Exsultet

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.

V: The Lord be with you.
R/: And also with you.
V: Lift up your hearts.
R/: We lift them up to the Lord.
V: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
R/: 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 slavery
and led them dry-shod through the sea.

This is the night when the pillar of fire
destroyed the darkness of sin!

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

This is the night when Jesus Christ
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 man is reconciled with 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.

Holy Saturday

Portrait of Christ

We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made, one in Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:

All bow during these two lines:

by the power of the Holy Spirit
he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered, died, and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in fulfillment of the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Good Friday

Link From The Passion of the Christ

Stabat mater dolorosa
juxta Crucem lacrimosa,
dum pendebat Filius.

Cuius animam gementem,
contristatam et dolentem
pertransivit gladius.

O quam tristis et afflicta
fuit illa benedicta,
mater Unigeniti!

Quae moerebat et dolebat,
pia Mater, dum videbat
nati poenas inclyti.

Quis est homo qui non fleret,
matrem Christi si videret
in tanto supplicio?

Quis non posset contristari
Christi Matrem contemplari
dolentem cum Filio?

Pro peccatis suae gentis
vidit Iesum in tormentis,
et flagellis subditum.

Vidit suum dulcem Natum
moriendo desolatum,
dum emisit spiritum.

Eia, Mater, fons amoris
me sentire vim doloris
fac, ut tecum lugeam.

Fac, ut ardeat cor meum
in amando Christum Deum
ut sibi complaceam.

Sancta Mater, istud agas,
crucifixi fige plagas
cordi meo valide.

Tui Nati vulnerati,
tam dignati pro me pati,
poenas mecum divide.

Fac me tecum pie flere,
crucifixo condolere,
donec ego vixero.

Juxta Crucem tecum stare,
et me tibi sociare
in planctu desidero.

Virgo virginum praeclara,
mihi iam non sis amara,
fac me tecum plangere.

Fac, ut portem Christi mortem,
passionis fac consortem,
et plagas recolere.

Fac me plagis vulnerari,
fac me Cruce inebriari,
et cruore Filii.

Flammis ne urar succensus,
per te, Virgo, sim defensus
in die iudicii.

Christe, cum sit hinc exire,
da per Matrem me venire
ad palmam victoriae.

Quando corpus morietur,
fac, ut animae donetur
paradisi gloria. Amen.

Holy Thursday

Pange, lingua, gloriósi
Córporis mystérium,
Sanguinisque pretiosi,
Quem in mundi pretium
Fructus ventris generosi
Rex effudit gentium.

Nobis datus, nobis natus
Ex intacta Virgine,
Et in mundo conversatus,
Sparso verbi semine,
Sui moras incolatus
Miro clausit ordine.

In supremæ nocte cenæ
recumbens cum fratribus,
observata lege plene
cibis in legalibus
Cibum turbæ duodenæ
se dat suis manibus.

Verbum caro, panem verum
verbo carnem efficit:
fitque sanguis Christi merum,
et si sensus deficit,
ad firmandum cor sincerum
sola fides sufficit.

Tantum ergo sacramentum
veneremur cernui,
et antiquum documentum
novo cedat ritui;
præstet fides supplementum
sensuum defectui.

Genitori Genitoque
laus et iubilatio,
salus, honor, virtus quoque
sit et benedictio;
Procedenti ab utroque
compar sit laudatio. Amen.

Santa Missa in Suffragio del Defunto Sommo Pontifice Giovanni Paolo II

This evening, Monday 29 March, Pope Benedict XVI celebrated Holy Mass on the occasion of the Fifth Anniversary of the death of Servant of God the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II. (Those who are interested can find a PDF of the Mass Booklet here.)

The Mass was very simple for a Papal Liturgy. The Mass in its entirety was only about an hour and twenty minutes. In it's simplicity, however, one could feel a love for both John Paul II and Benedict XVI. An English translation of the homily can be found through ZENIT. Benedict held up John Paul II's life of service as an example to us all: a life of service; a life lived out of love; a life given completely "even to the point of death". The Holy Father concluded his homily with sentiments I would like to echo here: "While we continue the Eucharistic celebration, being on the point of living the glorious days of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of the Lord, let us entrust ourselves with confidence -- following the example of the Venerable John Paul II -- to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, so that she will sustain us in the commitment to be, in every circumstance, tireless apostles of her divine Son and of his merciful Love. Amen!"

The Missionaries of Charity were there again. This time two of them were among those presenting the Gifts at the Offertory to the Holy Father.

After Mass, Karlo Leonor and I were all excited stalking random Cardinals, looking for people we knew, noting the Processional Doors of the Basilica were open and that we'd never seen them open before, etc. We exited along the left, the side pilgrims typically enter, and suddenly someone noticed a different brick on the Square. We realized it was the marker where Pope John Paul II had been shot on 13 May 1981. A little nun was very excited to tell us about the stone. We nodded as though we thoroughly understood. The thought crossed my mind afterward that she might have known John Paul II. Regardless, that moment was a Providential time to find the brick; I had been searching the Square since we arrived at the beginning of February.

Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday dawned to a bright and crisp morning, the sky a brilliant blue. Crowds began to gather outside Saint Peter's Square and raced to fill the seats when the Square opened at 8:00am. The Holy Father entered at the start of the 9:30am Mass by "pope-mobile" to the obilisk in the center of the square. The blessing of the palms and olive branches took place there and the procession then came straight forward to the Altar set up in front of the Basilica.


Three deacons chanted The Passion of Our Lord. When it came time to kneel at the point in the Passion where Jesus died, the entire Square fell into a deafening silence. In a crowd of approximately 70,000 people, you could hear a pin drop. This same silence fell at the time of personal reflection following the Holy Father's homily and at the Consecration of the Body and Blood of Christ.

This evening, a group of us took another walk down to the Square. Alessandro Marchetti and I remained to stay until the Holy Father went to bed. The lights in his apartments remained lit and when the bells ran at 11:00pm, we decided to leave. After we returned our chairs back behind the barriers, the first light went out. We kept our eyes on the last window and a few moments

later, the final light went out at 11:02pm. An Our Father, a Hail Mary, and a Glory Be for his intentions and we were on our way back to Bernardi to head to bed ourselves.

The Missionaries of Charity sat two rows behind us at Mass. Enough said.

I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! These words of Christ from the Gospel of Luke burn in my heart and should burn through all of us this Holy Week. The Church has and shall continue to undergo trials; She is currently suffering in a particular way from the sins of the world. May we cry out to the Lord for mercy and run like the Prodigal Son to His Healing Love. Those of us in the Church must stand firm in Her Teaching and be beacons of light to the whole world. Please pray for the Holy Father this week and for all his intentions as he continues to undertake his work as Successor of Peter. May the trials we have been allowed to endure purify us to greater closeness and union with Our Lord.

Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus
Dominus Deus Sabaoth.
Pleni sunt caeli et terra gloria tua.
Hosanna in excelsis.
Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini.
Hosanna in excelsis.

Learning to Live