Liturgical Colour : White

Exodus 14 : 24-31 and Exodus 15 : 1

In diebus illis : Factum est in vigilia matutina, et ecce, respiciens Dominus super castra Aegyptiorum per columnam ignis et nubis, interfecit exercitum eorum : et subvertit rotas curruum, ferebanturque in profundum. Dixerunt ergo Aegyptii : Fugiamus Israelem : Dominus enim pugnat pro Eis contra nos.

Et ait Dominus ad Moysen : Extende manum tuam super mare, ut revertantur aquae ad Aegyptios super currus et equites eorum. Cumque extendisset Moyses manum contra mare, reversum est primo diluculo ad priorem locum : fugientibusque Aegyptiis occurrerunt aquae, et involvit eos Dominus in mediis fluctibus. Reversaeque sunt aquae, et operuerunt currus, et equites cuncti exercitus Pharaonis, qui sequentes ingressi fuerant mare : nec unus quidem superfuit ex eis. Filii autem Israel perrexerunt per medium sicci maris, et aquae eis erant quasi pro muro a dextris et a sinistris.

Liberavitque Dominus in die illa Israel de manu Aegyptiorum. Et viderunt Aegyptios mortuos super litus maris, et manum magnam, quam exercuerat Dominus contra eos : timuitque populus Dominum, et crediderunt Domino et Moysi, servo Ejus. Tunc cecinit Moyses et filii Israel carmen hoc Domino, et dixerunt :

English translation

In those days, it came to pass in the morning watch, and behold the Lord looking upon the Egyptian army through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, slew their host, and overthrew the wheels of the chariots, and they were carried into the deep. And the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from Israel, for the Lord is fighting for them against us.”

And the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch forth your hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and horsemen. And when Moses had stretched forth his hand towards the sea, it returned at the first break of day to the former place, and as the Egyptians were fleeing away the waters came upon them, and Lord shut them up in the middle of the waves. And the waters returned, and covered the chariots and the horsemen of all the army of Pharaoh, who had come into the sea after them. Neither did there so much as one of them remained. But the children of Israel marched through the midst of the sea upon dry land, and the waters were to them as a wall on the right hand and on the left.

And the Lord delivered Israel on that day out of the hand of the Egyptians. And they saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore, and the mighty hand that the Lord had used against them, and the people feared the Lord, and they believed the Lord, and Moses, His servant. Then Moses and the children of Israel sung this canticle to the Lord, and said :

Canticle

Exodus 15 : 1, 2

Cantemus Domino : gloriose enim honorificatus est : equum et ascensorem projecit in mare : adjutor et protector factus est mihi in salutem.

Verse : Hic Deus meus, et honorificabo Eum : Deus patris mei, et exaltabo Eum.

Verse : Dominus conterens bella : Dominus Nomen est illi.

English translation

Let us sing to the Lord, for He is gloriously honoured, the horse and the rider He had thrown into the sea. He has become my Helper and Protector unto salvation.

Verse : He is my God, and I will honour Him, the God of my father, and I will extol Him.

Verse : He is the Lord that destroys wars, the Lord is His Name.

Collect

Deus, cujus antiqua miracula etiam nostris saeculis coruscare sentimus : dum quod uni populo, a persecutione Aegyptiaca liberando, dexterae Tuae potentia contulisti, id in salutem gentium per aquam regenerationis operaris : praesta; ut in Abrahae filios, et in Israeliticam dignitatem, totius mundi transeat plenitudo. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium Tuum, Qui Tecum vivis et regnas in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.

English translation

O God, Whose ancient miracles we see shining also in our days, while by the water of regeneration. You had operated for the salvation of the Gentiles, that which by the power of Your right hand You had conferred upon one people, by delivering them from the Egyptian persecution, grant that all the nations of the world may become the children of Abraham, and partake of the dignity of the people of Israel. Through our Lord Jesus Christ Your Son, who with You lives and reigns in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end. Amen.

