For three days Esther fasted and Judith kept vigil, the exiles came home to Jerusalem and the Hebrews marched to the waters of Marah. For three days darkness afflicted the Egyptians, Hezekiah lay mortally ill, Jonah was entombed in the belly of a fish, and Paul waited in blindness.
On the third day Abraham offered up his firstborn son, God came down in fire and wind upon Sinai, the boy Jesus was found in “his Father’s house,” and the man Jesus “performed the first of his signs at Cana of Galilee.” Echoing the words of Hosea, Jesus announced the three-day passover of his death, rest, and resurrection.
The Paschal Triduum, the “Three Days of Passover” are for us days of death, rest, and resurrection. We march to the waters of baptism. We keep watch for light and for liberation. For three days we climb Mount Moriah, Mount Sinai, Mount Golgotha. Those who were lost are found, and those who were exiled come home.
Peter Mazar – Keeping Lent, Triduum, and Eastertime
Locus Communis 