Rubrics

“On Holy Saturday the Church waits at the Lord’s tomb in prayer and fasting, meditating on his Passion and Death and on his Descent into Hell, and awaiting his Resurrection.

“The Church abstains from the Sacrifice of the Mass, with the sacred table left bare, until the solemn Vigil, that is, the anticipation by night of the Resurrection, when the time comes for paschal joys, the abundance of which overflows to occupy fifty days.”

I had to read this second paragraph a couple of times.

The earlier translation read:

"O Holy Saturday the Church waits at the Lord’s tomb, meditating on his suffering and death. The altar is left bare, and the sacrifice of the Mass is not celebrated. Only after the solemn vigil during the night, held in anticipation of the resurrection, does the Easter celebration begin, with a spirit of joy that overflows into the following period of fifty days.”

The new translation rightly includes fasting as part of our waiting. However, we do not really await the resurrection since the Lord has been raised. The notion of “abstaining from the celebration of Mass” coveys a deeper meaning than simply “not celebrating the Mass”. However, the final sentence in the earlier translation is much clearer.