the Faithful might share in the holy impressions which so solemn a rite is intended to produce. It was for the same intention that, later, every Church, even though it had no Baptismal Font, was permitted to have the Blessing of the Paschal Candle. The Deacon proclaims the Easter Solemnity to the people, whilst chanting the praises of this sacred object and whilst celebrating the glory of Him, whose emblem it is, he becomes the herald of the Resurrection. The Altar, the Sanctuary, the Bishop, all are in the sombre colour of the Lenten rite; the Deacon alone is vested in white. At other times, he would not presume to raise his voice as he is now going to do, in the solemn tone of a Preface: but this is the Eve of the Resurrection, and the Deacon, as the interpreters of the Liturgy tell us, represents Magdalene and the holy women, on whom our Lord conferred the honour of being the first to know his Resurrection, and to whom he gave the mission of preaching to the very Apostles, that he had risen from the dead, and would meet them in Galilee. But let us listen to the thrilling Exsultet of our Deacon, and learn from him the joys that await us on this wonderful Night. Let now the heavenly troops of Angels rejoice: let the divine mysteries be joyfully celebrated: and let a sacred trumpet proclaim the victory of so great a King. Let the earth also be filled with joy, being illuminated with such resplendent rays; and let it be sensible that the darkness, which overspread the whole world, is chased away by the splendour of our eternal King. Let our Mother, the Church, be also glad finding herself adorned with the rays of so great a PASSIONTIDE. Exsultet jam angelica turba cœlorum; exsultent divina mysteria: et pro tant Regis victoria, tuba insonet salutaris. Gaudeat et tellus tantis irradiata fulgoribus: et æterni Regis splendore illustrata, totius orbis se sentiat amisisse caliginem. Lætetur et mater Ecclesia, tanti luminis adornata fulgoribus et magnis populorum vocibus hæc aula resultet. Quapropter adstantes vos, fratres charissimi, ad tam miram hujus sancti 20 luminis claritatem, una mecum, quæso, Dei omnipotentis misericordiam invocate. Ut qui me non meis meritis intra Levitarum numerum dignatus est aggregare luminis sui claritatem infundens, Cerei hujus laudem implere perficiat. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium suum qui cum eo vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia sæcula sæculorum. B. Amen. . Domimus vobiscum. R. Et cum spiritu tuo. V. Sursum corda. R. Habemus ad Domi num. V. Gratias agamus Domino Deo nostro. R. Dignum et justum est. Vere dignum et justum est invisibilem Deum Patrem omnipotentem, Filiumque ejus unigenitum, Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum, toto cordis ac mentis affectu, et vocis ministerio personare. Qui pro nobis æterno Patri Adæ debitum solvit et veteris piaculi cautionem pio cruore detersit. Hæc sunt enim festa Paschalia, in quibus verus ille Agnus occiditur, cujus sanguine postes fidelium consecrantur. Hæc nox est, in qua primum patres nostros filios Israël eductos de Ægypto, : light and let this temple resound with the joyful acclamations of the people. Wherefore, beloved brethren, you who are now present at the admirable brightness of this holy light, I beseech you to invoke with me the mercy of Almighty God. That he, who has been pleased, above my desert, to admit me into the number of his Levites, will, by an infusion of his light upon me, enable me to celebrate the praises of this Candle. Through our Lord Jesus Christ his Son, who, with him and the Holy Ghost, liveth and reigneth one God for ever and ever. B. Amen. V. The Lord be with you. B. And with thy spirit. V. Lift up your hearts. B. We have them fixed on God. V. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. B. It is meet and just. It is truly meet and just to proclaim with all the affection of our heart and soul, and with the sound of our voice, the invisible God the Father Almighty, and his only Son our Lord Jesus Christ. Who paid for us to his eternal Father, the debt of Adam: and by his sacred blood cancelled the guilt contracted by original sin. For this is the Paschal solemnity, in which the true Lamb was slain, by whose Blood the doors of the faithful are consecrated. This is the Night in which thou formerly broughtest forth our forefathers the children of Israel out of Egypt, leading them dry-foot through the Red Sea. This, then, is the Night which dissipated the darkness of sin, by the light of the pillar. This is the Night, which now delivers all over