Easter Day

 

O Lord Jesus Christ, who upon this day did conquer death and rise from the dead,
and who are alive for ever more, help us never to forget your Risen Presence forever with us.
Help us to remember,
That you are with us in every time of perplexity to guide and to direct;
That you are with us in every time of sorrow to comfort and console;
That you are with us in every time of temptation to strengthen and to inspire;
That you are with us in every time of loneliness to cheer and befriend;
That you are with us even in death to bring us to the glory of your side.
Make us to be certain that there is nothing in time or in eternity, which can separate us from you, so that in your presence we may meet life with gallantry and death without fear.
You turn our darkness into light; in your light, we shall see light.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Christ the Lord is risen today!
ALLELUIA

Blest are you, Lord Jesus who came to us a little child
one of us, flesh and blood to share in our humanity
For God so loved the world

Blest are you, Lord Jesus who came to us as carpenter
and yet in whose creative hands a world was fashioned
For God so loved the world

Blest are you, Lord Jesus who came to us as fisherman
and yet pointed to a harvest that was yet to come
For God so loved the world

Blest are you, Lord Jesus who came to us as teacher
and opened eyes to truths that only
the poor could understand
For God so loved the world

Blest are you, Lord Jesus who came to us as healer
and opened hearts to the reality of wholeness
For God so loved the world

Blest are you, Lord Jesus who came to us as prophet, priest and king
and yet humbled himself
to take our place upon the cross
For God so loved the world

Blest are you, Lord Jesus who came to us as servant
and revealed to us the extent of his Father’s love
for human kind
For God so loved the world

Blest are you, Lord Jesus, who rose
from the ignominy of a sinner’s death
to the triumph of a Saviour’s resurrection
For God so loved the world

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son
for the sake of me
and you
and other sinners too
God so loved the world
Blest are you Lord Jesus, our Saviour and Redeemer

It was early on the first day of the week and still dark, when Mary of Magdala came to the tomb. She saw that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb and came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved. They have taken the Lord out of the tomb’ she said ‘and we don’t know where they have put him.

Therefore, Peter set out with the other disciple to go to the tomb. They ran together, but the other disciple, running faster than Peter, reached the tomb first; he bent down and saw the linen cloths lying on the ground, and also the cloth that been over his head; this was not with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in; he saw and he believed. Until this moment, they had failed to understand the teaching of scripture that he must rise from the dead.

Today we celebrate the eternal truth of our faith: Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. Alleluia!

Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
The work of God’s justice is now complete; it is accomplished.

Through his death and resurrection, we have received every spiritual blessing, every grace, every gift, every charism.

Jesus has been glorified and the spirit is breathed upon us.

The Holy Spirit is truly our greatest gift given to guide and shape our lives.

The Spirit is the power of God; our liberation and our joy.

Father, we praise and bless you for your triumph over death in Christ your Son and for the gift of the Holy Spirit which is the priceless blessing you bestow upon us.

Bless all, especially those we know who have yet no sense of your goodness and no share of your liberating justice. Amen.

The Exsultet

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 splendour.
Radiant in the brightness of your king!
Christ has conquered! Glory fills you!
Darkness Vanishes for ever!

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

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 freed 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.

Father, how wonderful you 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!

The power of this holy night dispels all evil, washes guilt away,
restores lost innocence, brings mourners joy.

Night truly blessed when heaven is wedded to earth and man is 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, may it always 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 all mankind,
your Son who lives and reins for ever and ever. Amen.