Easter Sunday

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(Usus Antiquior) The Paschal Vigil, Holy Saturday (Double I Classis) – Saturday, 30 March 2024 : Solemn Procession and Exsultet

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.

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(Usus Antiquior) The Paschal Vigil, Holy Saturday (Double I Classis) – Saturday, 30 March 2024 : Blessing of the Paschal Candle

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.

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(Usus Antiquior) The Paschal Vigil, Holy Saturday (Double I Classis) – Saturday, 30 March 2024 : Blessing of the New Fire

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.

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(Usus Antiquior) Second Sunday after Easter (II Classis) – Sunday, 23 April 2023 : Alleluia

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 24 : 35 and John 10 : 14

Alleluja, Alleluja.

Response : Cognoverunt discipuli Dominum Jesum on fractione panis.

Alleluja.

Response : Ego sum pastor bonus : et cognosco oves meas, et cognoscunt me meae. Alleluja.

English translation

Alleluia, Alleluia.

Response : The disciples knew the Lord Jesus in the breaking of the bread.

Alleluia.

Response : I am the Good Shepherd, and I know My sheep, and My sheep know Me. Alleluia.

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Sunday, 9 April 2023 : Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Alleluia! Christ has risen from the dead, Alleluia! He has been triumphant over sin and death, Alleluia! We have finally arrived at the Easter season after the forty days and six Sundays of the season of Lent, during which time we have prepared ourselves physically, mentally and spiritually, striving to be closer to God and to change our way of life, distancing ourselves from sin and from wicked things that can keep us separated and distanced from the Lord, our God. This Easter is a reminder for all of us of the coming of spring, the advent of a new hope and light for our lives, as Christ our Risen Lord has led us out from the depths of the darkness of evil, sin and death, into the new life and existence blessed and graced by God and His love. By the Lord’s death and resurrection, we share with Him this passage from death into life, from darkness into light, and from despair into hope. That is what each and every one of us have shared through our common baptism.

In our Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday liturgical celebrations, we commonly celebrate baptisms as we welcome many of our fellow brothers and sisters who have journeyed for some time in their search for their Lord and Saviour, as they come, just like us, in finding our hope and light, our salvation in Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the whole world. The Risen Christ has shown us that there is hope beyond darkness and sin, there are way out of the wickedness of this world. While once we have been cast out in the darkness and suffering because of our disobedience and failure to obey the will of God, we have not been left alone, as the Lord truly loves each and every one of us, though we are sinners, and He has always patiently reached out to us, loving us and caring for us, desiring to be reconciled and reunited with us. It was never His desire to punish us or to cast us out into the darkness, but it is by our own conscious and deliberate choice that we have rejected God’s generous love and resisted His constant efforts to reach out to us. But the Lord did not stop trying, and He did all He could so that we can truly regain our state of grace and be reconciled fully with Him.

That is why, He has sent us all His own most beloved Son, incarnate in the flesh, the Son of God and Divine Word of God, Incarnate as the Son of Man. He did all these so that by sharing in our humanity, Christ, the Son of God, Our Lord and Saviour, may come to lead us by His own hands, manifesting perfectly the love of God, to His Father’s loving Presence, reuniting us and acting as the Bridge that leads us mankind back to our loving God and Creator, crossing over the once unbridgeable and unpassable chasm existing between us and God. Our disobedience, wickedness and evil deeds led to sin, and sin became the barrier and obstacle separating and sundering us from the fullness of God’s love and grace. But Christ, as the Son of Man, showed us all what it truly means for us to be faithful and obedient to the will of His heavenly Father, showing us just how much He loved His Father and how willing He was to fully obey His will, that He willingly endured all the sufferings, pain, humiliations, rejections and hardships, bearing His Cross and all the burdens and punishments for our sins, so that we may be saved through Him. By His obedience, Christ has broken us free from the results of the disobedience of Adam, our ancestor, and the disobedience of our forefathers.

Today as we listened from our Scripture passages, each one of us are reminded of everything that the Lord has done for us, in sending us His Son, to bring us up from the depth of our sins, raising us up with Him, that through His glorious Resurrection all of us have the new hope that pierces through the darkness of despair all around us, and He has called us all to be His own people, gathering us and finding us from this world. For He is our Good Shepherd, Who went out all His way to reach out to us, His lost sheep, and having found us, He called us all to follow Him, just as the disciples had done. In our first reading today, we heard of how the disciples went forth out to proclaim the Lord’s Resurrection, and we heard how St. Peter led them all in proclaiming the truth about Jesus Christ, about how the One Whom the people had rejected, humiliated and persecuted, and condemned to die like a criminal on the Cross, was the One Whom God had actually sent into their midst to be their Saviour. St. Peter spoke of this courageously despite the fear that he and the other disciples once had of the Jews and their leaders.

