About Today
Saturday 11 April 2026
Easter Saturday
The Lord has truly risen, alleluia.
Year: A(II). Liturgical Colour: White.
In other years: St Stanisław (1036 - 1079)
He was born in Szczepanów in Poland in about 1036. He studied at Liège, was ordained, and in 1072 became bishop of Kraków. He ruled the church as a good shepherd, gave help to the poor, and performed annual visitations to supervise the clergy. He reproached King Bolesław II for his crimes and vices and at length excommunicated him. Bolesław sought him out, and murdered him as he was celebrating Mass on 11 April 1079.
After these things he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them.
Afterwards he appeared to the Eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. And he said to them, ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.’
Reflection on the painting
The Gospel of Mark offers us a glimpse into those first trembling days of Easter faith. We are given not one appearance, but several: the risen Lord standing before Mary Magdalene, walking alongside two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and then coming among the Eleven as they gather around a table. These are not isolated moments, but part of a much wider list of encounters. Paul the Apostle, writing to the Corinthians, recalls how the risen Christ appeared to Peter, to the Twelve, to hundreds at once, to James, and ultimately even to himself. The early Church was built not on a single testimony, but on a cascade of encounters with the risen Christ.
And yet, what is striking is how difficult it was, even for those first disciples, to believe. When Mary spoke, they doubted. When the two from Emmaus shared their story, they hesitated. Even joy (because those meeting the risen Christ must have been overjoyed), it seems, can be hard to trust. Peep ding believe the appearance stories at first. It was only when Christ stood among them that their disbelief gave way to faith. We, in 2026, may not have stood in that upper room, but we stand within the same tradition, carried by the same witness. Today's reading prompts us to allow ourselves to believe that the good news is true… even when it feels almost too good to be believed. Sometimes, sadly, good news can be harder to believe than bad news.
In our beautifully detailed panel by Juan de Flandes, we are drawn into a meeting that is not recorded in the Gospels, yet deeply rooted in Christian imagination and tradition: the risen Christ appearing to his mother. If we turn to Scripture, we find no explicit account of such an encounter. The evangelists speak of Mary Magdalene, of the disciples on the road, of the gathered apostles...but they remain silent about Jesus appearing separately to Mary. And yet, it has been often depicted in art. Artists maybe felt that such a meeting must have taken place, not as a historical fact to be proven, but as an event that resonates with the logic of love. If the risen Lord appeared to so many, how could he not have first comforted his own mother, who had shared most intimately in his suffering? This intuition gave rise to a rich artistic tradition, especially in late medieval and Renaissance art, where painters like Juan de Flandes dared to give form to this unspoken moment. In doing so, they invite us to pray to both in Eastertide: Mary and her risen son, part of the one painting.
Christ Appearing to His Mother,
Painting by Juan des Flandres ( active by 1496–1519),
Painted circa 1498,
Oil on panels
© The Metropolitan Museum, New York
Easter Saturday
The Lord has truly risen, alleluia.
Year: A(II). Liturgical Colour: White.
In other years: St Stanisław (1036 - 1079)
He was born in Szczepanów in Poland in about 1036. He studied at Liège, was ordained, and in 1072 became bishop of Kraków. He ruled the church as a good shepherd, gave help to the poor, and performed annual visitations to supervise the clergy. He reproached King Bolesław II for his crimes and vices and at length excommunicated him. Bolesław sought him out, and murdered him as he was celebrating Mass on 11 April 1079.
Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene, to two others and to the Eleven
Today's gospel reading: Mark 16:9-15
When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept. But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it.After these things he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them.
Afterwards he appeared to the Eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. And he said to them, ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.’
Reflection on the painting
The Gospel of Mark offers us a glimpse into those first trembling days of Easter faith. We are given not one appearance, but several: the risen Lord standing before Mary Magdalene, walking alongside two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and then coming among the Eleven as they gather around a table. These are not isolated moments, but part of a much wider list of encounters. Paul the Apostle, writing to the Corinthians, recalls how the risen Christ appeared to Peter, to the Twelve, to hundreds at once, to James, and ultimately even to himself. The early Church was built not on a single testimony, but on a cascade of encounters with the risen Christ.
And yet, what is striking is how difficult it was, even for those first disciples, to believe. When Mary spoke, they doubted. When the two from Emmaus shared their story, they hesitated. Even joy (because those meeting the risen Christ must have been overjoyed), it seems, can be hard to trust. Peep ding believe the appearance stories at first. It was only when Christ stood among them that their disbelief gave way to faith. We, in 2026, may not have stood in that upper room, but we stand within the same tradition, carried by the same witness. Today's reading prompts us to allow ourselves to believe that the good news is true… even when it feels almost too good to be believed. Sometimes, sadly, good news can be harder to believe than bad news.
In our beautifully detailed panel by Juan de Flandes, we are drawn into a meeting that is not recorded in the Gospels, yet deeply rooted in Christian imagination and tradition: the risen Christ appearing to his mother. If we turn to Scripture, we find no explicit account of such an encounter. The evangelists speak of Mary Magdalene, of the disciples on the road, of the gathered apostles...but they remain silent about Jesus appearing separately to Mary. And yet, it has been often depicted in art. Artists maybe felt that such a meeting must have taken place, not as a historical fact to be proven, but as an event that resonates with the logic of love. If the risen Lord appeared to so many, how could he not have first comforted his own mother, who had shared most intimately in his suffering? This intuition gave rise to a rich artistic tradition, especially in late medieval and Renaissance art, where painters like Juan de Flandes dared to give form to this unspoken moment. In doing so, they invite us to pray to both in Eastertide: Mary and her risen son, part of the one painting.
Christ Appearing to His Mother,
Painting by Juan des Flandres ( active by 1496–1519),
Painted circa 1498,
Oil on panels
© The Metropolitan Museum, New York