Vatican City – This morning in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Leo XIV held his weekly General Audience, continuing his cycle of catecheses on Jesus our hope. Before thousands of faithful, the Holy Father reflected on the mystery of Holy Saturday, the day when Christ lies in the tomb and the Church abides in the silence of expectation.
The Pope reminded the faithful that this silence “is not emptiness,” but a moment full of meaning: “It is waiting, a fullness held back, a promise kept in the dark.” Leo XIV drew the image of the womb: Holy Saturday, he said, is like “the womb of a mother who carries a child not yet born, but already alive.”
A garden as a new creation
Recalling the Gospel of John, the Pope noted that Jesus’ body was laid in a “new” tomb and in a garden—details that point back to Eden, where God and man once walked together. “The new creation begins in a garden,” he explained, “from a sealed tomb that will soon be opened.”
The Pope went on to stress that Holy Saturday is also a day of rest—not the rest of weariness, but the seal of a work completed. “The Son does not give up, but has loved to the very end. Nothing more can be added,” Leo XIV said, urging the faithful to rediscover the value of pausing in a world that rushes on without pause: “To stop is an act of trust we must learn to make.” In his meditation, he recalled that even the seemingly “useless” times of life can become a womb of hope: “Like a seed in the soil, like the darkness before dawn,” he said, God works in silence and waiting—times that can become moments of grace.
The Pope also pointed to the example of the Virgin Mary, who embodies the trust and expectation of Holy Saturday: “When everything seems still, we must remember that even in the tomb God is preparing the greatest surprise. True joy is born from inhabited waiting, from patient faith.”
Appeal for Gaza
At the end of the catechesis, Leo XIV issued a heartfelt appeal for peace: “I express my deep closeness to the Palestinian people in Gaza, who continue to live in fear and under intolerable conditions, forced once again to leave their lands.” The Pope insisted that “every human person always possesses an inviolable dignity, which must be respected and protected,” and renewed his call for a ceasefire, for the release of hostages, for a negotiated diplomatic solution, and for full respect of international humanitarian law.
A festive day in the Vatican
In his final greeting, Leo XIV addressed a special word to the Italian pilgrims, gathered from various parishes and associations. He encouraged young people, the sick, and newlyweds to remain “always faithful to the Gospel ideal.” Concluding on the liturgical memorial of St. Robert Bellarmine, the Pope—who celebrates his name day today—thanked the faithful with a smile for their good wishes: “Thank you very much!” With the Apostolic Blessing, he brought to a close a day that, in the Vatican, took on the joyful tone of a special celebration.
d.R.A.
Silere non possum