Saturday, April 07, 2007

Exultet! This is the Night!

I wanted to wish everybody a Happy Easter! I actually came home from Atlanta Thursday night, but haven't blogged because I immediately entered into the observance of the Easter Triduum: Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and tonight concluding with the Holy Saturday Easter Vigil.... Tonight, as the Black Saturday turns into the greatest Sunday, and the greatest day in all of Christendom, deacons and cantors of the Universal Church all over the globe, will chant the following proclamation under the light of the new Paschal Candle:

Rejoice, heavenly powers! Sing, choirs of angels!
Exult, all creation around God’s throne!
Jesus Christ, our King is risen!
Sound the trumpet of salvation!

Rejoice, O earth, in shining splendor,
radiant in the brightness of your King!
Christ has conquered! Glory fills you!
Darkness vanishes forever!

Rejoice, O Mother Church! Exult in glory!
The risen Savior shines upon you!
Let this place resound with joy,
echoing the mighty song of all God’s people!

The Lord be with you.
(Response:) And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
(Response:) We lift them up to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
(Response:) It is right to give him thanks and praise.

It is truly right
that with full hearts and minds and voices
we should praise the unseen God,
the all-powerful Father,
and his only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

For Christ has ransomed us with his blood,
and paid for us the price of Adam’s sin
to our eternal Father!

This is our passover feast,
when Christ, the true Lamb, is slain,
whose blood consecrates the homes of all believers.

This is the night when first you saved our fathers:
you free the people of Israel from their slavery
and led them dry-shod through the sea.

This is the night when Christians everywhere,
washed clean of sin
and freed from all defilement,
are restored to grace and grow together in holiness.

This is the night when Jesus Christ
broke the chains of death
and rose triumphant from the grave.

What good would life have been to us,
had Christ not come as our Redeemer?

Father, how wonderful your care for us!
How boundless your merciful love!
To ransom a slave
you gave away your Son.

O happy fault, O necessary sin of Adam,
which gained for us so great a Redeemer!

Most blessed of all nights, chosen by God
to see Christ rising from the dead!

Of this night scripture says:
“The night will be as clear as day;
it will become my light, my joy.”

The power of this holy night
dispels all evil, washes guilt away,
restores lost innocence, brings mourners joy;
it casts out hatred, brings us peace,
and humbles earthly pride.

Night truly blessed when heaven is wedded to earth
and we are reconciled with God!

Therefore, heavenly Father, in the joy of this night,
receive our evening sacrifice of praise,
your Church’s solemn offering.

Accept this Easter candle,
a flame divided but undimmed,
a pillar of fire that glows to the honor of God.

Let it mingle with the lights of heaven
and continue bravely burning
to dispel the darkness of this night!

May the morning Star which never sets
find this flame still burning:
Christ, that Morning Star, who came back from the dead,
and shed his peaceful light on us all,
your Son who lives and reigns for ever and ever.
Amen.


A Happy Easter everyone, God Bless!

TECHNORATI TAGS: , ,

17 comments:

Patti said...

Amen! Happy Easter to you too.

Laurence said...

Joyeuses Pâques ! :-)

Your post is beautiful !

Anonymous said...

Happy Easter to you and your family,Angelo!

Thanx for sharing this.Ihad a good read and its nice to start the day :)

May God shower you more with blessings!!

btw,I hope you liked the pic on my blog.you got some "fans" out there.

regards and hugs to Nermal!!
ghee

Gattina said...

Happy Easter ! and don't eat to many eggs ! If you want to know about Belgan easter tradition, I wrote about it on my "writercramps" blog !

Puss-in-Boots said...

Happy Easter to you too, Angelo...hug to Nermal and purrs from Oscar.

tina said...

Happy Easterr.... :P

Anonymous said...

Happy Easter Angelo! And I also loved your photos of the Cathedral of Christ the King! Great that you could still do your Bisita Iglesia and other Holy Week traditions.

Angelo said...

Patti: Happy Easter!

Laurence: Merci and Joyeuses Paques a toi et Harissa :) Dieu te benisse :)

Ghee: Happy Easter to you and your family Ghee, God bless you all :) Really? hehe... Nermal says purrr puurrr to Tita Ghee!

Gattina: Happy Easter! I'll try not to, I have to watch my cholesterol hehe... I'll surely check out your post!

Puss-in-Boots: Thanks! and Nermal says "Thank you" and "right back at ya" to Oscar!

Tina: Happy Easter Tina :)

Toe: Thanks Toe, Happy Easter! I hope you were able to do some of our Holy week traditions over there in Cambodia.

Anonymous said...

Yep,Angelo!Thay said you are "cool",and I wouldnt disagree *wink*

Happy Monday!
Hey Nermal,thanks to your purr..haha!

Rey said...

Happy easter, Angelo! :)

Anonymous said...

happy easter to you and to your family!

Wendy Ann Edwina D'Cunha e Pereira said...

Happy Easter to you .... hope you had a really joyous day...

Anonymous said...

happy easter angelo! hoping for success in your exam.

Jhed said...

Belated Happy Easter!

Gina said...

Wishing you the blessings of Easter...

Anonymous said...

Happy Easter, Angelo! Have a great week ahead :)

haze said...

Joyeuses Pâques Angelo! j'espère que tu as chasse beaucoup d'oeufs chez vous !