Today is the Great Saturday in Russian Orthodox calendar
On great Saturday the Christ has gone down in the Hades and has revived by a life eternal righteous persons suffered there and sinners too.
The Holy Week, Passionate seven days (passion -suffering) - last seven days of the Great post, previous Easter and following after a Week flowers carrying (the sixth Sunday of the Great post) during which are recollected the Last Supper, the legend on court, sufferings and the crucifixion, Jesus Christ's burial.
All the days long Passionate seven days carry the name "Great" - Great Monday, ... Great Saturday, the epithet "Passionate" also is used.
Easter icon of Orthodox Church is the icon " Descent in a Hades ".
The Christ on this icon as though is absolutely static. It holds for Adam and Eve's hands. It only is going to exhaust them from a place of grief. Rise has not begun yet. But only that descent has ended: clothes of the Christ still flutter (as after prompt descent). It has already stopped, and clothes still fall down after It. Before us - a point of limiting descent of the Christ, from it the way will go up, from a hell - to the Sky. The Christ has rushed into a hell, and the gate of a Hades broken broken by it, lay under Its legs.
" Descent in the Hades" shows to us as victory Jesus is made: not force and not magically-authoritative influence, but - through maximal "Self-exhaustion", self-belittling of the Lord. The old testament narrates, as the God searched for the person. The new testament, down to Easter, speaks us, as far it was necessary to go to the God to find nevertheless the Son.
All complexity of icons of Revival is connected with necessity to show, that the Christ - not only Revived, but also the Reviver. It speaks about that, - what for the God has come on the ground and has accepted death.
On this icon the moment of crisis, an instant of a meeting of two different boards, but uniform actions on the purpose is given: the limiting point of Divine descent appears an initial support of a human ascention. " The God became the person that the person became the God " - the gold formula of orthodox understanding of the person is those.
These (earlier closed) opportunities of transformation open for the person promptly - " in uniform hour ". "Easter" also means "transition", prompt disposal. During antiquated times easter bread were fresh the bread, made hastily from the test which could not even be fermented. Also clearing of mankind (already all mankind, and not just Jewish people) from slavery (to not so Egyptian pharaon, but the death and a sin) so promptly makes.
Good luck to all and wishes to find the path to God!