Holy Saturday - Easter Eve
The church has made little attempt to provide liturgical material for Holy Saturday. Rather, it has been a day of reflection and expectation. In the early church it was a day of complete fasting in preparation for Easter. As the catechumenate developed, it became the day on which those to receive baptism at Easter made a public profession of their faith. In the Middle Ages, as the Easter Vigil came to be celebrated earlier and earlier on the Saturday and then eventually on the Saturday morning, the special character of Holy Saturday was lost. The recent revisions have restored that, and the Easter Vigil ceremonies now do not begin before the Saturday evening.
For Liturgical Use
This Holy Saturday, Easter Eve, is an awesome pause in the running of the universe, a moment of profound silence. Jesus lies in the tomb, and we wait in prayer for God to declare that Yes to the work of Christ on the cross.
Sentence, Prayers and Readings as in A New Zealand Prayer Book - He Karakia Mihinare o Aotearoa, page 589-590.