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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!

Text: Aelred-Seton Shanley ; Tune:  NEW JERUSALEM L.M.

SERVICE OF THE WORD

Evening Psalmody

Antiphon/Refrain

Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

Canticle for Easter : I Corinthians 5:7-8; Romans 6:9-11; I Corinthians 15:20-21

Christ our Passover was 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. (R)

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.  (R)

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.  (R)

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          ACTs 6: 8-9, 13- 15

Stephen, filled with grace and power,
was working great wonders and signs among the people.
Certain members of the so-called Synagogue of Freedmen,
stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes, accosted him, seized him,
and brought him before the Sanhedrin.
They presented false witnesses who testified, “This man never stops saying things against this holy place and the law. For we have heard him claim that this Jesus the Nazorean will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses handed down to us.”
All those who sat in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen and saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

 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 they 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

“What can we do to accomplish the works of God?”
Jesus answered, “This is the work of God,
that you believe in the one Whom God sent.” 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 Breath of Love

As always before

So now and evermore. Amen

“What can we do to accomplish the works of God?”
Jesus answered, “This is the work of God,
that you believe in the one Whom God sent.” Alleluia, alleluia!

SERVICE OF PRAYER

Litany of Intercession

O Risen Love, the Holy Spirit raised you from the dead and made you the Source of life;
~ make all things new and fill them with your Risen Life. 

O Risen Love, you are Savior of the world and Shepherd of the new creation; ~raise our hearts and minds to the lifestyle and love-style of the Kin-dom of heaven.

O Risen Love, you are always present where two or three are gathered in your name;
~through your Holy Spirit, guide all communities of faith to the fullness and unity of truth.

O Risen Love, you are the Strength of the Sick and the Comfort of the dying; ~send your healing to the sick and use us to be your presence to the dying and those who care for them.

O Risen Love, you are the Light that never fails and the Peace that surpasses all understanding; ~ as this day draws to a close may the glory of  your resurrection shine on all those who have died and all those who grieve their passing.

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.

O Queen of heaven, Be joyful, alleluia!
For He whom you rejoiced to bear for us, alleluia!
Has arisen, as he promised, alleluia!
Pray now for us to our God, 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.