Back then, the High Priest and the other chief priests, as well as the other members of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish High Council had declared the Lord Jesus as a Criminal and as a rogue, banning His teachings and works to be spread and published, and for that reason, the disciples of the Lord had been in hiding ever since the Lord rose and then ascended into Heaven, and hence, they were hiding for a while, fearful of the repression and the opposition of the Jewish people and their elders. This happened until the coming of the Holy Spirit, on the day and moment of the Pentecost Sunday, when the Lord sent His Holy Spirit to dwell among His disciples and followers, strengthening them and giving them the courage, Wisdom and strength to carry out whatever it was that He had tasked and entrusted them to do. That was what drove the Apostles, led by St. Peter, to go forth and proclaim the truth about the Lord, everything He had done, His Resurrection and His calling on all of the people to follow the path of the Lord.

Now, as we heard these from our Scripture passages, together with the account of the Lord’s resurrection in our Gospel passage this Easter Sunday, we are all reminded that as the witnesses of the Lord’s Resurrection and glorious triumph over sin, evil and death, all of us are called and have been entrusted with the same mission that the Apostles had been entrusted with by the Lord. All of us have received the same truth and revelation through the Church, and through our teachers of faith, the bishops and priests, that we have also become partakers in the same mystery of the Lord’s Resurrection, and also His Most Holy and Precious Body and Blood, the Eucharist. Since all of us truly believe in these, the very core tenets of our Christian faith, it is therefore important that we have to profess our faith well in our way of life and in our every actions and deeds.

The Church has been entrusted with the mission to proclaim the truth of Christ, His Resurrection and all that He had done, and God’s love for all of us, and we are all missionaries and messengers of God’s truth to the world. If we do not live our lives in the manner that Christians should have done, and if we have not been sincere in our faith and dedication to God, and worse still, if we do things that are in fact contrary to what the Lord had taught us to do, all these will bring about scandal to our faith, to the Church and to the Lord’s Holy Name. How can we convince others to believe in the Lord if we ourselves have not shown true and genuine faith in Him, and if we have continued living our lives in wickedness and evil? That is why, just as we enter into this glorious and most joyful season of Easter, each and every one of us as Christians are reminded to be faithful to the Lord, and we are to believe in Him wholeheartedly in all things.

It means that in everything we say and do, in our every actions and interactions, all of us should truly practice and show our Christian faith and beliefs, in all of our deeds and works. That is what we all should do as Christians, and as those who truly believe in the Lord’s Resurrection and truth, let us all begin from this Easter Sunday henceforth, if we have not yet done so, to be joyful and dedicated disciples of the Lord, proclaiming His Resurrection and glory with great joy and zeal. And let us also remember that this time of Easter, all of our celebrations and joy do not end on this day. Instead, this Sunday is just the beginning of the Easter season, that lasts for a whole period of fifty days right up to the Pentecost Sunday. In fact, it does not mean that our Easter joy and works should end there either, as we are all called to proclaim the Lord henceforth and beyond, in every moments of our lives.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, if our faith in the Lord is still not strong yet, and if we are still filled with fear and doubt, like how the two disciples who were journeying to Emmaus from our Gospel passage for this Easter Sunday evening Mass showed us, then we should let our Risen Lord to come into our midst and to encourage and strengthen us all with the courage and faith, so that each and every one of us may be filled with the conviction and the desire to glorify God by our lives, and to proclaim His truth to all the whole world. Let us all be inflamed and strengthened by the Word and Wisdom of God, just as how the Lord Himself had strengthened those two disciples journeying towards Emmaus, so that like them rushing back towards Jerusalem with great joy, to tell the other disciples of what they had experienced and witnessed, we may also exhibit the same strength and spirit to proclaim the Lord and His truth.

Let us ask the Lord to strengthen us with the grace of His Wisdom and the power of His Holy Spirit, so that all of us who have placed ourselves in the trust of the Risen Lord, may continue to shine forth as the bright beacons of His light, proclaiming His love and truth to our fellow brothers and sisters, so that each and every one of us may indeed become most faithful disciples and followers of Our Lord, in all things. May our actions, words and deeds, our interactions and works be exemplary and be inspirational to each other, and to all those who witness them, so that we may truly be good and worthy missionaries of our faith, and that many more will come to believe in the Lord through us. Let us all renew the promises that we have made at our own baptism, be it recent or long time ago, that we will resolutely reject and resist the temptations of evil, Satan and the worldly desires, and strive to do what the Lord has asked us to do. Let us remember that our baptism is not the end of our journey of faith, but instead was just the beginning of a new journey of our lives, a journey blessed by God.

