INDEED HE IS RISEN!!!
He is risen, He lives and He reigns!
There are very important moments during the celebration of the Easter Vigil.
* Lucernarium Rite - is the Solemn Blessing of the Fire; opposite to Lucifer (lux ... ferre...) "the holder of the light" who believed to be the light himself.
* The Procession of the Paschal Candle with the acclamation of LUMEN CHRISTI - (The Light of Christ) ; DEO GRATIAS - the response of the people (Thanks be to God)
* The Easter Proclamation : EXSULTET
- The proclamation of the battle which Jesus himself have already won
* THE READINGS OF THE STORY OF DELIVERANCE AND FREEDOM...
- All these readings are narration of the story of God's intervention in the whole history of humanity in the Sacred Scriptures
* The BLESSING OF THE WATER AND THE BAPTISMAL FONT
- This reminds us the meaning of the Holy Water and it's power because of the immersion of Jesus on His Paschal Mystery (crucifixion, death and resurrection).
The celebration of the easter vigil is considered as the NOTTE DELLE NOTTI, the Mother of all the Nights. Where the darkness was been overthrown by the power of the Light, who is Jesus: The Lord of lords, The Light of the world and The Light that breaks the darkness of death and despair.
EXSULTET ....
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.
Click here for the complete version of the Lucernarium Rite
THE SOLEMN BEGINNING OF THE VIGIL OR LUCERNARIUM
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