Patrick Comerford
Next Sunday [21 April 2019] is Easter Day, and the readings in the Revised Common Lectionary as adapted for use in the Church of Ireland are:
Readings: Acts 10: 34-43 or Isaiah 65: 17-25; Psalm 118: 1-2, 14-24, or the Easter Anthems; I Corinthians 15: 19-26 or Acts 10: 34-43; and John 20: 1-18 or Luke 24: 1-12.
This leaves us with a complicated choice, and the Church of Ireland Directory is specific: ‘When the Old Testament selection is chosen, the Acts reading is used as the second reading at Holy Communion.’
This posting looks at Saint John’s account of the Resurrection, but also asks how this Gospel reading fits in with the other Lectionary readings for Easter morning, and what makes the account in the Fourth Gospel different from the Resurrection accounts in the other three Gospels, in particular the optional reading from Saint Luke’s Gospel.
There is a link to the readings HERE.
There is a link to the reading from Saint Luke’s Gospel HERE.
When the Old Testament selection is chosen on Easter Day, the Acts reading is used as the second reading at Holy Communion.
In addition, this posting includes separate suggestions on the celebration of the Easter Vigil on Saturday night.
Introducing the readings:
Isaiah 65: 17-25:
The Book of Isaiah is divided into three parts. Chapters 40 to 66, written during and after the Exile in Babylon, are filled with trust and confidence that God will soon end the Exile.
Chapters 56 to 66, sometimes known as ‘Third Isaiah,’ were written after the return to the Promised Land. These chapters speak of the hope that God will soon restore Jerusalem to its former glory and make a new home for all peoples.
This reading opens with the hope that God will completely transform the cosmos, turning it into a ‘new heavens and a new earth’ (verse 17), in which the people of the new Jerusalem will be joyful (verse 18), where sorrow will cease (verse 19), and they will be blessed with long life (verse 20). Life will be stable, harvests will be plentiful, and God will bless his people (verses 21-23).
People will return to a life free of sin that God originally intended them to live. All will be at peace in ‘my holy mountain,’ the new Jerusalem (verse 25). All conflicts will cease, and we shall live in harmony.
Psalm 118: 1-2, 14-24:
On Easter morning, how joyful it is to proclaim the well-known verse that concludes the reading from this psalm:
‘This is the day that the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it’ (Psalm 118: 24).
In this psalm (Psalm 118: 1-2, 14-24), we are called to give thanks to God for his mercy and love, which are everlasting. The one who was rejected is now God’s chosen ruler, and all shall share in the power and blessing of God.
We can read an Easter theme back into this song, where the Psalmist expresses his faith that:
I shall not die, but I shall live,
and recount the deeds of the Lord.
The Lord has punished me severely,
but he did not give me over to death (Psalm 118: 17-18).
Now he can enter the Temple (verse 19) to give thanks to God (verse 20). He has suffered greatly, but God has preserved his life.
‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the chief cornerstone’ (Psalm 118: 22).
In the Acts of the Apostles, Saint Peter speaks after his arrest to the Sanhedrin of the Risen Christ, describing him as ‘the stone that was rejected by you, the builders; [he] has become the cornerstone’ (Acts 4: 11). Saint Paul too refers to Christ as ‘the cornerstone’ (see Ephesians 2: 20).
This is the day to rejoice and be glad.
I Corinthians 15: 19-25:
This Epistle reading (I Corinthians 15: 19-25) continues after the earliest account of the Resurrection we have in the New Testament (verses 3-8).
The Apostle Paul has heard that some people in the Church in Corinth deny the physical resurrection of the body, claiming that only the spirit matters. Here he argues against this view.
He tells the people in Corinth that Christ’s resurrection is a sign or promise of what is going to happen to us. Christ’s resurrection marks the destruction of all that is hostile and ungodly, and a sign of the coming Kingdom of God.
Acts 10: 34-43:
Despite the complicated presentation of the reading options in the Revised Common Lectionary, the expectations in the RCL and the guidelines in the Church of Ireland Directory are that the reading from the Acts of the Apostles will be read on Easter Day.
The setting is the house of Cornelius, a centurion and part of the Roman military occupation force in Palestine. Cornelius, already a believer in God, has a vision (verses 1-8). As a result, he invites Peter to visit his household. It is against Jewish law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile, but Peter comes nonetheless, with ‘some ... believers from Joppa’ (verse 23).