Liturgical Colour : White

Genesis 1 : 1-31 and Genesis 2 : 1-2

In principio creavit Deus caelum et terram. Terra autem erat inanis et vacua, et tenebrae erant super faciem abyssi : et Spiritus Dei ferebatur super aquas.

Dixitque Deus : Fiat lux. Et facta est lux. Et vidit Deus lucem, quod esset bona : et divisit lucem a tenebris. Appellavitque lucem Diem, et tenebras Noctem : factumque est vespere et mane, dies unus.

Dixit quoque Deus : Fiat firmamentum in medio aquarum : et dividat aquas ab aquis. Et fecit Deus firmamentum, divisitque aquas, quae erant sub firmamento, ab his, quae erant super firmamentum. Et factum est ita. Vocavitque Deus firmamentum, Caelum : et factum est vespere et mane, dies secundus.

Dixit vero Deus : Congregentur aquae, quae sub caelo sunt, in locum unum : et appareat arida. Et factum est ita. Et vocavit Deus aridam Terram : congregationesque aquarum appleavit Maria. Et vidit Deus, quod esset bonum.

Et ait : Germinet terra herbam virentem et facientem semen, et lignum pomiferum faciens fructum juxta genus suum, cujus semen in semetipso sit super terram. Et factum est ita. Et protulit terra herbam virentem et facientem semen juxta genus suum, lignumque faciens fructum, et habens unumquodque sementem secundum speciem suam. Et vidit Deus, quod esset bonum. Et factum est vespere et mane, dies tertius.

Dixit autem Deus : Fiant luminaria in firmamento caeli, et dividant diem ac noctem, et sint in signa et tempora et dies et annos : ut luceant in firmamento caeli, et illuminent terram. Et factum est ita.

Fecitque Deus duo luminaria magna : luminare majus, et praesset diei : et luminare minus, ut praesset nocti : et stellas. Et posuit eas in firmamento caeli, ut lucerent super terram, et praessent diei ac nocti, et dividerent lucem ac tenebras. Et vidit Deus, quod esset bonum. Et factum est vespere et mane, dies quartus.

Dixit etiam Deus : Producant aquae reptile animae viventis, et volatile super terram sub firmamento caeli. Creavitque Deus cete grandia, et omnem animam viventem atquem motabilem, quam produxerant aquae in species suas, et omne volatile secundum genus suum. Et vidit Deus, quod esset bonum.

Benedixitque Eis, dicens : Crescite et multiplicamini, et replete aquas maris : avesque multiplicentur super terram. Et factum est vespere et mane, dies quintus.

Dixit quoque Deus : Producat terra animam viventem in genere suo : jumenta et reptilia, et bestias terrae secundum species suas. Factumque est ita. Et fecit Deus bestias terrae juxta species suas, et jumenta, et omne reptile terrae in genere suo. Et vidit Deus, quod esset bonum, et ait :

Faciamus hominem ad imaginem et similitudinem Nostram : et praesit piscibus maris et volatilibus caeli, et bestiis universaque terrae, omnique reptili, quod movetur in terra.

Et creavit Deus hominem ad imaginem Suam : ad imaginem Dei creavit illum, masculum et feminam creavit Eos. Benedixitque illis Deus, et ait : Crescite et multiplicamini, et replete terram, et subjicite eam, et dominamini piscibus maris et volatilibus caeli, et universis animantibus, quae moventur super terram.

Dixitque Deus : Ecce, dedi vobis omnem herbam afferentem semen super terram, et universa ligna, quae habent in semetipsis sementem generis sui, ut sint vobis in escam : et cunctis animantibus terrae, omnique volucri caeli, et universis, quae moventur in terra, et in quibus est anima vivens, ut habeant ad vescendum. Et factum est ita. Viditque Deus cuncta, quae fecerat : et erant valde bona. Et factum est vespere et mane, dies sextus.

