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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 AN EASTER EVENING
Rejoice, angelic choirs, rejoice! Rejoice now, all creation!
Let trumpets loudly raise their voice To hail the Lord’s salvation;
Let all Christ’s holy people sing triumphal shouts of vict’ry bring
In festal celebration.
O earth, exult in radiance bright, Illumined by Christ’s splendor!
Your darkness now is put to flight; To him due praises render!
Be glad, O Church! sing out your songs! Your temples fill with shouting throngs
To hail the glorious victor!
Let all who gather round this flame, The sign of Christ’s arising,
The deathless light of Christ acclaim, His saving mercy prizing;
That all may live by faith in him Who conquered death, despair and sin
To make us free forever.
Text: Exsultet Iam Angelica, tr. Joel Lundeen (c) LBW 1978, alt. ; Tune: WÄCHETERLIED, 87.87.887.
SERVICE OF THE WORD
Evening Psalmody
Antiphon
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Psalm 67/68
Let God arise!
Let oppression be shattered!
Let all who choose hatred take flight!
As smoke is blown away so will this terror disappear;
like wax that melts before the fire,
so will evil perish at the presence of Love.
Then will the just exult before God,
they shall dance and be jubilant with joy!
Sing to Adonai, make music to the Holy Name!
Make a highway for the Most High
a dancing welcome for the One who rides on the clouds;
Rejoice and exult in the presence of Love.
Merciful Compassion for the orphan and widow!
Defense and Protection for the lowly and the poor!
The One who dwells in the Heart of our hearts,
provides the desolate a home to live in,
and leads the prisoners forth into freedom.
But those who choose hatred will wither and fade.
When you led your people, O God, through the desert to freedom,
the earth trembled, the heavens melted;
You poured down a generous rain
you kept them from starving and gave them new life.
And so your people found a home,
prepared in your goodness, O God, for the poor.
You have gone up on high and captivated our hearts,
receiving the tribute of our lives and our love;
Even those who knew nothing of your Love,
have been welcomed into your Light.
They see your solemn procession, O God,
the great celebration as we dance in your Light:
the singers in front, the instruments at the end,
the children with timbrels taking their part.
Blessed be LOVE who daily bears us up,
our Comforter who saves us and leads us to wholeness.
This God of ours is ONE who saves;
Adonai Eloheinu leads us from death into life.
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!
READING I Peter 2:4-6
Come to Christ, a living stone, though rejected by patriarchy yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a cornerstone chosen and precious; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”
Responsory
R. This is the stone which the builders rejected* alleluia, alleluia! V. It has become the cornerstone, *alleluia, alleluia! V. Glory to the Abba and the Word and the Holy Breath of Love.
Gospel Canticle
Antiphon
God loved the world so much that God gave us the only-begotten Son.
Whoever believes in him will not perish, but will have everlasting life, 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 Breath of Love
As always before
So now and evermore. Amen
God loved the world so much that God gave us the only-begotten Son.
Whoever believes in him will not perish, but will have everlasting life, alleluia!
!
SERVICE OF PRAYER
Litany of Intercession
O Risen Love, you are the Firstborn of the dead; ~may your resurrection destroy the power of death and change tears of agony into cries of joy.
O Risen Love, you are the new Springtime in our life; ~ may your resurrection cover the fields with flowers and bring the new creation into our hearts.
O Risen Love, you are the new Exodus from the land of slavery to selfishness and sin;
~ may your resurrection give us the signal for a new departure into a life of grace.
O Risen Love, you are the new Moses on the mountain;
~ may your resurrection write the new law of love on our hearts.
O Risen Love, you are the Prophet of the messianic age;
~ may your resurrection usher in the new heavens and the new Earth.
O Risen Love, you are the New Covenant sealed by your sacrifice and shared in the Paschal feast; ~ may your resurrection set our tables to share the bread of heaven and the cup of salvation.
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.