Jesus Christ “descended into hell.” What does this expression mean? It means that God, having become man, reached the point of entering the extreme and absolute solitude of humankind, where no ray of love reaches, where total abandonment reigns without any word of comfort: “hell.” Jesus Christ, dwelling in death, crossed the threshold of this ultimate solitude to guide us to cross it with Him. We have all sometimes felt a terrible sense of abandonment, and what frightens us most about death is precisely this: like children, we are afraid of being left alone in the darkness, and only the presence of someone who loves us can reassure us. And that is precisely what happened on Holy Saturday: in the realm of death, the voice of God resounded. The unthinkable happened; that is, Love penetrated “into hell.” Even in the extreme darkness of the most absolute human solitude, we can hear a voice calling us and find a hand that takes us and leads us outwards.

Benedict XVI

Speech of May 2, 2010

in Magnificat