The Easter Vigil ~ Holy Saturday 4-16-22

        

Holy Saturday
~*~ The Easter Vigil ~*~

4-16-22

Easter Vigil in the Holy Night

First Part:

The Solemn Beginning of the Vigil

The blessing of the fire and preparation of the candle 

Dear brethren (brothers and sisters),
......Through Christ Our Lord. -- Amen.

Procession


 


 

The Easter Proclamation (Exultet)

Exult, let them exult,

the hosts of heaven,

exult, let Angel ministers of God exult,

let the trumpet of salvation

sound aloud our

mighty King's triumph!


Be glad, let earth be glad,

as glory floods her,

ablaze with light from

her eternal King,

let all corners of the

earth be glad,

knowing an end

to gloom and darkness.


Rejoice, let Mother Church also rejoice,

arrayed with the

lightning of his glory,

let this holy building

shake with joy,

filled with the mighty

voices of the peoples.


(Therefore, dearest friends,

standing in the awesome glory

of this holy light,

invoke with me,

I ask you,

 the mercy of God

almighty,that he, 

who has been

pleased to number me,

though unworthy,

among the Levites,

may pour into me

his light unshadowed,

that I may sing this

candle's perfect praises.)


(V. The Lord be with you.

R. And with your spirit.)

V. Lift up your hearts.

R. We lift them up to the Lord.

V. Let us give thanks

to the Lord our God.

R. It is right and just.

 k

It is truly right and just,

with ardent 

love of mind and heart

and with devoted

service of our voice,

to acclaim our God invisible, 

the almighty Father,

and Jesus Christ, our Lord, 

his Son, his Only Begotten.


Who for our sake paid Adam's 

debt to the eternal Father,

and, pouring out his 

own dear Blood,

wiped clean

the record of our 

ancient sinfulness.


These, then, are the 

feasts of Passover,

in which is

slain the Lamb, 

the one true Lamb,

whose Blood

anoints the 

doorposts of believers.


This is the night, when

once you led our forebears,

 Israel's children,

from slavery in Egypt

and made them pass

dry-shod through the Red Sea.


This is the night that with a pillar of fire

banished the darkness of sin.


This is the night that even now,

throughout the world,

sets Christian believers

apart from worldly vices

and from the gloom of sin,

leading them to grace

and joining them

to his holy ones.


This is the night, when Christ

broke the prison-bars of death

and rose victorious

from the underworld.


Our birth would have

been no gain,

had we not

been redeemed.


O wonder of your

humble care for us!

O love, O charity

beyond all telling,

to ransom a slave

you gave away your Son!

O truly necessary

sin of Adam,

destroyed completely

by the Death of Christ!

O happy fault that earned

so great, so glorious a Redeemer!


O truly blessed night,

worthy alone to know

the time and hour

when Christ rose

from the underworld!


This is the night

of which it is written:

The night shall

be as bright as day,

dazzling is the night for me,

and full of gladness.


The sanctifying power of this night

dispels wickedness,

washes faults away,

restores innocence to the fallen,

and joy to mourners,

drives out hatred,

fosters concord, 

and brings down the mighty. 


On this, your night of grace,

O holy Father,

accept this candle,

a solemn offering,

the work of bees

and of your servants’ hands,

an evening sacrifice of praise,

this gift from your

most holy Church.


But now we know

the praises of this pillar,

which glowing fire ignites

for God's honor,

a fire into many flames divided,

yet never dimmed

by sharing of its light,

for it is fed by melting wax,

drawn out by mother bees

to build a torch so precious.


O truly blessed night,

when things of heaven

are wed to those of earth,

and divine to the human.


Therefore, O Lord,

we pray you

that this candle,

hallowed to the

honor of your name,

may persevere undimmed,

to overcome the

darkness of this night.


Receive it as a

pleasing fragrance,

and let it mingle

with the lights of heaven.


