Objectives

Exsultet iam 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 adstantes vos, fratres carissimi, ad tam miram huius 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 huius laudem implere perficiat.

Per Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum Filium suum, qui cum eo vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti, Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum.

R. Amen.
V. Dominus vobiscum.
R. Et cum spiritu tuo.
V. Sursum corda.
R. Habemus ad Dominum.
V. Gratias agamus Domino Deo nostro.
R. Dignum et iustum est.

Vere dignum et iustum est, invisibilem Deum Patrem omnipotentem Filiumque eius unigenitum, Dominum nostrum Iesum 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 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, destructis 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.

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

In huius igitur noctis gratia, suscipe, sancte Pater laudis huius sacrificium vespertinum, quod tibi in haec cerei oblatione sollemni, per ministrorum manus de operibus apum, sacrosancta reddit ecclesia.

Sed iam columnae huius 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 huius lampadis apis mater eduxit.

O vere beata nox, quae exspoliavit Aegyptos, ditavit Hebraeos nox, in qua terrenis caelestia, humanis divina iunguntur!

Oramus ergo te, Domine, ut cereus iste in honorem tui nominis consecratus, ad noctis huius caliginem destruendam, indeficiens perseveret. Et in odorem suavitatis acceptus, supernis luminaribus misceatur. Flammas eius 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 N. et Antistite nostro N. quiete temporum concessa, in his paschalibus gaudiis, assidua protectione regere, gubernare, et conservare digneris. Per eundem Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum Filium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti, Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum.

R. Amen.

Let now the heavenly hosts of angels rejoice let the living mysteries be joyfully celebrated: and let a sacred trumpet proclaim the victory of so great a King.

Let the earth also be filled with joy, illuminated with such resplendent rays; and let men know that the darkness which overspread the whole world is chased away by the splendor of our eternal King.

Let our mother the Church be also glad, finding herself adorned with the rays of so great a light and let this temple resound with the joyful acclamations of the people.

Wherefore, beloved brethren, you who are now present at the admirable brightness of this holy light, I beseech you to invoke with me the mercy of almighty God.

That he, who has admitted me into the number of his Levites not on my own merits, will, by an infusion of his light upon me, enable me to celebrate the praises of this light.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ his Son, who with Him and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth one God for ever and ever.

R. Amen.
V. The Lord be with you.
R. And with thy spirit.
V. Lift up your hearts.
R. We have lifted them up to the Lord.
V. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
R. It is fitting and just.

It is truly fitting and just to proclaim with all the affection of our heart and soul, and with the sound of our voice the invisible God the Father almighty, and his only Son our Lord Jesus Christ.

Who paid for us to his eternal Father the debt of Adam: and by his sacred blood canceled the guilt contracted by original sin.

This is the night in which thou formerly broughtest forth our forefathers, the children of Israel, out of Egypt, leading them dry-foot through the Red Sea. This then is the night which dissipated the darkness of sin by the light of the pillar.

This is the night which now delivers all over the world those that believe in Christ from the vices of the world and darkness of sin, restores them to grace, and clothes them with sanctity.

This is the night in which Christ broke the chains of death, and ascended conqueror from hell.

For it availed us nothing to be born, unless it had availed us to be redeemed.

O how admirable is thy goodness towards us! O how inestimable is thy love! Thou hast delivered up thy Son to redeem a slave.

O truly necessary sin of Adam, which the death of Christ has blotted out!

O happy fault, that merited such and so great a Redeemer!

O truly blessed night, which alone deserves to know the time and hour when Christ rose again from hell.

This is the night of which it is written: And the night shall be as light as the day, and the night is my illumination in my delights.

Therefore the sanctification of this night blots out crimes, washes away sins, and restores innocence to sinners, and joy to the sorrowful. It banishes enmities, produces concord, and humbles empires.

Therefore on this sacred night, receive, O holy Father, the evening sacrifice of this sacrifice, which thy holy Church by the hands of her ministers presents to thee in the solemn offering of this wax candle made out of the labor of bees.

And now we know the excellence of this pillar, which the bright fire lights for the honor of God. Which fire, though now divided, suffers no loss from the communication of its light. Because it is fed by the melted wax, which the mother bee wrought for the substance of this precious lamp.

O truly blessed night, which plundered the Egyptians, and enriched the Hebrews. A night, in which heaven is united to earth, and God to man.

