Vol. 9 No.
24
30-03-2024 HOLY SATURDAY - EASTER VIGIL
Christ has risen from the dead! Alleluia!
The Easter Vigil Liturgy has Four
Parts: 1. The Service of Light
(Blessing of the Fire and lighting of
the Easter Candle.) 2. The Liturgy of
the Word. 3. The Liturgy of Baptism
(Blessing of Water, Baptism and
4. The Liturgy of the Eucharist
Part I. THE SERVICE OF THE
LIGHT
THE BLESSING OF THE FIRE
Cel: Dear brothers and sisters, on
this most sacred night, in which
our Lord Jesus Christ passed over
from death to life, the Church calls
upon her sons and daughters,
scattered throughout the world,
to come together to watch and
pray. If we keep the memorial of
the Lord’s paschal solemnity in
this way, listening to his word and
celebrating his mysteries, then we
shall have the sure hope of sharing
his triumph over death and living
with him in God.
(The Priest blesses the fire,
saying:)
Cel: Let us pray. O God, who
through your Son bestowed upon
the faithful the fire of your glory,
sanctify + this new fire, we pray,
and grant that, by these paschal
celebrations, we may be so
inflamed with heavenly desires,
that with minds made pure we may
attain festivities of unending
splendour. Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Year B
PREPARATION OF THE A
CANDLE
Christ yesterday and today
(he cuts a vertical line); 2 0
the Beginning and the End 2 4
(he cuts a horizontal line);
the Alpha
(he cuts the letter Alpha
above the vertical line); Ω
and the Omega (he cuts the letter
Omega below the vertical line);
all time belongs to him (he cuts the
first numeral of the current year in the
upper left corner of the cross);
and all the ages (he cuts the second
numeral of the current year in the
upper right corner of the cross);
to him be glory and power (he cuts
the third numeral of the current year
in the lower left corner of the cross);
through every age and for ever.
Amen. (He cuts the fourth numeral
of the current year in the lower right
corner of the cross).
(The Priest inserts five grains of
incense into the candle in the form of
a cross, meanwhile saying):
1. By his holy 1
2. and glorious wounds,
3. may Christ the Lord 4 2 5
4. guard us
5. and protect us. Amen.
3
(The Priest lights the paschal candle
from the new fire, saying:)
Cel: May the light of Christ rising
in glory dispel the darkness of our
hearts and minds.
PROCESSION AND
THE EASTER PROCLAMATION
(Exsultet)
(All light their candles from the
flame of the paschal candle and
continue in procession).
Cel: The Light of Christ.
All: Thanks be to God.
(After the procession, Exsultet is
recited or sung)
Part II. THE LITURGY OF THE
WORD
(After setting aside their candles, all
sit. Before the Readings begin, the
priest instructs the people in these
or similar words:)
Cel: Dear brothers and sisters, now
that we have begun our solemn
Vigil, let us then listen with quiet
hearts to the Word of God. Let us
meditate on how God in times past
saved his people and in these, the
last days, has sent his Son as our
Redeemer. Let us pray that our
God may complete this paschal
work of salvation by the fullness of
redemption.
FIRST READING
God created us to live in
harmony with him, with others and
with creation. But sin disrupted this
bond of relationship and harmony.
Easter is a new creation.
A reading from the book of
Genesis (Shorter Form)
1:1,26-31a
In the beginning God created the
heavens and the earth.
Then God said, “Let us make man
in our image, after our likeness.
And let them have dominion over
the fish of the sea, and over the
birds of the heavens, and over the
livestock, and over all the earth,
and over every creeping thing
that creeps on the earth.” So God
created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created
him; male and female he created
them. And God blessed them, and
God said to them, “Be fruitful and
multiply, and fill the earth and
subdue it; and have dominion over
the fish of the sea and over the
birds of the heavens and over every
living thing that moves on the
earth.” And God said, “Behold,
I have given you every plant
yielding seed that is on the face of
all the earth, and every tree with
seed in its fruit. You shall have
them for food. And to every beast
of the earth, and to every bird of
the heavens, and to everything that
creeps on the earth, everything that
has the breath of life, I have given
every green plant for food.” And it
was so. And God saw everything
that he had made, and behold it was
very good.
