Holy Week: Holy Saturday | Matthew 27 (57-66)

Greetings, Duffy. It's 5:56 PM EDT here in Albany as I wrap up the finishing touches on today's letter to you. I've been researching the mechanics of our Lenten journey for about nine hours now. It's getting a bit confusing here at the end!

According to the 1969/1970 Missal (Novus Ordo), the season of Lent ended on the evening of Holy Thursday. At that point, we entered the distinct 3-day season of the Triduum. This Triduum season ends on Easter Sunday night, and it overlaps by one day with Easter season itself, which extends from the Easter vigil on Holy Saturday night until Pentecost Sunday. Then Ordinary Time begins abruptly on a "headless" Monday.

On the other hand, the 1962 Roman Missal (Traditional Latin Mass) continues the season of Lent right up until Easter vigil on Holy Saturday night. As I write you this evening, we are still in Lent. There is no distinct liturgical season in the TLM called the Triduum, but there is a devotional Triduum of three days at the end of Lent season: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. In the TLM system, Eastertide runs from the Easter vigil on Holy Saturday night until the Saturday after Pentecost. Then Ordinary Time begins with its Sunday "head" intact on the first Sunday after Pentecost.

There are many additional complexities swirling around in my mind related to the dating of the Resurrection, the Entombment, the Crucifixion, and the Last Supper that I won't elaborate on here. Suffice it to say, the 46 days of our TLM Lenten retreat are rapidly coming to a close. We are almost in the beginning of Eastertide.

But NT Wright, to my great surprise, is not done with us yet. He continues his Lenten study of Matthew all the way through the first Octave of Easter!

Having come this far with Wright and Matthew, I am not going to quit at the very end. I will continue to blog my way through the very end of Wright's commentary on Saturday, 11 April 2026. 

This said, I think we must consider our 2026 Lenten retreat at an end. Now we are embarking on a new period of spiritual activity. Maybe it is not best to call it a retreat. I think is safe to call it the Octave of Easter.

May your vigil be blessed!