“Alleluia! Alleluia! Christ is risen from the dead”

This is the night of keeping vigil for the Lord (Ex 12: 42), in which the faithful, carrying lighted lamps in their hands, should be like those looking for the Lord when he returns, so that at his coming he may find them awake and have them sit at his table.

We make a fire remembering the Israelites travelling through the desert guided by a pillar of fire.

On this most sacred night,
in which our Lord Jesus Christ
passed over from death to life,
the Church calls upon her sons and daughters,
scattered throughout the world,
to come together to watch and pray.

May the light of Christ rising in glory
dispel the darkness of our hearts and minds.

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.

We listen to the readings of the Old Testament starting from the creation of the world…

to the story when Abraham is asked to offer his son, his only one…

to the story of the Exodus, where the Israelites were led through the Red Sea

rescuing them from the Egyptians.

All these are not only stories from long ago, but also our stories.

The gospel tells about the women who find the tomb of Jesus empty.

They expect to find the corpse of Jesus

and find a reality they cannot yet fully comprehend.

But at daybreak on the first day of the week they took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb; but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were puzzling over this, behold, two men in dazzling garments appeared to them. They were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground. They said to them, “Why do you seek the living one among the dead?

He is not here, but he has been raised. (Lk 24:1)