The word of the Lord
Responsorial Psalm (104)
R: Lord, send forth your Spirit,
and renew the face of the earth.
Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord
my God, how great you are, clothed
in majesty and honour, wrapped in
light as with a robe! R
You set the earth on its foundation,
immovable from age to age, You
wrapped it with the depths like a
cloak; the waters stood higher than
the mountains. R
You make springs gush forth in the
valleys; they flow in between the
hills. There the birds of heaven
build their nests; from the branches
they sing their song. R
From your dwelling you water the
hills; by your works the earth has
its fill. You make the grass grow
for the cattle and plants to serve
mankind’s need. That he may bring
forth bread from the earth. R
How many are your works, O Lord!
In wisdom you have made them all.
The earth is full of your creatures.
Bless the Lord, O my soul. R
Prayer after the Reading:
Cel: Let us pray. O God, who
wonderfully created human
nature and still more wonderfully
redeemed it, grant us, we pray, to set
our minds against the enticements
of sin, that we may merit to attain
eternal joys. Through Christ our
Lord.
R: AMEN
SECOND READING
Abraham, our Father in Faith did
not hesitate to sacrifice his only son,
by which he resembled God who
allowed his only Son to die on the
Cross for the salvation of mankind.
A reading from the book of
Genesis (Shorter Form)
22:1-2,9a,10-13,15-18
In those days:
God tested Abraham, and said to
him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here
I am.” He said, “Take your son, your
only son, Isaac, whom you love, and
go to the land of Moriah, and offer
him there as a burnt offering on one
of the mountains of which I shall
tell you.” When they came to the
place of which God had told him,
Abraham built an altar there, and
laid the wood in order.
Then Abraham reached out his
hand and took the knife to slaughter
his son. But the angel of the Lord
called to him from heaven and said,
“Abraham, Abraham!” And he said,
“Here I am.” He said, “Do not lay
your hand on the lad or do anything
to him, for now I know that you fear
God, seeing you have not withheld
your son, your only son, from me.”
And Abraham lifted up his eyes and
looked and behold, behind him
was a ram, caught in a thicket by his
horns. And Abraham went and took
the ram, and offered it up as a burnt
offering instead of his son.
And the angel of the Lord called
to Abraham a second time from
heaven and said, “By myself I have
sworn, declares the Lord, because
you have done this, and have not
withheld your son, your only son,
I will surely bless you, and I will
multiply your offsprings as the
stars of heaven and as the sand
that is on the seashore. And your
offspring shall possess the gate of
his enemies, and in your offspring
shall all the nations of the earth be
blessed, because you have obeyed
my voice.”
The word of the Lord
Responsorial Psalm (16)
R: Preserve me, O God, I take
refuge.
O Lord, it is you who are my portion
and cup; you yourself who secure
my lot. I keep the Lord before me
always; with him my right hand,
I shall not be moved. R
And so my heart rejoices, my soul
is glad; even my flesh shall rest in
hope. For you will not abandon my
soul to hell, nor let your holy one
see corruption. R
You will show me the path of life,
the fullness of joy in your presence,
at your right hand, bliss for ever. R
Prayer after the Reading:
Cel: Let us pray. O God, supreme
Father of the faithful, who increase
the children of your promise by
pouring out the grace of adoption
throughout the whole world and
who through the Paschal Mystery
make your servant Abraham father
of nations, as once you swore, grant,
we pray, that your peoples may
enter worthily into grace to which
you call them. Through Christ our
Lord. R: AMEN
THIRD READING
Crossing the Red Sea is the great
portent in the OT by which God’s
mighty power exhibited and
the People of Israel liberated
under the leadership of Moses. It
resembled the new Passover, death
to life, bondage to redemption under
the leadership of New Moses, Jesus.
A reading from the book of
Exodus 14:15-15:1
In those days:
The Lord said to Moses, “Why do
you cry to me? Tell the people of
Israel to go forward. Lift up your
staff, and stretch out your hand
over the sea and divide it, that the
people of Israel may go through
the sea on dry ground. And I will
harden the hearts of the Egyptians
so that they shall go in after them,
and I will get glory over Pharaoh
and all his host, his chariots, and his
horsemen. And the Egyptians shall
know that I am the Lord, when I
have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his
chariots, and his horsemen.”
