Sometimes, silence is the only thing that can comfort. People who have gone through that situation are the best support in these cases, because they know the depth of that pain. It is then that the best counselor and comforter is Mary: She knows firsthand what it means to see a child suffer to death, to see him pierced and insulted to the extreme, to receive his lifeless body and leave it wrapped in a tomb.

Holy Saturday is a day in which the silence of loss, death and uncertainty are the protagonists. It is a day when we do not know what will happen next. We have no idea how we can continue living with the absence. We can no longer conceive of a world without the presence of the loved one. There are more doubts than certainties, more tears than sighs, more pain than anything. The sting of death has taken its toll on us and its poison paralyzes us. Who can we turn to? What can we do to find comfort, or even a minute of rest?

“Standing by the cross of Jesus, his mother” (Jn 19:25). Many of us run away from pain. We hide or even numb our existence with excesses and pleasures. It is then that Mary's faithfulness becomes a guide: She remained at the feet of Jesus despite the horror of the cross. Mary's testimony opens our eyes and, especially, our hearts because it presents us with the question: What is the thing from which we cannot flee?

Each of us has a situation from which we cannot escape, one we must face with trust, abandonment and mercy. It is an invitation to embrace the nail of fidelity. Suffering is the key that allows us to enter divine time, and one of those hours belongs to Mary. What is known as “The hour of Mary” is that moment when, being under the cross, Christ gave her her new mission: to be the mother of the beloved disciple and, in his representation, the mother of us all.

In that hour, Mary loses her divine Son and her new motherhood is given to her, thus becoming Mother of the Church, our mother and that of all humanity. From then on, her great mission is that in every moment, situation and heart where there is suffering, she intervenes and brings the presence of Christ. That is to say, thanks to Mary, there is never again a cross where the Crucified One is not present and, therefore, where she is not at the feet, consoling and receiving every tear.

It is an alliance: Where the cross is, there is also the Crucified One. He is the one who opens the doors of heaven for us and allows us to enter into glory. Thus, the glorification in the midst of pain that Mary has fulfilled and continues to fulfill for more than 2,000 years is outlined. She has never ceased to be in the midst of situations of suffering, not only accompanying but bringing the true solution to any misfortune, that is, her beloved Son. She makes all our crosses inhabited; inhabited by the Resurrected One.

During Holy Saturday, the Church remains at the tomb of the Lord, meditating on his death, his descent into hell and awaiting the Resurrection with fasting and prayer. However, Holy Saturday often extends into our lives because there are situations of pain at the cross that go beyond our liturgical calendar.

In moments of mourning, loneliness, silence and pain, let us allow ourselves to be accompanied by our Mother in heaven. Let us open our hearts to live our pain during the hour of Mary, in this way she will make us encounter the Crucified One in our experience, and he will lead us to the joy of the Resurrection. Let us not doubt that death has been conquered and that every cross is a key to paradise; let us live the hours of pain together with Mary; and let her accompany us.