those who were in the darkness and in the shadow of death,” he added.
Rather than simply a physical place, the underworld is moreso “an existential condition” where pain, separation from God and others, solitude and pain are oppressing, according to Pope Leo.
But on Holy Saturday, Christ enters into “the very house of death, to empty it, to free its inhabitants, taking them by the hand one by one,” Pope Leo said. “It is the humility of a God who does not stop in front of our sin, who is not afraid when faced with the human being’s extreme rejection.”
The Pope emphasized that today Christ also comes to those who find themselves in darkness, suffering, sin, and difficulties.
“Dear friends, this descent of Christ does not relate only to the past, but touches the life of every one of us,” he said. “The underworld is not only the condition of the dead, but also of those who live death as a result of evil and sin. It is also the daily hell of loneliness, shame, abandonment, and the struggle of life. Christ enters into all these dark realities to bear witness to the love of the Father. Not to judge, but to set free. Not to blame, but to save. He does so quietly, on tiptoe, like one who enters a hospital room to offer comfort and help.”
He noted that the Church Fathers have also reflected on Christ’s encounter with Adam on Holy Saturday, which is “the symbol of all the possible encounters between God and man.”
“The Lord descends where man has hidden out of fear, and calls him by name, takes him by the hand, raises him up, and brings him back to the light,” Pope Leo said. “He does so with full authority, but also with infinite gentleness, like a father with the son who fears that he is no longer loved.”
Pope Leo reflected on eastern icons of the Resurrection that depict Christ bringing Adam and Eve with Him, and emphasized how God the Son wanted to not only save Himself in rising but humanity as well.
“Holy Saturday, then, is the day in which heaven visits earth most deeply,” Pope Leo said. “It is the time in which every corner of human history is touched by the light of Easter. And if Christ was able to descend all the way [d]own there, nothing can be excluded from his redemption. Not even our nights, not even our oldest faults, not even our broken bonds. There is no past so ruined, no history so compromised that it cannot be touched by mercy.”
God is not defeated in descending, Pope Leo said.
“It is not a failure, but the way by which he shows that no place is too far away, no heart is too closed, no tomb too tightly sealed for his love,” he concluded. “This consoles us, this sustains us. And if at times we seem to have hit rock bottom, let us remember: that is the place from which God is able to begin a new creation. A creation made of people lifted up, hearts forgiven, tears dried. Holy Saturday is the silent embrace with which Christ presents all creation to the Father to restore it to his plan of salvation.”
At the end of the General Audience, Pope Leo invited the faithful to pray a daily Rosary throughout October, which is traditionally dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
>> Pope Leo invites faithful to pray the Rosary every day of October for peace <<
