RESURREXIT!

The "Anastasis" Icon - A Window Into Easter

Easter Vigil at the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem

Inside the Holy Sepulchre - the Empty Tomb


Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen!

THE EASTER PROCLAMATION

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 for ever!

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!

My dearest friends,
standing with me in this holy light,
join me in asking God for mercy,
that he may give his unworthy minister
grace to sing his Easter praises.

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts.

We lift them up to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

It is right to give him thanks and praise.

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 first you saved our fathers:
you freed the people of Israel from their slav'ry,
and led them dry-shod through the sea.

This is the night,
when the pillar of fire destroyed the darkness of sin.

This is night,
when Christians ev'rywhere,
washed clean of sin and freed from all defilement,
are restored to grace and grow together in holiness.

This is the night,
when Jesus 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:
"The 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 we are reconciled to 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,
your Son, who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

Icon Acheiropoeta ("Not-made-by-hands")

Peter, Witness of the Resurrection

Easter Mass with the Resurrexit Rite,
Saint Peter's Square 2009


May the grace and joy of the Risen Christ be with you all.

Maligayang Pasko ng Pagkabuhay!

Mass for the Catholic Action

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - "Saint Peter's Square presents itself today almost as an open-air 'cenacle', crowded with faithful, many of them members of Italian Catholic Action": this is how Benedict XVI greeted the 100,000 members of the most widespread ecclesial association in Italy, in his reflection before the Regina Caeli today. The young and adults of Catholic Action (AC) were gathered in the square to celebrate the 140th anniversary of their foundation with a Mass presided over by Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, president of the Italian bishops' conference. (04 May 2008)


Here are two photos from Fotografia Felici during the Mass. The crucifix is, still, similar to the papal masses, at the center of the altar, in the middle of four candlesticks. The vestments and the antepedium are beautiful. worthy of notice is the position of the Bishop Celebrant - at the Gospel (left) side (that is, from the congregation's view).


The second picture confirmed that I (as head server) was wrong in 'forbidding' the use processional candles for the Gospel proclamation. I thought of it because the rubrics for the Easter vigil (Mass in the Ordinary Form) says that the candles are not brought in the proclamation of the Gospel. I guess, I was wrong in presuming that this extends throughout the Easter season or while the Paschal candle is in the sanctuary or near the ambo.


By the way, a couple of Sundays ago (I think, it was the 5th Sunday of Easter for the OF), our priest decided to bless the baptismal font donated by a Marian organization. Because of this, he asked me to have one of the servers carry the lighted Paschal candle during the Entrance Procession of the Mass and afterwards, place it in its stand placed near the new font. So, sadly, as early as that Sunday, our Paschal candle is out in the sanctuary and by the next week, even the image of the Resurrected Christ was removed.