May this flame

be found still burning

by the Morning Star:

the one Morning Star

who never sets,

Christ your Son,

who, coming back

from death's domain,

has shed his peaceful light

on humanity,

and lives and reigns

for ever and ever.


R. Amen



Second Part:
Liturgy of the Word
1st Reading Gn 1:1—2:2

In the beginning,

when God created

the heavens and the earth,

the earth was a

formless wasteland,

and darkness

covered the abyss,

while a mighty wind

swept over the waters.


Then God said,

"Let there be light,"

and there was light.

God saw how good the light was.

God then separated

the light from the darkness.

God called the light "day,"

and the darkness

he called "night."

Thus evening came,

and morning followed

—the first day.


Then God said,

"Let there be a dome

in the middle of the waters,

to separate one body

of water from the other."

And so it happened:

God made the dome,

and it separated

the water above the dome

from the water below it.

God called the

dome "the sky."

Evening came,

and morning followed

—the second day.


Then God said,

"Let the water
under the sky
be gathered
into a single basin,

so that the dry land

may appear."

And so it happened:

the water under the sky

was gathered into its basin,

and the dry land appeared.

God called the dry land "the earth, "

and the basin of the water

he called "the sea."

God saw how good it was.


Then God said,

"Let the earth
bring forth vegetation:
every kind of plant
that bears seed
and every kind
of fruit tree on earth

that bears fruit with its seed in it."

And so it happened:

the earth brought
forth every kind
of plant that bears seed

and every kind
of fruit tree on earth
that bears fruit with its seed in it.

God saw how good it was.

Evening came,
and morning followed
—the third day.


Then God said:

"Let there be lights

in the dome of the sky,

to separate day from night.

Let them mark the fixed times,
the days and the years,

and serve as luminaries

in the dome of the sky,

to shed light upon the earth."

And so it happened:

God made
the two great lights,
the greater one
to govern the day,
and the lesser one
to govern the night;

and he made the stars.

God set them
in the dome of the sky,
to shed light upon the earth,
to govern the day and the night,

and to separate

the light from the darkness.

God saw how good it was.

Evening came,
and morning followed
—the fourth day.


Then God said,

"Let the water teem
with an abundance
of living creatures,
and on the earth
let birds fly beneath
the dome of the sky."

And so it happened:

God created the

great sea monsters

and all kinds of
swimming creatures
with which the
water teems,
and all kinds
of winged birds.

God saw how good it was,
and God blessed them, saying,

"Be fertile, multiply,
and fill the water of the seas;

and let the birds

multiply on the earth."

Evening came,
and morning followed
—the fifth day.


Then God said,

"Let the earth bring
forth all kinds
of living creatures

cattle, creeping things,

and wild animals of all kinds."

And so it happened:

God made all kinds of wild animals,

all kinds of cattle,

and all kinds of

creeping things of the earth.

God saw how good it was.


Then God said:

"Let us make man in our image,
after our likeness.

Let them have dominion over
the fish of the sea,

the birds of the air,
and the cattle,
and over all the wild animals

and all the creatures

that crawl on the ground."

God created man in his image;
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

God blessed them, saying:

"Be fertile and multiply;
fill the earth and subdue it.

Have dominion over
the fish of the sea,
the birds of the air,

and all the living things

that move on the earth."


God also said:

"See, I give you
every seed-bearing plant
all over the earth and
every tree that has seed-bearing fruit
on it to be your food;
and to all the animals of the land,
all the birds of the air,
and all the living creatures
that crawl on the ground,
I give all the green plants for food."

And so it happened.


God looked at everything

he had made,

and he found it very good.

Evening came,

and morning followed

—the sixth day.

Thus the heavens

and the earth

and all their array

were completed.

Since on the seventh

day God was finished

with the work

he had been doing,

he rested on the seventh day

from all the work he had undertaken.


The Word of the Lord,

        ~Thanks be to God



 Responsorial Psalm Ps 104:1-2, 5-6, 10, 12, 13-14, 24, 35

R. Lord, send out your Spirit,

and renew the face of the earth.