Igitur perfecti sunt caeli et terra, et omnis ornatus eorum. Complevitque Deus die septimo opus Suum, quod fecerat : et requievit die septimo ab universo opere, quod patrarat.

English translation

In the beginning God created Heaven and earth. And the earth was void and empty, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God moved over the waters.

And God said, “Let there be light.” And light was made. And God saw the light that it was good, and He divided the light from the darkness. And He called the light Day, and the darkness Night, and there was evening and morning, the first day.

And God said, “Let there be a firmament made amidst the waters, and let it ivide the waters from the waters.” And God made a firmament, and divided the waters that were under the firmament from those that were above the firmament. And it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven, and the evening and morning were, the second day.

God also said, “Let the waters that are under the Heaven be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so done. And God called the dry land, Earth, and the gathering together of the waters, He called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

And He said, “Let the earth bring forth his green herb, and such as may seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after its kind, which may have seed in itself upon the earth. And it was so done. And the earth brought forth the green herb, and such as yielded seed according to its kind, and the tree that bore fruit, having seed, each one according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And the evening and morning were, the third day.

And God said, “Let there be lights made in the firmament of Heaven to divide the day and the night, and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years, to shine in the firmament of Heaven, and to give light upon the earth.” And it was so done.

And God made two great lights, a greater light to rule the day, and a lesser light to rule the night, and the stars. And He set them in the firmament of Heaven, to shine upon the earth, and to rule the day and the night, and to divide the earth, and to rule the day and the night, and to divide the light and the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And the evening and morning were, the fourth day.

God also said, “Let the waters bring forth the creeping creature having life, and the fowl that may fly over the earth under the firmament of Heaven.” And God created the great whales, and every living and moving creature which the waters brought forth, according to their kinds, and every winged fowl according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

And He blessed them, saying, “Increase and multiply, and fill the waters of the sea, and let the birds be multiplied upon the earth.” And the evening and the morning were, the fifth day.

And God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature in its kind, cattle, and creeping things, and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so done. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, and cattle, and everything that crept on the earth after its kind. And God saw that it was good.

And He said, “Let Us make man to Our own image and likeness, and let him have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and the beasts, and the whole earth, and every creeping creature that moved upon the earth.”

And God created man to His own image, to the image of God He created him, male and female He created them. And God blessed them, saying, “Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and rule over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and all living creatures that move upon the earth.”

And God said, “Behold, I have given you every herb-bearing seed upon the earth, and all trees that have in themselves seed of their own kind, to be your meat, and to all the beasts of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to all that move upon the earth, and wherein there is life, that they may have to feed upon.” And it was so done. And God saw all the things that He had made, and they were very good. And the evening and morning were, the sixth day.

So the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the furniture of them. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.

Collect

Deus, qui mirabiliter creasti hominem, et mirabilius redemisti : da nobis, quaesumus, contra oblectamenta peccati, mentis ratione persistere; ut mereamur ad aeterna gaudia pervenire. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium Tuum, Qui Tecum vivis et regnas in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.

English translation

O God, Who had wonderfully created man and more wonderfully redeemed him, grant us, we beseech You, to withstand by strength of spirit the allurements of sin, that we may deserve to arrive at everlasting joy. Through our Lord Jesus Christ Your Son, who with You lives and reigns in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end. Amen.

Liturgical Colour : White

Solemn Procession

Priest : Lumen Christi.

Response : Deo gratias.

Priest : Lumen Christi.

Response : Deo gratias.

Priest : Lumen Christi.

Response : Deo gratias.

(Deacon : Jube, domne, benedicere.)

(Priest : Dominus sit in corde tuo, et in labiis tuis : ut digne et competenter annunties suum Paschale praeconium : In Nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.)

English translation

Priest : The Light of Christ.

Response : We thank You, o God.

Priest : The Light of Christ.

Response : We thank You, o God.