May the Lord, our Risen Christ, risen gloriously from the dead continue to inspire and strengthen us. May He bless us and strengthen us so that we may always be committed and ready to live our lives wholeheartedly, dedicated to Him and to proclaim His Resurrection, His truth and love to all those whom we encounter daily in life. May all of us continue to live with faith and with the joy of the Risen Christ in each and every moments of our lives. May God bless us all and may His light shine upon us, illuminating our path forward in life. Wishing all of us a most blessed Easter season, and may the Risen Christ be with us and our loved ones always. Alleluia! Amen!

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Sunday, 9 April 2023 : Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 20 : 1-9

At that time, on the first day after the Sabbath, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning while it was still dark, and she saw that the stone blocking the tomb had been moved away. She ran to Peter, and the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and she said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb and we do not know where they have laid Him.”

Peter then set out with the other disciple to go to the tomb. They ran together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down and saw the linen cloths lying flat, but he did not enter. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and entered the tomb; he, too, saw the linen cloths lying flat.

The napkin, which had been around his head, was not lying flat like the other linen cloths, but lay rolled up in its place. Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in; he saw and believed. Scripture clearly said that He must rise from the dead, but they had not yet understood that.

Alternative reading

Matthew 28 : 1-10

At that time, after the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to visit the tomb. Suddenly there was a violent earthquake : an Angel of the Lord descending from heaven, came to the stone, rolled it from the entrance of the tomb, and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning and his garment white as snow. The guards trembled in fear and became like dead man when they saw the Angel.

The Angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, Who was crucified. He is not here, for He is risen as He said. Come, see the place where they laid Him; then go at once and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see Him there. This is my message for you.

They left the tomb at once in fear, yet with great joy, and they ran to tell the news to His disciples. Suddenly, Jesus met them on the way and said, “Rejoice!” The woman approached Him, embraced His feet and worshipped Him. But Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid! Go and tell My brothers to set out for Galilee; there they will see Me.”

Alternative reading (Easter Sunday Evening Mass)

Luke 24 : 13-35

At that time, on the same day Jesus rose from the dead, two followers of Jesus were going to Emmaus, a village seven miles from Jerusalem, and they talked about what had happened. While they were talking and arguing about what had happened, Jesus came up and walked with them. But their eyes were not able to recognise Him.

He asked, “What is it you are talking about?” The two stood still, looking sad. Then the one named Cleophas answered, “Why, it seems You are the only traveller to Jerusalem who does not know what haw happened there these past few days.” And He asked, “What is it?”

They replied, “It is about Jesus of Nazareth. He was a Prophet, You know, mighty in word and deed before God and the people. But the chief priests and our rulers sentenced Him to death. They handed Him over to be crucified. We had hoped that He would redeem Israel. It is now the third day since all this took place.”

“It is also true that some women of our group have disturbed us. When they went to the tomb at dawn, they did not find His Body; and they came and told us that they had had a vision of Angels, who said that Jesus was alive. Some of our people went to the tomb and found everything just as the women had said, but they did not find a Body in the tomb.”

He said to them, “How dull you are, how slow of understanding! Is the message of the prophets too difficult for you to understand? Is it not written that the Christ should suffer all this, and then enter His glory?” Then starting with Moses, and going through the prophets, He explained to them everything in the Scriptures concerning Himself.

As they drew near the village they were heading for, Jesus made as if to go farther. But they prevailed upon Him, “Stay with us, for night comes quickly. The day is now almost over.” So He went in to stay with them. When they were at table, He took the bread, said a blessing, broke it, and gave each a piece.

Then their eyes were opened, and they recognised Him; but He vanished out of their sight. And they said to one another, “Were not our hearts filled with ardent yearning when He was talking to us on the road and explaining the Scriptures?” They immediately set out and returned to Jerusalem.

There they found the Eleven and their companions gathered together. They were greeted by these words : “Yes, it is true, the Lord is risen! He has appeared to Simon!” Then the two told what had happened on the road to Emmaus, and how Jesus had made Himself known, when He broke bread with them.