The Greek here is rough, full of grammatical errors, unlike the rest of the Acts of Apostles. This may indicate that here we may well have Saint Peter’s unedited, original words and phraseology. He tells the assembled company that God does not favour Jews over others: anyone, whatever his or her nationality, who reveres God and lives in unison with him ‘is acceptable to him’ (verse 35).
In verses 36-38, Saint Peter summarises Christ’s earthly ministry and applies prophecies in Isaiah (52: 7 and 61: 1) to Christ. Christ is Kyrios, the ‘Lord of all’ (verse 36). In Baptism, the Father ‘anointed’ Christ (verse 38) ‘with the Holy Spirit’ and with the ‘power’ of God. The good news (‘message,’ verse 37) spread throughout Palestine (‘Judea’). He ‘went about’ (verse 38) ‘doing good’ and combatting evil, doing deeds so powerful that it is clear that he was God’s agent: he is a model for all to follow.
He suffered death as one guilty of a capital offence (see Deuteronomy 21: 23): he hung on a ‘tree’ (verse 39) and was cursed. By Christ’s time, the ‘tree’ or pole had an additional cross-arm. But, although cursed, the Father ‘raised him’ (verse 40) and ‘allowed him to appear’ to those chosen by God to be ‘witnesses’ (verse 41).
In Saint Luke’s Gospel (Luke 24: 41-43), Christ eats broiled fish with them, so he was clearly humanly alive again, brought back from death physically, resurrected. Christ the Kyrios is the one appointed by God to set up the Kingdom and to judge both those who are alive and those who have died at Judgment Day (verse 42).
Then in verse 43, we are told he fulfils many Old Testament prophecies. He is the one through whom sins are forgiven. Forgiveness is now available to ‘everyone who believes,’ and not just to Jews.
John 20: 1-18:
Early on the Sunday morning (‘the first day of the week’) after the Crucifixion, before dawn, Mary Magdalene, who has been a witness to Christ’s death and burial, comes to the tomb and finds that the stone has been rolled away.
Initially it seems she is on her own, for she alone is named. But later she describes her experiences using the word ‘we,’ which indicates she was with other women.
In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, these women are known as the Holy Myrrhbearers (Μυροφόροι). The Myrrhbearers are traditionally listed as: Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James and Joses, Mary, the wife of Cleopas, Martha of Bethany, sister of Lazarus, Mary of Bethany, sister of Lazarus, Joanna, the wife of Chuza the steward of Herod Antipas, and Salome, the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee, and Susanna, although it is generally said that there are other myrrh-bearers whose names are not known.
Mary and these women run to tell Saint Peter and the other disciple (presumably Saint John the Evangelist) that they suspect someone has removed the body. The ‘other disciple’ may have been younger and fitter, for he outruns Saint Peter. The tidy way the linen wrappings and the shroud have been folded or rolled up shows that the body has not been stolen. They believe, yet they do not understand; they return home without any explanations.
But Mary still thinks Christ’s body has been removed or stolen, and she returns to the cemetery. In her grief, she sees ‘two angels in white’ sitting where the body had been lying, one at the head, and one at the feet. They speak to her and then she turns around sees Christ, but only recognises him when he calls her by name.
Peter and John have returned without seeing the Risen Lord. It is left to Mary to tell the Disciples that she has seen the Lord. Mary Magdalene is the first witness of the Resurrection.
All four gospels are unanimous in telling us that the women are the earliest witnesses to the Risen Christ. In Saint John’s Gospel, the Risen Christ sends Mary Magdalene to tell the other disciples what she had seen. Mary becomes the apostle to the apostles.
The word apostle comes from the Greek ἀπόστολος (apóstólos), formed from the prefix ἀπό- (apó-, ‘from’) and the root στέλλω (stéllō, ‘I send,’ ‘I depart’). So, the Greek word ἀπόστολος (apóstolos) or apostle means one sent.
In addition, at the end of the reading (see verse 18), Mary comes announcing what she has seen. The word used here (ἀγγέλλουσα, angéllousa) is from the word that gives us the Annunciation, the proclamation of the good news, the proclamation of the Gospel (Εὐαγγέλιον, Evangélion). Mary, in her proclamation of the Gospel of the Resurrection, is not only the apostle to the apostles, but she is also the first of the evangelists.
John 20: 1-18 (NRSVA)
1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 3 Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. 4 The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, 7 and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples returned to their homes.
11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; 12 and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.
Luke 24: 1-12:
In the alternative reading in Saint Luke’s Gospel (Luke 24: 1-12), Joseph of Arimathea has wrapped the body of Jesus in a linen cloth and has laid it hastily in a new tomb (23: 53). ‘The women who had come with’ Jesus from Galilee ‘followed, and they saw the tomb and how his body was laid’ (23: 55). They prepared ‘spices and ointments’ ( 23: 56) to give him a proper burial, which was not possible because of the Sabbath.