Priest : The Light of Christ.

Response : We thank You, o God.

(Deacon : Pray, sir, a blessing.)

(Priest : May the Lord be in your heart and on your lips, that you may worthily and competently declare His Paschal proclamation, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.)

The Paschal Exsultet

Exsultet jam Angelica turba caelorum : exsultent divina mysteria : et pro tanti Regis victoria, tuba insonet salutaris.

Gaudeat et tellus tantis irradiata fulgoribus : et aeterni Regis splendore illustrata, totius orbis se sentiat amisisse caliginem.

Laetetur et Mater Ecclesia, tanti luminis adornata fulgoribus : et magnis populorum vocibus haec aula resultet.

Quapropter astantes vos, fratres carissimi, ad tam miram hujus sancti luminis claritatem, una mecum, quaeso, Dei omnipotentis misericordiam invocate. Ut qui me non meis meritis intra Levitarum numerum dignatus est aggregare : luminis Sui claritatem infundens, cerei hujus laudem implere perficiat.

Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium Suum : qui cum eo vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus per omnia saecula saeculorum.

Response : Amen.

Deacon : Dominus vobiscum.

Response : Et cum spiritu tuo.

Deacon : Sursum corda.

Response : Habemus ad Dominum.

Deacon : Gratias agamus Domino Deo nostro.

Response : Dignum et justum est.

Vere dignum et justum est, invisibilem Deum Patrem omnipotentem, Filiumque Ejus unigenitum, Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum, toto cordis ac mentis affectu, et vocis ministerio personare. Qui pro nobis Aeterno Patri, Adae debitum solvit : et veteris piaculi cautionem pio cruore detersit.

Haec sunt enim festa Paschalia, iniquibus verus ille Agnus occiditur, cujus Sanguine postes fidelium consecrantur.

Haec nox est, in qua primum patres nostros filios Israel eductos de Aegypto, mare Rubrum sicco vestigio transire fecisti.

Haec igitur nox est, quae peccatorum tenebras, columnae illuminatione purgavit.

Haec nox est, quae hodie per universum mundum, in Christo credentes, a vitiis saeculi, et caligine peccatorum segregatos, reddit gratiae, sociat sanctitati.

Haec nox est, in qua destructie vinculis mortis, Christus ab inferis victor ascendit. Nihil enim nobis nasci profuit, nisi redimi profuisset.

O mira circa nos Tuae pietatis dignatio!

O inaestimabilis dilectio caritatis : ut servum redimeres, Filium tradidisti!

O certe necessarium Adae peccatum, quod Christi morte deletum est!

O felix culpa, quae talem ac tantum meruit habere Redemptorem!

O vere beata nox, quae sola meruit scire tempus et horam, in qua Christus ab inferis resurrexit! Haec nox est, de qua scriptum est : Et nox sicut dies illuminabitur : et nox illuminatio mea in deliciis meis.

Hujus igitur sanctificatio noctis fugat scelera, culpas lavat : et reddit innocentiam lapsis, et maestis laetitiam. Fugat odia, concordiam parat, et curvat imperia.

In hujus igitur noctis gratia, suscipe, Sancte Pater, incensi hujus sacrificium vespertinum : quod tibi in hac Cerei oblatione solemni, per ministrorum manus de operibus apum, sacrosancta reddit Ecclesia.

Sed jam columnae hujus praeconia novimus, quam in honorem Dei rutilans ignis accendit. Qui licet sit divisus in partes, mutuati tamen luminis detrimenta non novit. Alitur enim liquantibus ceris, quas in substantiam pretiosae hujus lampadis, apis mater eduxit.

Overe beata nox, quae exspoiliavit Aegyptios, ditavit Hebraeos! Nox, in qua terrenis caelestia, humanis divina juguntur.