Bless the LORD,

O my soul!

O LORD, my God,

you are great indeed!

You are clothed with

majesty and glory,

robed in light as with a cloak.

R. Lord, send out your Spirit,

and renew the face of the earth.

You fixed the earth

upon its foundation,

not to be moved forever;

with the ocean, as with

a garment, you covered it;

above the mountains the waters stood.

R. Lord, send out your Spirit,

and renew the face of the earth.

You send forth springs

into the watercourses

that wind among the mountains.

Beside them the

birds of heaven dwell;

from among the branches

they send forth their song.

R. Lord, send out your Spirit,

and renew the face of the earth.

You water the mountains

from your palace;

the earth is replete

with the fruit of your works.

You raise grass for the cattle,

and vegetation for man's use,

Producing bread from the earth.

R. Lord, send out your Spirit,

and renew the face of the earth.

How manifold are

your works, O LORD!

In wisdom you have

wrought them all—

the earth is full

of your creatures.

Bless the LORD, O my soul!

R.  Lord, send out your Spirit,

and renew the face of the earth.




3rd Reading Ex 14:15—15:1

The LORD said to Moses,

"Why are you crying out to me?

Tell the Israelites to go forward.

And you, lift up your staff and,

with hand outstretched over the sea,

split the sea in two,

that the Israelites may

pass through it on dry land.

But I will make the

Egyptians so obstinate

that they will

go in after them.

Then I will receive glory

through Pharaoh and all his army,

his chariots

and charioteers.

The Egyptians shall

know that I am the LORD,

when I receive

glory through Pharaoh

and his chariots

and charioteers."


The angel of God,

who had been

leading Israel's camp,

now moved and

went around behind them.

The column of cloud also,

leaving the front,

took up its place behind them,

so that it came between

the camp of the Egyptians

and that of Israel.

But the cloud now became dark,

and thus the night passed

without the rival camps

coming any closer together

all night long.


Then Moses stretched

out his hand over the sea,

and the LORD swept the sea

with a strong east wind

throughout the night

and so turned

it into dry land.

When the water

was thus divided,

the Israelites marched into

the midst of the sea on dry land,

with the water like a wall

to their right and to their left.


The Egyptians followed in pursuit;

all Pharaoh's horses

and chariots and

charioteers went after them

right into the midst of the sea.

In the night watch

just before dawn

the LORD cast through

the column of the fiery cloud

upon the Egyptian force a

glance that threw it into a panic;

and he so clogged

their chariot wheels

that they could hardly drive.

With that the Egyptians

sounded the retreat before Israel,

because the LORD

was fighting for them

against the Egyptians.


Then the LORD told Moses,

"Stretch out your

hand over the sea,

that the water may

flow back upon the Egyptians,

upon their chariots

and their charioteers."

So Moses stretched

out his hand over the sea,

and at dawn the sea

flowed back to its normal depth.

The Egyptians were

fleeing head on toward the sea,

when the LORD hurled

them into its midst.

As the water flowed back,

it covered the chariots

and the charioteers

of Pharaoh's whole army

which had followed

the Israelites into the sea.

Not a single one of them escaped.

But the Israelites

had marched on dry land

through the midst of the sea,

with the water like a wall

to their right and to their left.

Thus the LORD

saved Israel on that day

from the power

of the Egyptians.

When Israel saw the

Egyptians lying dead

on the seashore

and beheld the great

power that the LORD

had shown against the Egyptians,

they feared the LORD

and believed in him

and in his servant Moses.


Then Moses and the Israelites

sang this song to the LORD:

I will sing to the LORD,

for he is gloriously triumphant;

horse and chariot

he has cast into the sea.


The Word of the Lord,

        ~Thanks be to God


                                           

Responsorial Psalm Ex 15:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 17-18

R. Let us sing to the Lord;

he has covered himself in glory.

