Easter Saturday is the sixth and final day of the Easter Octave before the Octave concludes on the following Sunday (the Second Sunday of Easter, also known as Divine Mercy Sunday). The Church's celebration of the Resurrection continues in full force.
The Easter Octave is unique in the Church's calendar. For eight days, we celebrate Easter not as a commemoration but as an ongoing feast. Each day is Easter. The Resurrection is so momentous that it cannot be contained in a single day of celebration.
As we approach the end of the Octave, we prepare to carry the Easter joy into Eastertide—the fifty days leading to Pentecost.
Throughout these days, the Gospels recount Jesus' various appearances:
"To these he also showed himself alive after he suffered, by many proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking about God’s Kingdom." — Acts 1:3
The post-Resurrection appearances reveal something remarkable about Jesus' risen body:
This transformed physicality gives us a glimpse of our own resurrection. We will not be disembodied spirits but will receive glorified bodies like his.
Easter Saturday prepares us for the Second Sunday of Easter, when the Church celebrates Divine Mercy. On this day, Jesus appeared to the disciples and showed them his wounds, breathing on them the Holy Spirit and giving them authority to forgive sins.
To Thomas, who had doubted, Jesus said:
"Then he said to Thomas, 'Reach here your finger, and see my hands. Reach here your hand, and put it into my side. Don’t be unbelieving, but believing.'" — John 20:27
The Resurrection is the ultimate act of divine mercy. Through it:
As we approach Divine Mercy Sunday, we reflect on the ocean of mercy that flows from the risen Christ's wounded side.
Though the Octave ends, Easter does not. The fifty days of Eastertide stretch before us, leading to Pentecost. The Resurrection is not a single event to remember but a reality to live. Christ is risen—and because he lives, we live also.