Pause for Prayer: EASTER SUNDAY

For the joy of Easter's song,

     ALLELUIA! 

 

For the joy of faith in you,
    ALLELUIA!

For the joy your Holy Spirit brings,
    ALLELUIA!

For the joy and peace of trusting you, 
    ALLELUIA! 

 
For the joy of resting in your arms,
    ALLELUIA! 

 
For the joy of good and faithful friends,
    ALLELUIA! 

 
For the joy of life's most simple things,
    ALLELUIA!

 

For the joy of small surprises,

    ALLELUIA! 

 

For the joy of every sunrise

    and and every evening's sunset,

        ALLELUIA!

 
For the joy of days well spent,
   ALLELUIA! 

 
For the joy of just a good night's sleep,
   ALLELUIA! 

 
For the joy your grace affords me,
   ALLELUIA!

 

For joy that lifts me from my grief,

    ALLELUIA!

    
For the joy of word and promise kept,
   ALLELUIA! 

 
For the joy of mercy's pardon,
    ALLELUIA! 

 
For the joy of new beginnings,
    ALLELUIA! 

 
For the joy of living 

    - one day at a time,
        ALLELUIA! 

 
For the joy of giving thanks,
    ALLELUIA! 

   
For joy that calms my fears,

     ALLELUIA!

 
For joy that eases worries,

    ALLELUIA!

 
For joy that heals old wounds,

    ALLELUIA!

 
For joy that mends my heart, 

    ALLELUIA!

 
For joy that feeds my faith,

    ALLELUIA!

 
For joy that brings me peace,

    ALLELUIA! 

 

What - or whom - might you add to this litany? 

 

For the joy of ____________,

    ALLELUIA!  

 
For the joy that trusts 

    all shall be well,
        I praise and thank you, Lord!

            ALLELUIA!   

 

 

Halle! Halle! Halle!

    Folk tune arranged by Marty Haugen

        performed by   by Saint Olaf Choir

 

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1. Oh, God to whom shall we go?
You alone have the words of life.
Let your words be our prayer
and our song we sing:
Hallelujah, hallelujah.

2. I am the light of the world says the Lord.
Walk in the light of life.
All who follow my words
shall have life indeed:
Hallelujah, hallelujah.

 

 

 

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NIGHT PRAYER: Holy Saturday

Lord,
when I go to bed tonight
I'll pray for deep and restful sleep
on this night of all nights when,
at a time known only to heaven,
you rose from the dead...

This is the night, Lord,

which restores to grace 

and unites in holiness

all who believe in you....

This is the night

whose light pierces the darkness

and rescues us from sin...

This is the night

when you broke the chains of death

and rose in victory from the grave!

The power of this holy night 

dispels all evil, 

washes guilt away, 

restores lost innocence, 

brings mourners joy; 

casts out hatred,

brings us peace, 

and humbles earthly pride. 

This is the night truly blessed

when heaven is wedded to earth 

and creation is reconciled with God! *

So I shall sleep in peace, Lord,

trusting that even in the dead of night

your risen life beats within me

and that I, too, shall rise:

    when morning dawns tomorrow;

    and at the end of all my days;

    and when at last you come again,

    and death shall be no more!

Amen.

* The italicized imagery in this Night Prayer comes from an older translation of the Exsultet, the opening song of the Easter Vigil, in praise of the paschal candle.

The Light of Christ

- music composed by Marty Haugen

- Vigil text arranged by AF

 

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The light of Christ surrounds us;

the love of Christ enfolds us;

the pow'r of Christ protects us;

the presence of Christ watches over us.

 

All the earth is ablaze

with the glory of God,

for the light has come

to burn away the darkness.

Refrain

 

Let us fill every space

with the sound of our joy,

praising Christ who is living now among us.

Refrain

           

Rejoice, all you heavenly choirs of angels!

Rejoice, all creation around God's throne -

for our mighty God is victorious!

Rejoice, O earth -                

you are made radiant by such splendor!

Darkness everywhere has been overcome

by the brightness of our everlasting God!

Rejoice, O Holy Mother Church -

you are made radiant by so great a light!