Then the angel of God who was going
before the host of Israel moved and
went behind them, and the pillar
of cloud moved from before them
and stood behind them, coming
between the host of Egypt and the
host of Israel. And there was the
cloud and the darkness. And it lit up
the night without one coming near
the other all night.
Then Moses stretched out his hand
over the sea, and the Lord drove the
sea back by a strong east wind all
night and made the sea dry land,
and the waters were divided. And
the people of Israel went into the
midst of the sea on dry ground,
the waters being a wall to them on
their right hand and on their left.
The Egyptians pursued, and went in
after them into the midst of the sea,
all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots,
and his horsemen. And in the
morning watch the Lord in the
pillar of fire and of cloud looked
down on the Egyptian forces into a
panic, clogging their chariot wheels
so that they drove heavily. And the
Egyptians said, “Let us flee from
before Israel, for the Lord fights for
them against the Egyptians.”
Then the Lord said to Moses,
“Stretch out your hand over the sea,
that the water may come back upon
the Egyptians, upon their chariots,
and upon their horsemen.” So
Moses stretched out his hand over
the sea, and the sea returned to its
normal course when the morning
appeared. And as the Egyptians
fled into it, and the Lord threw the
Egyptians into the midst of the sea.
The waters returned and covered
the chariots and the horsemen;
of all the host of Pharaoh that had
followed them into the sea, not one
of them remained. But the people
of Israel walked on dry ground
through the sea, the waters being
a wall to them on their right hand
and on their left. Thus the Lord
saved Israel that day from the hand
of Egyptians, and Israel saw the
Egyptians dead on the seashore.
Israel saw the great power that the
Lord used against the Egyptians,
so the people feared the Lord, and
they believed in the Lord and in his
servant Moses.
Then Moses and the people of
Israel sang this song to the Lord,
saying, “I will sing to the Lord, for
he has triumphed gloriously; the
horse and his rider he has thrown
into the sea.”
Responsorial Psalm (Ex 15)
R: I will sing to the Lord, for he
has triumphed gloriously.
I will sing to the Lord, for he has
triumphed gloriously; the horse
and his rider he has thrown into
the sea. The Lord is my strength
and my song, and he has become
my salvation; this is my God and
I will praise him, my father’s God,
and I will exalt him. R
The Lord is a man of war; the Lord
is his name. “Pharaoh’s chariots
and his host he cast into the sea,
and his chosen officers were sunk
in the Red Sea. R
The floods cover them; they went
down into the depths like a stone.
Your right hand, O Lord, glorious
in power, thy right hand, O Lord,
shatters the enemy. R
You will bring them in and plant
them on your own mountain, the
place, O Lord, which you have made
for your abode, the sanctuary,
O Lord, which your hands have
established. The Lord will reign for
ever and ever. R
Prayer after the Reading:
Cel: Let us pray. O God, whose
ancient wonders remain undimmed
in splendour even in our day, for
what you once bestowed on a
single people, freeing them from
Pharaoh’s persecution by
the power of your right hand, now
you bring about as the salvation
of the nations through the waters
of rebirth, grant, we pray, that the
whole world may become children
of Abraham and inherit the dignity
of Israel’s birthright. Through
Christ our Lord.
R: AMEN
MASS OF THE EASTER NIGHT
Glory to God in the highest…
COLLECT
Let us pray. O God, who make this
most sacred night radiant with the
glory of the Lord’s Resurrection,
stir up in your Church a spirit of
adoption, so that, renewed in body
and mind, we may render you
undivided service. Through our
Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who
lives and reigns with you in the
unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for
ever and ever.
FIRST READING
By our baptism we share in the
Death and Resurrection of Christ
Jesus. We are dead to sin and alive to
God in Christ Jesus.
A reading from the Letter of Saint
Paul to the Romans 6:3-11
Brethren:
Do you not know that all of us who
have been baptised into Christ
Jesus were baptised into his death?
We were buried therefore with him
by baptism into death, in order that,
just as Christ was raised from the
dead by the glory of the Father, we
too might walk in newness of life.