We beseech thee therefore, O Lord, that this candle, consecrated to the honor of thy name, may continue burning to dissipate the darkness this night. And being accepted as a sweet savor, may be united with the celestial lights. Let the morning star find it alight, that star which never sets. Which being returned from hell, shone with brightness on mankind.

We beseech thee therefore, O Lord, to grant us peaceable times during these Paschal solemnities, and with thy constant protection to rule, govern, and preserve us thy servants, all the clergy, and the devout laity, together with our holy Pope N. and our Bishop N. Through the same Lord Jesus Christ thy Son : who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth one God for ever and ever



R. Amen.

Introduction / Original Sin, Happy Fault
The Catholic Passion, 55–59

Created out of love to be God’s children, the first man and women disobeyed his commands. Their original sin, prompted by the devil, “the father of lies,” stained all of humanity, making every person prone to sin and error.

• Genesis 3:1–7
• John 8:44
• Romans 3:9; 5:14, 17–19
• Catechism, nos. 390, 397–405, 1707

Sin is always personal—it ruins our relationship with God. But sin is also “social,” it causes us to hurts other people, too.

• Psalm 51:4
• Matthew 5:29–30
• John 8:34
• James 1:13–15
• Catechism, nos. 1849–1850, 1869

Jesus, through his passion, death, and resurrection, broke sin’s hold on our lives. Christ’s victory gives us even greater blesses than were lost by original sin.

• Matthew 1:21; 26:28
• John 1:29
• Romans 5:20
• Galatians 1:4
• 1 Peter 2:24
• Catechism, nos.  412, 420–421

Tradition
Harry Wu  Bitter Winds (Memoir)
G. K. Chesterton  What’s Wrong With the World
Brancacci Chapel

Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.

O filii et filiae,
Rex caelestis, Rex gloriae
morte surrexit hodie.

R. Alleluia

Ex mane prima Sabbati
ad ostium monumenti
accesserunt discipuli.

R. Alleluia

Et Maria Magdalene,
et Iacobi, et Salome
Venerunt corpus ungere

R. Alleluia

In albis sedens angelus
praedixit mulieribus:
In Galilaea est Dominus.

R. Alleluia

Et Ioannes apostolus
cucurrit Petro citius,
monumento venit prius.

R. Alleluia

Discipulis astantibus,
in medio stetit Christus,
dicens: Pax vobis omnibus.

R. Alleluia

Ut intellexit Didymus
quia surrexerat Iesus,
remansit fere dubius.

R. Alleluia

Vide Thoma, vide latus,
vide pedes, vide manus,
noli esse incredulus.

R. Alleluia

Quando Thomas vidit Christum,
pedes, manus, latus suum,
dixit: Tu es Deus meus.

R. Alleluia

Beati qui non viderunt
et firmiter crediderunt;
vitam aeternam habebunt.

R. Alleluia

In hoc festo sanctissimo
sit laus et iubilatio:
benedicamus Domino.

R. Alleluia

Ex quibus nos humillimas
devotas atque debitas
Deo dicamus gratias.

R. Alleluia

Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.

Ye sons and daughters of the Lord,
the King of glory, King adored,
this day Himself from death restored.

R. Alleluia

All in the early morning gray
went holy women on their way,
to see the tomb where Jesus lay.

R. Alleluia

Of spices pure a precious store
in their pure hands these women bore,
to anoint the sacred Body o'er.

R. Alleluia

The straightaway one in white they see,
who saith, "seek the Lord: but He
is risen and gone to Galilee."

R. Alleluia

This told they Peter, told John;
who forthwith to the tomb are gone,
but Peter is by John outrun.

R. Alleluia

That self-same night, while out of fear
the doors where shut, their Lord most dear
to His Apostles did appear.

R. Alleluia

But Thomas, when of this he heard,
was doubtful of his brethren's word;
wherefore again there comes the Lord.

R. Alleluia

"Thomas, behold my side," saith He;
"My hands, My feet, My body see,
and doubt not, but believe in Me."

R. Alleluia

When Thomas saw that wounded side,
the truth no longer he denied;
"Thou art my Lord and God!" he cried.

R. Alleluia

Oh, blest are they who have not seen
their Lord and yet believe in Him!
eternal life awaitheth them.

R. Alleluia

Now let us praise the Lord most high,
and strive His name to magnify
on this great day, through earth and sky:

R. Alleluia

Whose mercy ever runneth o'er;
Whom men and Angel hosts adore;
to Him be glory evermore.

R. Alleluia