Oramus ergo Te, Domine : ut Cereus iste in honorem Tui Nominis consecratus, ad noctis hujus caliginem destruendam, indeficiens perseveret. Et in odorem suavitatis acceptus, supernis luminaribus misceatur Flammas ejus Lucifer matutinus inveniat. Ille, inquam, Lucifer, qui nescit occasum. Ille, qui regressus ab inferis, humano generi serenus illuxit.

Precamur ergo Te, Domine : ut nos famulos Tuos, omnemque clerum, et devotissimum populum : una cum beatissimo Papa nostro (Name of Pope) et Antistite nostro (Name of Bishop) quiete temporum concessa, in his Paschalibus gaudiis, assidua protectione regere, gubernare, et conservare digneris.

Respice etiam ad eos, qui nos in potestate regunt, et, ineffabili pietatis et misericordiae Tuae munere, dirige cogitationes eorum ad justitiam et pacem, ut de terrena operositate ad caelestem patriam perveniant cum omni populo Tuo.

Per eumdem Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium Tuum : Qui Tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus : Per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.

English translation

Let the Angelic Host of Heaven now exult, exult the mysteries divine, and for the victory so great a King, sound the trumpet of salvation.

Let earth rejoice, irradiated by such mighty beams, and, being lighted up with the splendour of the Eternal King, let her feel the shadows gone from all her sphere.

Let Mother Church also rejoice, adorned with the effulgence of so great a light, and let this place ring with the voices of many.

Wherefore, all of you are present, o most dear brethren, in the wondrous brightness of this holy Light, join me, I pray, in invoking the mercy of Almighty God, that He, Who, for no merits of my own, had deigned to number me among the Levites, may shed upon me the brightness of His Light and make me perfectly perform the praise of this Candle.

Through Our Lord Jesus Christ, His Son, Who with Him live and reign in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever.

Response : Amen.

Deacon : The Lord be with you.

Response : And with your spirit.

Deacon : Lift up your hearts.

Response : We have lifted them up to the Lord.

Deacon : Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

Response : It is right and just.

It is truly right and just, that with all the powers of heart and mind, uplifting, too, our voices, we sing the God invisible, the Father Almighty, and His only begotten Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who had paid for us unto the Eternal Father the debt of Adam, and had wiped out with His dear Blood the reckoning of the ancient offence.

For these are the Paschal rites wherein the true Lamb is slain with Whose Blood the doorposts of the faithful are consecrated.

This is the night on which You had caused our fathers, the children of Israel, to cross dry-shod the Red Sea, leading them out of the land of Egypt.

This, then, is the night that had purged away the darkness of sins with the illumination of the pillar of fire.

This is the night which now, throughout all the world, had separated believers in Christ from the iniquities of the world and the gloom of sins, and had restored them unto grace, and joined them unto holiness.

This is the night on which, bursting the bonds of death, Christ came victorious from the grave. For it profited us nothing to be born except that we might be redeemed.

O wondrous condescension of Your great kindness in our regard!

O inestimable affection of charity : to redeem the slave, You had given up the Son!

O truly necessary sin of Adam, that is wiped out by the death of Christ!

O happy fault, that was worthy to have such an so great a Redeemer!

O truly blessed night, that alone was worthy to know the time and the hour when Christ rose again from the dead. This is the night of which it is written : And the night shall be enlightened like day, and the night is my enlightening in my pleasures.

The sanctification of this night, therefore, drove away evil deeds, cleansed offences, restoring innocence to the fallen and gladness to the mournful. It drove out hatred, it produced concord and curbed tyrannies.

In thanksgiving, then, for this night, o Holy Father, receive the evening sacrifice of this incense, which most holy Church rendered to You by the hands of her ministers, in this solemn oblation of wax, from the labours of the bees.

And now we know the glories of this column which the flickering fire had kindled in God’s honour. Which fire, though it be divided into parts, yet knew no diminution of its light. For it is nourished by the fluid wax which the mother bee had produced for the material of this precious torch.