Now, early on Sunday, ‘the first day of the week’ (verse 1), they come to the tomb with their spices to.
Later in this reading, the women in this group are named as Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and ‘other women with them’ (verse 10). In the other Gospel readings, these women are named as ‘Mary Magdalene and the other Mary’ (Matthew 28: 1), ‘Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome’ (Mark 16: 1), or just ‘Mary Magdalene’ on her own (John 20: 1). There are no women in this group on Easter morning who become the first witnesses to the Resurrection.
These women expect to find the tomb closed with a rock rolled in front of it, but, to their surprise, the tomb is open and the body is gone (verse 3).
Suddenly, ‘two men in dazzling clothes’ stand among this small group of women (verse 4). The women are terrified at the sight of these divine messengers, and bow their faces to the ground (verse 5).
But the two figures ask the figures ask then why they are seeking the living among the dead. Christ is not in the grave, he has risen from the dead, as he said he would (verse 6-7).
The word translated ‘remember’ in verses 6 and 8 (μνήσθητε), means to bring to bear in the present, with power and deep insight, the meaning of past actions and words in God’s plan of salvation. It has the same roots as the words for remembrance (ἀνάμνησιν) used a few days earlier by Christ at the Last Supper: ‘Do this in remembrance of me’ (Luke 22: 19).
Remembering Christ’s promises, and making it real in their lives this morning, the women return from the tomb, and tell the disciples all that has happened this morning (verse 9).
It is these women who first proclaim the Easter Gospel (vv. 9-10).
But the apostles do not believe what the women say, it seems too much like an ‘idle tale’ (verse 11). Peter gets up and goes to see for himself, but he still lacks the sight of faith, and all he sees is the empty tomb and the folded grave clothes (verse 12).
He goes home, ‘amazed at what had happened’ (verse 12).
Luke 24: 1-12 (NRSVA)
1 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in, they did not find the body. 4 While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. 5 The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, ‘Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. 6 Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.’ 8 Then they remembered his words, 9 and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. 10 Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. 11 But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. 12 But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.
‘Noli me tangere’ ... a Resurrection image in a stained glass window in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)‘Noli me tangere’ – a reflection:
In Saint John’s Gospel, when Mary first sees Christ, she does not recognise him. In this reading, the Greek is regularly phrased in the present tense: Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb (verse 1), she sees (verse 1), she runs, she comes, and she says (verse 2); John sees (verse 5), Simon Peter then comes, and he sees (verse 6); Mary sees the two angels (verse 12), they say to her and she says to them that she does not know (verse 13); she then sees Jesus (verse 14); Jesus says to her (verse 15, and again verses 16 and 17) – notice this is three times in all; and she then comes announcing what she has seen and heard.
The language is constantly punctuated with ‘and’ giving it a rapid, fast-moving pace, rather like the pace in Saint Mark’s Gospel. This is a present, real, living experience for all involved, and not one single episode that be relegated to the past.
The Risen Christ does things he did not do before: he appears in locked rooms, there is something different about his appearance, his friends do not realise immediately who he is. This is the same Jesus, but something has changed.
Why does Jesus tell Mary: ‘Do not hold onto me’ (Μή μου ἅπτου, Noli me tangere)?
How do we recognise new life in the Risen Christ?
How do understand the invitation from the Risen Christ to feast with him?
When we accept the new life Christ offers, how does our vision change?
Where do we see the presence of the Risen Christ?
Do we see his presence in the people and places we like and that please us?
Can we see him in the people we do not like to and in the situations we find challenging? – the hungry child, the fleeing refugee, the begging person on the street, the homeless addict sleeping on the street or in the doorway?
Is my heart changed by the Risen Christ?
Where do I see the broken and bruised Body of Christ needing restoration and Resurrection?
Do I know him in the word he speaks to me and in the breaking of the bread?
Is the presence of the Risen Christ a living experience for me, this morning?
Is Easter an every-morning, every-day, living experience for me, or one we all-too-easily relegate to the past and to history?
Planning the Easter Vigil
The celebration of Easter may begin after sundown with the Easter Vigil or the Midnight Eucharist on what is liturgically Easter Sunday, although it is still Saturday evening in calendar.
