Holy Saturday and the Easter Vigil

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 splendor,
Radiant in the brightness of your King!
Christ has conquered!
Glory fills you!
Darkness vanishes forever!
Rejoice, O Mother Church!
Exult in glory!
The risen Savior 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 You first 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 the pillar of fire
Destroyed the darkness of sin!
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.
What good would life have been to us,
Had Christ not come as our Redeemer?
Father, how wonderful Your 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!

Most blessed of all nights,
chosen by God to see Christ rising from the dead!
Of this night, Scripture says:
"This night will be as clear as day:
it will become My light, My joy."
The power of this holy night
Dispels all evil,
washes guilt away,
Restores lost innocence,
Brings mourners joy,
It casts out hatred,
Brings us peace,
And humbles earthly pride.
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,
A flame divided but undimmed,
A pillar of fire that glows to the honor of God.
Let it mingle with the lights of heaven
And continue bravely burning
To 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,
Forever and ever. Amen.

- from the Exsultet (Easter Proclamation),
traditional chant, arranged by J. Michael Thompson

HAPPY EASTER!

**Originally posted for Easter 2007, but the Exsultet is one of my favorite parts of the Easter Vigil so I brought it back for an encore. Happy Easter, my friends.