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Sunday, 9 April 2023 : Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Colossians 3 : 1-4

So then, if you are risen with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things that are above, not on earthly things. For you have died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, Who is your life, reveals Himself, you also will be revealed with Him in Glory.

Alternative reading

1 Corinthians 5 : 6b-8

Do you not know that a little yeast makes the whole mass of dough rise? Throw out, then, the old yeast and be new dough. If Christ became our Passover, you should be unleavened bread. Let us celebrate, therefore, the Passover, no longer with old yeast, which is sin and perversity; let us have unleavened bread, that is purity and sincerity.

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Sunday, 9 April 2023 : Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 117 : 1-2, 16ab-17, 22-23

Alleluia! Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, His loving kindness endures forever. Let Israel say, “His loving kindness endures forever.”

The right hand of the Lord is lifted high, the right hand of the Lord strikes mightily! I shall not die, but live to proclaim what the Lord has done.

The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing and we marvel at it.

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Sunday, 9 April 2023 : Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 10 : 34a, 37-43

Peter then spoke to them, “No doubt you have heard of the event that occurred throughout the whole country of the Jews, beginning from Galilee, after the baptism John preached. You know how God anointed Jesus the Nazarean with Holy Spirit and power.”

“He went about doing good and healing all who were under the devil’s power, because God was with Him; we are witnesses of all that He did throughout the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem itself. Yet they put Him to death by hanging Him on a wooden cross.”

But God raised Him to life on the third day and let Him manifest Himself, not to all the people, but to the witnesses that were chosen beforehand by God – to us who ate and drank with Him after His resurrection from death. And He commanded us to preach to the people and to bear witness that He is the One appointed by God to judge the living and the dead. All the prophets say of Him, that everyone who believes in Him has forgiveness of sins through His Name.”

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(Usus Antiquior) Easter Sunday (Double I Classis) – Sunday, 9 April 2023 : Offertory, Secret Prayer of the Priest, Preface of Easter, Communion and Postcommunion Prayer

Liturgical Colour : White

Offertory

Psalm 75 : 9-10

Terra tremuit, et quievit, dum resurgeret in judicio Deus, Alleluja.

English translation

The earth trembled and was still; when God arose in judgment. Alleluia.

Secret Prayer of the Priest

Suscipe, quaesumus, Domine, preces populi Tui cum oblationibus hostiarum : ut, paschalibus initiata mysteriis, ad aeternitatis nobis medelam, Te operante, proficiant. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium Tuum, Qui Tecum vivis et regnas in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.

English translation

Accept, we beseech You, o Lord, the prayers of Your people together with the sacrifice they offer, that what has been begun by the Paschal Mysteries, may by Your arrangement result in our eternal healing into life everlasting. 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.

Preface of Easter

Vere dignum et justum est, aequum et salutare : Te quidem, Domine, omni tempore, sed in hac potissimum die (in hoc potissimum) gloriosus praedicare, cum Pascha nostrum immolatus est Christus. Ipse enim verus est Agnus, qui abstulit peccata mundi. Qui mortem nostram moriendo destruxit et vitam resurgendo reparavit. Et ideo cum Angelis et Archangelis, cum Thronis et Dominationibus cumque omni militia caelestis exercitus hymnum gloriae Tuae canimus, sine fine dicentes :

English translation

It is truly meet and just, right and profitable, to extol You indeed at all times, o Lord, but chiefly with highest praise to magnify You on this day (in these days) on which for us was sacrificed Christ, our Paschal Lamb. For He is the true Lamb Who had taken away the sins of the world, Who by dying Himself had destroyed our death, and by rising again had bestowed a new life on us. And therefore, with the Angels and Archangels, with the Thrones and Dominions, and with all the array of the heavenly host we sing a hymn to Your glory and unceasingly repeat :

Communion

1 Corinthians 5 : 7-8

Pascha nostrum immolatus est Christus. Alleluja : Itaque epulemur in azymis sinceritatis et veritatis, Alleluja, Alleluja, Alleluja.

English translation

Christ, our Paschal Lamb has been immolated, Alleluia. Therefore, let us feast in the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.

Postcommunion Prayer

Spiritum nobis, Domine, Tuae caritate infunde : ut, quos sacramentis Paschalibus satiasti Tua facias pietate concordes. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium Tuum, Qui Tecum vivis et regnas in unitate Ejusdem Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.

English translation

Pour forth upon us, o Lord, the Spirit of Your love, to make us of one heart, who by Your tender mercy, You have filled with Your Paschal sacrament. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who with You lives and reigns in the unity of the same Holy Spirit, God, world without end. Amen.