I will sing to the LORD,

for he is gloriously triumphant;

horse and chariot

he has cast into the sea.

My strength and my

courage is the LORD,

and he has been my savior.

He is my God, I praise him;

the God of my father, I extol him.

R. Let us sing to the Lord;

he has covered himself in glory.

The LORD is a warrior,

LORD is his name!

Pharaoh's chariots

and army he hurled into the sea;

the elite of his officers

were submerged in the Red Sea.

R. Let us sing to the Lord;

he has covered himself in glory.

The flood waters covered them,

they sank into the

depths like a stone.

Your right hand,

O LORD, magnificent in power,

your right hand,

O LORD, has shattered the enemy.

R. Let us sing to the Lord;

he has covered himself in glory.

You brought in the

people you redeemed

and planted them on the

mountain of your inheritance

the place where

you made your seat, O LORD,

the sanctuary, LORD,

which your hands established.

The LORD shall reign forever and ever.

R. Let us sing to the Lord;

he has covered himself in glory.


5th Reading Is 55:1-11

Thus says the LORD:

All you who are thirsty,

come to the water!

You who have no money,

come, receive grain and eat;

come, without paying

and without cost, drink wine and milk!

Why spend your

money for what is not bread,

your wages for

what fails to satisfy?

Heed me, and you shall eat well,

you shall delight in rich fare.

Come to me heedfully, listen,

that you may have life.

I will renew with you

the everlasting covenant,

the benefits assured to David.

As I made him a

witness to the peoples,

a leader and

commander of nations,

so shall you summon

a nation you knew not,

and nations that knew

you not shall run to you,

because of the LORD,

your God,

the Holy One of Israel,

who has glorified you. 

Seek the LORD

while he may be found,

call him while he is near.


Let the scoundrel forsake his way,

and the wicked

man his thoughts;

let him turn to

the LORD for mercy;

to our God, who is generous

in forgiving.

For my thoughts

are not your thoughts,

nor are your ways my ways,

says the LORD. 

As high as the heavens

are above the earth,

so high are my ways

above your ways

and my thoughts

above your thoughts.


For just as from

the heavens the

rain and snow

come down and

do not return there

till they have

watered the earth,

making it fertile

and fruitful, giving seed

to the one who sows

and bread to the one who eats,

so shall my word be

that goes forth from my mouth;

my word shall not

return to me void,

but shall do my will,

achieving the end for which I sent it.


The Word of the Lord,

        ~Thanks be to God



GLORIA

Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace to people of good will.

We praise you, we bless you,
we adore you, we glorify you,

We give you thanks for your great glory,

Lord God,
heavenly King, O God, almighty Father.

Lord, Jesus Christ, Only Begotten Son,

Lord God,
Lamb of God, Son of the Father,

You take away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us;
you take away the sins of the world, 

receive our prayer;
you are seated at the right hand of the Father,
have mercy on us.

For you alone are the Holy One, 

you alone are the Lord,
you alone are the Most High, 

Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit,
in the glory of God the Father, Amen.

Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to people of good will.


Epistle Rom 6:3-11

Brothers and sisters:

Are you unaware that

we who were baptized

into Christ Jesus were

baptized into his death?

We were indeed buried

with him through baptism

into death,so that,

just as Christ was

raised from the dead

by the glory of the Father,

we too might live

in newness of life.


For if we have grown

into union with him

through a death like his,

we shall also be united with him

in the resurrection.

We know that our old self

was crucified with him,

so that our sinful body

might be done away with,

that we might no longer

be in slavery to sin.

For a dead person

has been absolved from sin.

If, then, we have

died with Christ,

we believe that

we shall also live with him.


We know that Christ,

raised from the dead,

dies no more; death

no longer has power over him.

As to his death,

he died to sin once and for all;

as to his life,

he lives for God.

Consequently,

you too must think of ourselves

as being dead to sin

and living for God in Christ Jesus.