Let this place ring out with rejoicing,

with the song of all the people

gathered here.

Refrain

 

My brothers and sisters:

Christ has ransomed us with his blood

and paid for us the debt of Adam's sin,

and with his precious blood

washed away the penalty of original sin.

This is the Paschal feast

in which the true lamb is slain;

whose blood hallowed the doorposts

of the faithful!

This is the night

when first you saved our ancestors,

you freed the people of Israel

from their slavery

and led them dry-shod through the Red Sea!

This is the night

when the pillar of fire

destroyed the darkness of sin!

This is the night

which at this hour everywhere

restores to grace and unites in holiness

those who believe in Christ,

separating them from worldly vice

and the darkness of sin.

This is the night

when Jesus Christ

broke the chains of death

and rose in victory from the grave!

Refrain

           

Father, how wonderful your care for us!

How boundless your merciful love!

To ransom us, your servants,

you gave away your only Son.

O happy fault!   O necessary sin of Adam

which gained for us so great a Redeemer!

O truly blessed night

which alone deserved to know

the time and the hour

when Christ arose from the grave.

It is of this night that Scripture says:

"And the night shall be as bright as day,

and the night shall light up 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.

This is the night truly blessed  

when heaven is wedded to earth

and creation is reconciled with God.

Refrain

           

As this candle shines out

through the darkness of night,

may the love of Christ

burn ever in our hearts.

Refrain

           

In the East, the Morning Star

rises bright upon us,

in its peaceful light

shines the glory of the Lord.

Refrain

           

AMEN!

 

 

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Praying on Holy Saturday afternoon

 

Earlier today I posted a portion of an ancient homily written by St Epiphanius of Salamis in the fourth century.  Here's a video of the same homily (in its entirety) with art work to illustrate the message...

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Pause for Prayer: HOLY SATURDAY

The Dead Christ by Mantegna

 

On Holy Saturday the Church waits at the Lord's tomb, meditating on His suffering and death.  Mantegna's painting is a compelling image, confronting us with the reality of Jesus' death...

 

On this day, Holy Saturday, the altar is left bare and Mass is not celebrated.

Only with the solemn vigil during the night does the Easter celebration begin with a spirit of joy that overflows into an Easter season of fifty days.

Writing in the fourth century, St Epiphanius of Salamis offers us his beautiful appreciation of Holy Saturday.  What he describes here is what we mean when we say of Christ in the Apostles Creed:

    He suffered, died, and was buried.
    He descended into Hell; 

    the third day he rose again from the dead.

Upon his death, Christ went to the nether world to set free the souls of all who had died awaiting his victory over death - beginning with our first parents...

 

    Something strange is happening—

        there is a great silence on earth today, 

            a great silence and stillness. 

    The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. 

    The earth trembled and is still 

        because God has fallen asleep in the flesh 

            and has raised up all who have slept 

                ever since the world began. 

    God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear. 

    He has gone to search for our first parent, as for a lost sheep.

    Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness 

        and in the shadow of death, 

    he has gone to free from sorrow the captives Adam and Eve:

        He who is both God and the son of Eve. 

    The Lord approached them bearing the Cross, 

        the weapon that had won Him the victory. 

    At the sight of him Adam, the first man he had created, 

        struck his breast in terror and cried out to everyone: 

            “My Lord be with you all.” 

    Christ answered him:

            “And with your spirit.” 

    He took him by the hand and raised him up, saying: 

            “Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, 

                and Christ will give you light.”

 

      - St Epiphanius of Salamis

A Prayer for Holy Saturday

This is the hardest time to pray:
after the drama and catastrophe,
before the angels and the big reveal.

The passion, the agony, the desperate grief
have given way to numbness
and absence
in this time in between.

God seems to be offstage,
preparing for the final scene,
taking care of ancient souls in other worlds
or clothing the hidden, broken body
in resurrection glory.

So let our prayer this day be plain
and to the point:
May God be with us in the waiting,
and may we wait with hope,
today
and every time in between.

Amen.

- by Kerry Greenhil

 

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