Traditionally, the Easter Vigil consists of four parts:
● The Service of Light
● The Liturgy of the Word
● The Liturgy of Baptism, which may include the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation for new members of the Church and the renewal of Baptismal Promises by the rest of the congregation
● The Eucharist
The Liturgy begins after sundown as the crowd gathers inside the unlit church, in the darkness, often in a side chapel of the church building, but preferably outside the church. A new fire, kindled and blessed by the priest, symbolises the light of salvation and hope that God brought into the world through the Resurrection of Christ, dispelling the darkness of sin and death.
The Paschal Candle, symbolising the Light of Christ, is lit from this fire. This tall candle is placed on the altar, and on its side five grains of incense are embedded, representing the five wounds of Christ and the burial spices with which his body was anointed. When these are fixed in it and the candle is lit, it is placed on the Gospel side of the altar and remains there until Ascension Day.
This Paschal candle will be used throughout the season of Easter, remaining in the sanctuary of the Church or near the lectern. Throughout the coming year at baptisms and funerals, it reminds all that that Christ is ‘light and life.’
All baptised people present – those who have received the Light of Christ – are given candles that are lit from the Paschal candle. As this symbolic Light of Christ spreads throughout those gathered, the darkness diminishes and dies out.
A deacon or a priest carries the Paschal Candle at the head of the entrance procession and, at three points, stops and chants the proclamation ‘Light of Christ’ or ‘Christ our Light,’ to which the people respond: ‘Thanks be to God.’
When the procession ends, the deacon or a cantor chants the Exultet, or Easter Proclamation, said to have been written by Saint Ambrose of Milan. The church is now lit only by the people’s candles and the Paschal candle, and the people take their seats for the Liturgy of the Word.
The Liturgy of the Word consists of between two and seven readings from the Old Testament. The account of the Exodus is given particular attention as it is the Old Testament antetype of Christian salvation.
Each reading is followed by a psalm and a prayer relating what has been read in the Old Testament to the Mystery of Christ.
After these readings, the Gloria is sung, and during an outburst of musical jubilation the people’s candles are extinguished, the church lights are turned on, and the bells rung. The altar frontals, the reredos, the lectern hangings, the processional banners, the statues and the paintings, which were stripped or covered during Holy Week or at the end of the Maundy Thursday Eucharist, are now ceremonially replaced and unveiled, and flowers are placed on the altar.
A reading from the Epistle to the Romans is proclaimed, and the Alleluia is sung for the first time since the beginning of Lent. The Gospel of the Resurrection then follows, along with a homily.
After the Liturgy of the Word, the water of the baptismal font is blessed, and any catechumens or candidates for full communion are initiated. After these celebrations, all present renew their baptismal vows and are sprinkled with baptismal water. The general intercessions follow.
The Easter Vigil then concludes with the Liturgy of the Eucharist. This is the first Eucharist of Easter Day. During the Eucharist, the newly baptised receive Holy Communion for the first time, and, according to the rubrics, the Eucharist should finish before dawn.
The Easter Vigil readings (20 April 2019):
Old Testament Readings and Psalms:
Genesis 1: 1 to 2:4a; Response: Psalm 136: 1-9, 23-26;
Genesis 7: 1-5, 11-18; 8: 6-18; 9: 8-13; Response: Psalm 46;
Genesis 22: 1-18; Response: Psalm 16;
Exodus 14: 10-31; 15: 20-21 and Exodus 15: 1b-13, 17-18;
Isaiah 55: 1-11; Canticle 23: Song of Isaiah (Isaiah 12: 2-6);
Baruch 3: 9-15, 32 to 4: 4 or Proverbs 8: 1-8, 19-21, 9: 4b-6; Response: Psalm 19;
Ezekiel 36: 24-28; Response: Psalm 42 and 43;
Ezekiel 37: 1-14; Response: Psalm 143;
Zephaniah 3: 14-20; Response: Psalm 98.
New Testament Reading and Psalm:
Romans 6: 3-11; Response: Psalm 114.
Gospel: Luke 24: 1-12.
Liturgical Resources:
Liturgical Colour: White (or Gold).
The Greeting (from Easter Day until Pentecost):
Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!
Penitential Kyries:
Lord God,
you raised your Son from the dead.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord Jesus,
through you we are more than conquerors.
Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Holy Spirit,
you help us in our weakness.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
The Collect:
Almighty God,
through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ
you have overcome death
and opened to us the gate of everlasting life:
Grant that, as by your grace going before us
you put into our minds good desires,
so by your continual help we may bring them to good effect;
through Jesus Christ our risen Lord
who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Introduction to the Peace:
The risen Christ came and stood among his disciples and said, Peace be with you. Then were they glad when they saw the Lord. (John 20: 19, 20).