O truly blessed night that despoiled the Egyptians and enriched the Hebrews! Night in which heavenly things are joined with earthly things, divine with human!

We beseech You, therefore, o Lord, that this wax candle, hallowed in honour of Your Name, may continue to burn to dissipate the darkness of this night. And being accepted as a sweet savour, may be united with the heavenly lights. Let the Morning Star find its flame alight. That Morning Star, I mean, which knows no setting. He, Who returning from hell, serenely shone forth upon mankind.

We beseech You, therefore, o Lord, that You would grant peaceful times during this Paschal Festival, and vouchsafe to rule, govern and keep with Your constant protection us, Your servants, and all the clergy, and the devout people, together with our most holy Pope (Name of Pope) and our Bishop (Name of Pope).

Have regard, also, for those who reign over us, and grant them Your ineffable kindness and mercy, direct their thoughts in justice and peace, that from their earthly toil, they may come to their heavenly reward with all Your people.

Through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, Our Lord, Who with You lives and reigns in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end. Amen.

Liturgical Colour : White

(Cutting cross in the wax)

Priest : Christus heri et hodie, Principium et Finis, Alpha et Omega; Ipsius sunt tempora et saecula; Ipsi gloria et imperium per universa aeternitatis saecula. Amen.

(Inserting the grains of incense)

Priest : Per sua sancta vulnera gloriosa custodiat et conservet nos Christus Dominus. Amen.

(Lighting of the Paschal Candle)

Priest : Lumen Christi gloriose resurgentis, dissipet tenebras cordis et mentis.

Priest : Dominus vobiscum.

Response : Et cum spiritu tuo.

Priest : Veniat, quaesumus, omnipotens Deus, super hunc incensum cereum larga Tuae benedictionis infusio : et hunc nocturnum splendorem invisibilis regenerator intende; ut non solum sacrificium, quod hac nocte litatum est, arcana luminis Tui admixtione refulgeat; sed in quocumque loco ex hujus sanctificationis mysterio aliquid fuerit deportatum, expulsa diabolicae fraudis nequitia, virtus Tuae majestatis assistat. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

English translation

(Cutting cross in the wax)

Priest : Christ, yesterday and today, the Beginning and End, Alpha and Omega, His are the times and the ages, to Him be glory and dominion through all ages of eternity. Amen.

(Inserting the grains of incense)

Priest : By His holy and glorious wounds, may He guard and keep us, Christ the Lord. Amen.

(Lighting of the Paschal Candle)

Priest : May the Light of Christ gloriously rising, scatter the darkness of hearts and minds.

Priest : The Lord be with you.

Response : And with your spirit.

Priest : May the abundant outpouring of Your blessing, we beseech You, Almighty God, descend upon this lighted Candle, and may You, o Invisible Regenerator, lighten this nocturnal brightness, that not only the sacrifice that is offered this night may shine by the secret mixture of Your light, but also into whatever place anything of this mysterious sanctification shall be brought, there the power of Your Majesty may be present and all the malicious artifices of Satan may be defeated. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Liturgical Colour : White

Priest : Dominus vobiscum.

Response : Et cum spiritu tuo.

Priest : Deus, qui per Filium Tuum, angularem scilicet lapidem, claritatis Tuae ignem fidelibus contulisti : productum e silice, nostris profuturum usibus novum hanc ignem sanctifica : et concede nobis, ita per haec festa Paschalia caelestibus desideriis inflammari; ut ad perpetuae claritatis, puris mentibus, valeamus festa pertingere. Per eumdem Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

English translation

Priest : The Lord be with you.

Response : And with your spirit.

Priest : O God, Who through Your Son, the Cornerstone, had given to Your faithful the fire of Your brightness, sanctify the new fire, produced out of a flintstone, to be serviceable for our uses, and grant unto us to be so fired with heavenly aspirations through these Paschal festivities, that with pure hearts we may be able to attain to the festivities of perpetual brightness. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.