The Word of the Lord,

        ~Thanks be to God



Gospel Mark 16:1-7

When the sabbath was over, 

Mary Magdalene, Mary,

the mother of James, and Salome 

bought spices so that

they might go and anoint him.

Very early when

the sun had risen,

on the first day of the week,

they came to the tomb.

They were saying

to one another, 

“Who will roll back

the stone for us

from the entrance to the tomb?”

When they looked up,

they saw that the stone

had been rolled back;

it was very large.

On entering the tomb

they saw a young man

sitting on the right side,

clothed in a white robe,

and they were utterly amazed.

He said to them,

“Do not be amazed!

You seek Jesus of Nazareth,

the crucified.

He has been raised;

he is not here.

Behold the place

where they laid him.

But go and tell his

disciples and Peter, 

‘He is going before

you to Galilee; 

there you will see him,

as he told you.’”

                  

The Gospel of the Lord,

                   ~ Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ



Homily

Third Part: Baptismal Liturgy

        Dearly beloved….  … all his merciful help.

     

The Rite of Baptism:


Blessing of the 

Baptismal Water


Renunciation 

of Sin 

and Profession 

of Faith


Baptism renewal



Sprinkling Rite



Continued ...The Rite of Baptism:


Anointing after Baptism

Presentation of a Lighted Candle




Celebration of Reception
Candidates make their Profession of Faith



Celebration of Confirmation



Prayers of the Faithful:  
Prayers of Petition    ~ Lord, hear our prayer



Offertory Song


Fourth Part: Liturgy of the Eucharist

Eucharistic Acclamations:

R: Blessed be God forever 


R: Blessed be God forever


~*~*~*~*~*~*~


R: May the Lord accept the sacrifice

at your hands for the

praise and glory of his name,

for our good

and the good of all His holy Church


~*~*~*~*~*~*~

R: And with your spirit

R: We lift them up to the Lord


R: It is right and just.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts.
Heaven and earth are full, full of your glory.
Hosanna, hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest.  
Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest.


 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~
We proclaim your Death, O Lord, and profess your 

Resurrection, until you come again.

Or

When we eat this Bread and drink this Cup
We proclaim your Death, O Lord, until you come again.

Or
Save us, Savior of the world,
for by your Cross and

Resurrection you have set us free

 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen

  ~*~*~*~*~*~*~


The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father, Who art in heaven, 

Hallowed be Thy Name. 

Thy Kingdom come. 

Thy Will be done, 

on earth as it is in Heaven.


Give us this day our daily bread. 

And forgive us our trespasses, 

as we forgive those
who trespass against us. 

And lead us not into temptation, 

but deliver us from evil. Amen.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

        For the kingdom, the power and glory are yours now and forever.~Amen



 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~

    Sign of Peace 

R: And with your Spirit
   
    (to one another) :
                ~ Peace be with you!
             
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Lamb of God,
you take away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us.
Lamb of God,
you take away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us.
Lamb of God,
you take away the sins of the world,
grant us peace.

  ~*~*~*~*~*~*~

R: Lord I am not worthy that should
enter under my roof,
but only say the word
and my soul shall be healed.

 


Communion Song:



Spiritual Communion:

My Jesus, I believe that you are present

in the Most Holy Sacrament.

I love you above all things,

and I desire to receive you into my soul.

Since I cannot at this moment receive You sacramentally,

Come at least spiritually into my heart.

I embrace You as if You were already there

And unite myself wholly to You.

Never permit me to be separated from You.

Amen.


The Concluding Rite The Closing Song:


 


Vocations Prayer
Heavenly Father,

Bless our diocese with the grace of many vocations

to the priesthood, diaconate and to religious life.

Through the intercession of the Blessed Mother,

grant to those You have called

the willingness and the generosity of spirit

to give of themselves in devoting their lives and their talents to the service of our Lord and to His Church.


Increase the faith of all within our diocese,

and especially the faith of those You are calling.

We ask this through Christ, Your Son our Lord. ~ Amen