TODAY IS HOLY SATURDAY: For luck and good health, tradition says you must do one thing in secret!

Today marks Holy Saturday, the second day of Christian mourning, believed to be the day Jesus Christ spent in Hades. According to tradition, this is a time for silence and prayer.

Holy Saturday is observed on the eve of Easter, Christianity’s greatest holiday, and it is the final day to complete any preparations for the Easter celebration. Within Serbian tradition, this day is surrounded by numerous customs, many of which are still respected to this day.

In the Homolje region, a special Easter bread called vaskršnjak is baked, often decorated with basil. Meanwhile, in southeastern Banat, small cakes are made and later brought to cemeteries after the Easter vigil. There, graves are sprinkled with wine and incensed in a ritual of remembrance.

Although most commonly known as Holy Saturday, in different parts of the country it carries other names: Dreadful Saturday, Lying-Down Saturday, Red Saturday, and Long Saturday—each evoking the long and painful suffering of Christ during the crucifixion.

According to elders, one must perform a good deed today—or give alms to the poor—to ensure that such kindness will return many times over, bringing happiness and blessings. Importantly, this act of charity should be done in secret, following the Biblical principle: “let not your left hand know what your right hand is doing.”

Customs dictate that no fieldwork is done on this day, and women refrain from doing handcrafts, such as embroidery. In homes that experienced a death in the family during the year, eggs are dyed in deep red, black, or even soot. Tradition holds that only women should dye the Easter eggs, and it should be done early in the morning—before sunrise.

Although some may wonder whether fasting is still required today, the answer is clear: yes, Holy Saturday is a fasting day. It is the final day of the Easter fast, which ends tomorrow with the celebration of Christ’s resurrection.

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