Holy Saturday marks the End of Holy Week

The Orthodox world is preparing to welcome Easter. Holy Saturday marks the end of Holy Week.
Church services in the morning remind us of the burial of Jesus Christ and his descent into Hell, and at midnight the festive service for the Resurrection of Christ begins.
"A special day that ends the Passion Week and which is the day between the sufferings, the crucifixion and the burial of the Lord Jesus Christ and his glorious resurrection from the dead," said Metropolitan Gregory of Vratsa about today's Great Saturday.
Church hymns sing of it as blessed, because in it Christ, having fallen asleep, will rise three days later.

"There always remains this question: 'Where is Christ from His laying in the grave until His Resurrection? And the answer is that at that time he is in hell to break down the gates of hell, to seek out and bring out of hell all the Old Testament righteous who were there until then and reopen the gate of Paradise and usher them into the garden of Paradise, into eternal bliss."

On the eve of Easter, people should enter the Orthodox church and open their hearts to God. This message was sent by Father Stoyan Chilikov - a priest in two of the capital's temples, as well as he urged not to rush to leave the church immediately after midnight this evening.