It struck me yesterday the crowds at Good Friday services are again getting smaller and smaller. Much of this can traced to the fact that people do not get Good Friday off anymore. That is a shame. It is very difficult for me to pin point when it became a rarity for people not to have the day off. It seems if you are not a State employee(at least here in Louisiana) you pretty much had to work. I suppose some banks take it off but even that is a rarity.
It would be nice if the Catholic Bishops and their Protestants counterparts here in the USA got together to do a joint campaign to remind Christian Employers that perhaps they might for the sake of themselves and their employees take the day off. Even closing at noon so we could all attend 3 pm services would be great. Goodness when I was a small small kid I seem to recall people got Easter Monday off.
The Holy Father last week said this past Wednesday at his Papal Audience:
We have reached the eve of the Paschal Triduum. The next three days have been commonly called 'holy' because we relive the central event of our Redemption: they lead us, in fact, to the essential nucleus of the Christian faith - the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. These are days we may consider as a single day: they constitute the heart and fulcrum of the entire liturgical year and of the life of the Church.
Get that!!! It is pretty much the heart of the Catholic and other Protestant Liturgical traditions. It would be nice if Christian Americans after leaving the secular work behind good delve into Holy Thursday and do the Holy Triduum with style. I admit I am not always great at this. However I do try to remember that this is indded the heart of the year.
Anyway The Anchoress has a great post here at Pange Lingua & Exultet which is nice for your Holy Saturday meditiation and is indded beautiful.
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