For if we have been united with
him in a death like his, we shall
certainly be united with him in a
resurrection like his. We know that
our old self was crucified with him,
in order that the body of sin might
be brought to nothing, so that we
no longer be enslaved to sin. For
one who has died has been set free
from sin. Now if we have died with
Christ, we believe that we will also
live with him. We know that Christ,
being raised from the dead will
never die again; death no longer
has dominion over him. For the
death he died he died to sin, once
for all, but the life he lives he lives
to God. So you also must consider
yourselves dead to sin and alive to
God in Christ Jesus.
The word of the Lord
Psalm (118)
R: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
Give praise to the Lord for he is
good; his mercy endures forever.
Let the sons of Israel say: “His
mercy endures forever.”
R: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
The Lord’s right hand is exalted.
The Lord’s right hand has done
mighty deeds.” I shall not die, I shall
live and recount the deeds of the
Lord.
R: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone. By the
Lord has this been done, a marvel
in our eyes.
R: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
GOSPEL READING
A reading from the holy Gospel
according to Mark 16 : 1-7
When the Sabbath was past, Mary
Magdalene, Mary the mother of
James and Salome, bought spices,
so that they might go and anoint
him. And very early on the first
day of the week, when the sun had
risen, they went to the tomb. And
they were saying to one another,
“Who will roll away the stone for
us from the entrance of the tomb?”
And looking up, they saw that the
stone has been rolled back- it was
very large. And entering the tomb,
they saw a young man sitting on the
right side, dressed in a white robe
and they were alarmed. And he said
to them, “Do not be alarmed. You
seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was
crucified. He has risen; he is not
here. See the place where they laid
him. But go, tell his disciples and
Peter that he is going before you to
Galilee. There you will see him, as
he told you.”
The Gospel of the Lord
HOMILY
PART III: BAPTISMAL LITURGY
BLESSING OF BAPTISMAL
WATER
Cel: O God, who by invisible
power accomplish a wondrous
effect through sacramental signs
and who in many ways have
prepared water, your creation, to
show forth the grace of Baptism;
O God, whose Spirit in the first
moments of the world’s creation
hovered over the waters, so that
the very substance of water would
even then take to itself the power to
sanctify;
O God, who by the outpouring of the
flood foreshadowed regeneration,
so that from the mystery of one and
the same element of water would
come an end to vice and a beginning
of virtue;
O God, who caused the children of
Abraham to pass dry-shod through
the Red Sea, so that the chosen
people, set free from slavery of
Pharaoh, would prefigure the
people of the baptized; O God,
whose Son, baptized by John in
the waters of Jordan, was anointed
with the Holy Spirit, and, as he hung
upon the Cross, gave forth water
from his side along with blood, and
after his disciples: ‘Go forth, teach
all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit’, look now, we
pray, upon the face of your Church
and graciously unseal for her the
fountain of Baptism.
May this water receive by the
Holy Spirit the grace of your Only
Begotten Son, so that human nature,
created in your image and washed
clean through the Sacrament of
Baptism from all the squalor of the
life of old, may be found worthy to
rise to the life of newborn children
through water and the Holy Spirit.
(And lowering the paschal candle
into the water three times, he
continues:)
May the power of the Holy Spirit, O
Lord, we pray, come down through
your Son into the fullness of this
font, (holding the candle in the
water, he continues:)
So that all who have been buried
with Christ by Baptism into death
may rise again to life with him. Who
lives and reigns with you in the
unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for
ever and ever. Amen
(Then, the candle is lifted out
of the water, and the people
acclaim:)
All: Springs of water, bless the
Lord; praise and exalt him above all
for ever. R/ Amen
THE RENEWAL OF BAPTISMAL
PROMISES
Cel: Dear brothers and sisters,
through the Paschal Mystery we have
been buried with Christ in Baptism,
so that we may walk with him in
newness of life. Also, now that our
Lenten observance is concluded,
let us renew the promises of Holy
Baptism, by which we once
renounced Satan and his works and
promised to serve God in the holy
Catholic Church.
And so I ask you:
Cel: Do you renounce sin, so as to
live in the freedom of the children
of God?
All: I do.
Cel: Do you renounce the lure
of evil, so that sin may have no
mastery over you?
All: I do.
Cel: Do you renounce Satan, the
author and prince of sin?
