What do Catholics do on Holy Saturday?

Holy Saturday is a day of prayer, of recalling Christ’s suffering, and even feeling the emptiness which the Apostles and disciples must have experienced as Christ lay in the tomb. Since the Blessed Sacrament is reserved in another location after the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, the main tabernacle of a church is empty, the door left open, and it and the altar are free of covering or other decoration. Many Catholics take this time to pray before the empty tabernacle, experiencing Christ’s absence, and grateful for His Presence the rest of the year.

That evening Holy Saturday will end with the Easter Vigil Mass, when the Resurrection is celebrated, and those who have been studying the faith enter the Church through Baptism.

Is Holy Saturday a day of abstinence?

Holy Saturday is a day of mourning for the Church, thus the nature of the day is somber and reserved. Where it is possible to continue the fast and abstinence of Good Friday into Holy Saturday it is encouraged to do so (Pope Paul VI). It is not, however, obligatory.