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SERVICE OF LIGHT
Greeting/Invocation
We light the EASTER CANDLE and say or sing:
Christ our Light!
~Thanks be to God!
Christ is risen, alleluia!
~He is risen indeed, alleluia!
HYMN FOR EASTER EVENINGS
Come, one and all, white-robed and washed,
the banquet of the Lamb is spread!
Our exodus is at an end:
proclaim Christ risen from the dead!
For death, our blood-stained doors did pass
that night we fled our slavery;
of our oppressors, none survived,
while we passed dry-shod through the sea.
Our Moses, Christ! Our guide our Pasch
whose blood has sanctified us all:
Our Paschal Bread, sincere and true,
whose fragrance fills the wedding hall.
O Word of God, for us enfleshed,
whom we betrayed, for silver sold:
You suffered death, yet loved us still
to give us life a hundredfold.
Hell is no more; it’s sov’reign head,
deceiving death, is dragged in tow.
You raise us to our Abba’s throne,
with all the dead whose names you know.
With boundless love the feast is laid,
yet never did you count the cost!
Our savior, priest and sacrifice–
our shepherd shoulders now the lost! Amen Alleluia!
Text: Aelred-Seton Shanley ; Tune: NEW JERUSALEM L.M.
SERVICE OF THE WORD
Evening Psalmody
Antiphon
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Canticle for Easter : I Corinthians 5:7-8; Romans 6:9-11; I Corinthians 15:20-21
Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us;
Let us therefore celebrate the feast,
Not with the old leaven of malice and evil
but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
Christ being raised from the dead will never die again;
death no longer has dominion over him.
The death he died, he died to sin, once for all;
but the life he lives, he lives unto God.
So you must consider yourselves dead to sin,
and alive to God, in Christ Jesus our Love.
Christ has been raised from the dead,
the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
For since by a human death came to us
so by the human one has come the resurrection of the dead.
For as in Adam all must die,
so also in Christ Jesus shall all be made alive.
Glory to the ONE and to the WORD
and to the BREATH of Love,
as always before,
so now and evermore, Amen.
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
READING ACTs 4: 23-24, 30-31
After their release Peter and John went back to their own people
and reported what the chief priests and elders had told them.
And when they heard it,
they raised their voices to God with one accord…
As they prayed, the place where they were gathered shook,
and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.
Responsory
R. God has ransomed this people and has redeemed them * alleluia, alleluia! V. They shall come and sing aloud on the heights of Zion, and the shall be radiant over the goodness of Adonai *alleluia, alleluia! V. Glory to the Abba and the Word and the Holy Breath of Love.
Gospel Canticle
Antiphon
Christ, having risen from the dead, dies now no more.
Death no longer has dominion over him,
for the life that he lives, he lives unto God. Alleluia, alleluia!
Canticle of Mary
My heart + is radiant with the Lord,
My whole being delights in God my Savior.
All people now will call me blessed
For God has loved this humble handmaid.
The Almighty has shown me great favor
Holy is the NAME,
Whose mercy embraces the faithful,
From one generation to the next.
The mighty arm of God,
Scatters the proud in their own conceit,
Pulls tyrants from their thrones
While lifting up the lowly:
Fills the famished with bounty,
And reveals the emptiness of riches.
Rescues lowly Israel,
Sharing such loving kindness,
As promised to our ancestors
To Abraham and Sarah, and their descendants forever.
Glory to the One and to the Word
And to the Holy Breath of Love
As always before
So now and evermore. Amen
Christ, having risen from the dead, dies now no more.
Death no longer has dominion over him,
for the life that he lives, he lives unto God. Alleluia, alleluia!
SERVICE OF PRAYER
Litany of Intercession
O Risen Love, you appeared first to women and made them the first apostles and evangelists of the Resurrection; ~may the many gifts you have given to women for leadership and service be recognized and affirmed in communities of faith and in civic and economic life.
O Risen Love, you appeared to the disciples huddled in fear and breathed on them the life-force of your loving Spirit; ~may each of us inhale your gift of forgiveness, permit it to transform our hearts, and then join you in breathing forgiveness and compassion into this world gasping for life.
O Risen Love, you revealed yourself to dejected and despondent disciples in the simple-yet-sacred act of breaking-and-sharing bread; ~may we recognize the sacred in every part of our lives and the power of your presence in the sharing of all your gifts that nourish and sustain life.
O Risen Love, you revealed yourself to Thomas as the One-Who-Had-Been-Slain, and to Saul as the One-Who-Is-Being-Persecuted; ~may we recognize you in all those who have been wounded by scapegoating, oppression, marginalization, imprisonment, addictions, depression and disillusionment.
O Risen Love, with every appearance you blessed your disciples deep peace, profound joy, and the end of fear; ~ may our celebration of these great 50 Days of Easter extend these blessings to all our sisters and brothers and all of your beloved creation.
Prayer of Jesus
Our Father…
Closing Prayer
We bless and thank you, O Gracious God, for all that you have done in raising Jesus from the dead. You have conquered the power of death and opened to us the way to the freedom, flourishing and fullness of life which your love offers to us and all of your creation. May the Risen Christ open our eyes and breathe into our hearts that we may recognize him in the wounds of the world, know him in the breaking and sharing of bread, and follow him in his risen life now and forever. Amen
Blessing
May the God of Life who brought Jesus through death to resurrection+ bless us with Peace and Joy, Alleluia! ~Amen, Alleluia!
Let us bless Adonai, Alleluia, Alleluia! ~Thanks be to God, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Those who wish may end evening prayer with the Marian Antiphon for the Easter Season.
Rejoice, O Heaven’s Queen, Rejoice, alleluia!
The Son you carried hidden before birth, alleluia!
Reborn, has risen from the Earth, alleluia!
Once more fulfilling promise, alleluia!
Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary, Alleluia!
For our Love is truly risen, Alleluia!
Let us pray.
Holy, Immortal and Mighty God, you have brought joy to the world by raising Jesus from the dead. By the prayers of Mary his Mother, and of all the myrrh-bearing women,
raise us up with Jesus and bring us to the fullness of life. We ask this through the same Jesus Christ, our Risen Love. Amen.