Preface:
Above all we praise you
for the glorious resurrection of your Son
Jesus Christ our Lord,
the true paschal lamb who was sacrificed for us;
by dying he destroyed our death;
by rising he restored our life:
The Post-Communion Prayer:
Living God,
for our redemption you gave your only-begotten Son
to the death of the cross,
and by his glorious resurrection
you have delivered us from the power of our enemy.
Grant us so to die daily unto sin,
that we may evermore live with him in the joy of his risen life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Blessing:
The God of peace,
who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus
that great shepherd of the sheep,
through the blood of the eternal covenant,
make you perfect in every good work to do his will,
working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight:
or:
God the Father,
by whose glory Christ was raised from the dead,
raise you up to walk with him in the newness of his risen life:
Dismissal: (from Easter Day to Pentecost):
Go in the peace of the Risen Christ. Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thanks be to God. Alleluia! Alleluia!
Christ is Risen ... a Resurrection scene in a stained-glass window in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)Suggested Hymns:
The hymns suggested for Easter Day (Year C), in Sing to the Word (2000), edited by Bishop Edward Darling, include:
Acts 10: 34-43:
250, All hail the power of Jesu’s name
263, Crown him with many crowns (verses 1-4)
264, Finished the strife of battle now
91, He is Lord, he is Lord
271, Jesus Christ is risen today
96, Jesus is Lord! Creation’s voice proclaims it
102, Name of all majesty
306, O Spirit of the living God
197, Songs of thankfulness and praise
286, The strife is o’er, the battle done
491, We have a gospel to proclaim
Isaiah 65: 17-25:
49, Lord, bring the day to pass
369, Songs of praise the angels sang
292, Ye choirs of new Jerusalem
Psalm 118: 1-2, 14-24:
683, All people that on earth do dwell
326, Blessèd city, heavenly Salem (Christ is made the sure foundation)
327, Christ is our corner stone
282, Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good (Surrexit Christus)
714, Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might
715, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God, the Lord Almighty
334, I will enter his gates with thanksgiving in my heart
340, Sing and be glad, for this is God’s house!
678,Ten thousand times ten thousand
78, This is the day that the Lord has made
493, Ye that know the Lord is gracious
Easter Anthems (I Corinthians 5: 7-8; Romans 6: 9-11; I Corinthians 15: 20-22):
258, Christ the Lord is risen again
328, Come on and celebrate
264, Finished the strife of battle now
431, Lord, enthroned in heavenly splendour
703, Now lives the Lamb of God
108, Praise to the Holiest in the height (verses 1-4, 7)
283, The Day of Resurrection
286, The strife is o’er, the battle done
186, What Adam’s disobedience cost
I Corinthians 15: 19-26:
24, All creatures of our God and King
251 Alleluia! Alleluia! Hearts to heaven and voices raise
218, And can it be that I should gain
102, Name of all majesty
703, Now lives the Lamb of God
108, Praise to the Holiest in the height
8, The Lord is King! lift up your voice
John 20: 1-18:
256, Christ is risen, as he said
87, Christ is the world’s light, he and none other
258, Christ the Lord is risen again
74, First of the week and finest day
265, Good Joseph had a garden
271, Jesus Christ is risen today
338, Jesus, stand among us
424, Jesus, stand among us at the meeting of our lives
273, Led like a lamb to the slaughter
274, Light’s glittering morn bedecks the sky 277, Love’s redeeming work is done
107, One day when heaven was filled with his praises
283, The Day of Resurrection
288, Thine be the glory, risen, conquering Son
115, Thou art the Way: to thee alone
290, Walking in a garden at the close of day
Luke 24: 1-12:
255, Christ is risen, alleluia!
258, Christ the Lord is risen again
264, Finished the strife of battle now
74, First of the week and finest day
271, Jesus Christ is risen today
274, Light’s glittering morn bedecks the sky
277, Love’s redeeming work is done
278, Now the green blade rise from the buried grain
279, O sons and daughters, let us sing! (verses 1-3 and 9)
107, One day when heaven was filled with his praises
109, Sing alleluia to the Lord
286, The strife is o’er, the battle done
288, Thine be the glory, risen, conquering Son
115, Thou art the Way: to thee alone
An Easter theme in a window in Holmpatrick Church, Skerries, Co Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)Scripture quotations are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA, and are used by permission. All rights reserved.
Material from the Book of Common Prayer is copyright © 2004, Representative Body of the Church of Ireland.
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