All: I do.
Cel: Do you believe in God, the
Father almighty, Creator of heaven
and earth?
All: I do.
Cel: Do you believe in Jesus Christ,
his only Son, our Lord, who was
born of the Virgin Mary, suffered
death and was buried, rose again
from the dead and is seated at the
right hand of the Father?
All: I do.
Cel: Do you believe in the Holy
Spirit, the holy Catholic Church,
the communion of saints, the
forgiveness of sins, the resurrection
of the body and life everlasting?
All: I do.
Cel: And may almighty God, the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
has given us new birth by water and
the Holy Spirit and bestowed on us
forgiveness of our sins, keep us by
his grace, in Christ Jesus our Lord,
for eternal life.
All : Amen.
(The Priest sprinkles the people
with the blessed water, while all
sing:)
All: I saw water flowing from the
Temple, from its right-hand side,
alleluia; / and all to whom this
water came were saved/ and shall
say: Alleluia, alleluia.
(The Creed is omitted)
PRAYER OF THE FAITHFUL
Celebrant: Dear brothers and
sisters, On this Easter night, when
the Lord came out of the tomb,
longing to share his life and joy with
all men, let us pray to His Father
and to our Father and say:
R: LORD, HEAR OUR PRAYER.
1. For our Holy Father Pope
Francis, our Archbishop Peter and
all the Bishops, priests, religious
and catechists, that the joy of the
Risen Lord be always with them in
their work of spreading the Gospel,
let us pray to the Lord:
R: LORD, HEAR OUR PRAYER.
2. For this our Christian community
that having risen from sin, our
mutual love may lead us to mutual
joy throughout life, let us pray to
the Lord:
R: LORD, HEAR OUR PRAYER.
3. For each one of us, that we
may complete our victory over sin,
day after day, and rise definitely
with Christ when our death
comes,let us pray to the Lord:
R: LORD, HEAR OUR PRAYER.
4. For all those Baptized
tonight throughout the Church,
that they may keep faithful to Christ
throughout their life,let us pray to
the Lord:
R: LORD, HEAR OUR PRAYER.
Cel: Heavenly Father, Your Son
Jesus has shared with us on this
night,His life and his joy; Help us
to be faithful to him, and gather
us all in your glory, where we
shall experience the joy of calling
you Father together with him. We
ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
PRAYER OVER THE
OFFERINGS
Accept, we ask, O Lord, the prayers
of your people with the sacrificial
offerings, that what has begun in
the paschal mysteries may, by the
working of your power, bring us
to the healing of eternity. Through
Christ our Lord.
COMMUNION ANTIPHON
Christ our Passover has been
sacrificed; therefore let us keep the
feast with the unleavened bread of
purity and truth, alleluia. (1 Cor 5:7-
8)
Imprimatur : + Peter Machado, Archbishop of Bangalore
Published by: Archdiocesan Liturgical Commission
Paalanaa Bhavana, 5, Nandidurg Road, Jayamahal Extension, Benson Town Post,
Bengaluru 560046.
PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
Pour out on us, O Lord, the Spirit
of your love, and in your kindness
make those you have nourished by
this Paschal Sacrament one in mind
and heart. Through Christ our Lord.
REFLECTION
Jesus rose from the dead and he is
alive. It is an earth-shaking event,
transforming heaven and earth,
creating humanity afresh.
Frightened women became heralds
of this good news. They were the
first witnesses to proclaim the
resurrection of Jesus. Such is the
power of this experience. It is a
transforming event, empowering
vision, that those who experience
cannot but share what they have
experienced. Those who believe
become witnesses and disciples
become apostles. Believing in the
resurrection is an act of trust in
the God of life, God of the living,
God of surprises, and God of our
future. God’s greatest work has
been achieved, the New Creation!
Yes, it will reach climax in the final
gathering of all. The results of Christ’s
Recreation are: Reconciliation and
peace, communion and concern,
compassion and transformation
of our world into a community of
equals, enduring just relationships
and belonging to God and his
kingdom. May these changes
happen in our own lives! May each
one of us play a unique role in this
work of transformation. Yes, He is
alive in us and in our world. Yes, He
will be with us until the end of time!
Alleluia!