the world those that believe in Christ, from the vices of the world, and darkness of sin, restores them to grace, and clothes them with sanctity. This is the Night in which Christ broke the chains of death, and ascended conqueror from hell. For it availed us nothing to be born, unless it had availed us to be redeemed. O how admirable is thy goodness towards us! O how inestimable is thy love! Thou hast delivered up thy Son to redeem a slave. O truly necessary sin of Adam, which the death of Christ has blotted out! O happy fault, that merited such and so great a Redeemer ! O truly blessed Night, which alone deserved to know the time and hour when Christ rose again from hell. This is the Night of which it is written : And the Night shall be as light as the day, and the Night is my illumination in my delights. Therefore the santification of this Night blots out crimes, washes away sins, and restores innocence to sinners, and joy to the sorrowful. It banishes enmities, produces concord, and humbles empires. O mira circa nos tuæ pietatis dignatio! O inæstimabilis dilectio charitatis! ut servum redimeres, filium tradidisti. O certe necessarium Adæ peccatum, quod Christi morte deletum est ! O felix culpa, quæ talem ac tantum meruit habere redemptorem ! O vere beata nox, quæ sola meruit scire tempus et horam, in qua Christus ab inferis resurrexit. Hæc nox est, de qua scriptum est: Et nox sicut dies illuminabitur; et: Nox illuminatio mea in deliciis meis. Hujus igitur santificatio noctis, fugat scelera, culpas lavat: et reddit innocentiam lapsis, et mæstis lætitiam. Fugat odia, concordiam parat, et curvat imperia. Here the Deacon pauses, and taking the five grains of Incense, he fixes them in the Candle in the form of a Cross. They represent the Five Wounds received by our Lord upon the Cross; as also, the perfumes which Magdalene and her companions had prepared for embalming his Body in the Tomb. Thus far, as we have already explained, the Paschal Candle is the figure of the Man-God not yet glorified by the Resurrection. In hujus igitur noctis gratia, suscipe, sancte Pater, incensi hujus sacrificium vespertinum quod tibi in hac Cerei oblatione solemni, per ministrorum manus de operibus apum, sacrosancta reddit Ecclesia. Sed jam columnæ hujus præconia novimus, quam in honorem Dei rutilans ignis accendit. Therefore on this sacred Night, receive, O holy Father, the evening sacrifice of this incense, which thy holy church by the hands of her ministers, presents to thee in the solemn oblation of this wax Candle made out of the labour of bees. And now we know the excellence of this pillar, which the sparkling fire lights for the honour of God. After these words, the Deacon again pauses, and taking the Reed which holds the triple candle, he lights the Paschal Candle with one of its branches. This signifies the instant of our Lord's Resurrection, when the divine power restored his Body to life, by uniting with it the Soul which death had separated. The glorious Symbol of Christ, our Light, is now perfect; and holy Church exults in the thought of soon beholding her heavenly Spouse triumph over death. Qui licet sit divisus in partes, mutuati tamen luininis detrimenta non novit. Alitur enim liquantibus ceris, quas in substantiam pretiosæ hujus lampadis, apis mater eduxit. Which fire, though now divided, suffers no loss from the communication of its light. Because it is fed by the melted wax, which its mother, the bee, made for the composition of the precious torch. Here are lighted, from the new fire, the lamps of the Church. They are lighted after the Paschal Candle, to signify, that Jesus' Resurrection was made known gradually. It also tells us, that our Resurrection is to be a consequence and a likeness of that of our Saviour, who opens to us the way, whereby, after having, like him, passed through the tomb, we shall enter into life everlasting. O truly blessed Night! which plundered the Egyptians, and enriched the Hebrews. A Night, in which things heavenly are united with those of earth, and divine with human. We beseech thee therefore, O Lord, that this Candle, consecrated to the honour of thy name, may continue burning to dissipate the darkness of this night. And being accepted as a sweet-smelling savour, may be united with the celestial lights. Let the morning-star find it burning. I mean that Star which never sets. Who being returned from hell, shone with brightness on mankind. We beseech thee therefore, O Lord, to grant us peaceable times during these Paschal solemnities, and with thy constant protection to rule, govern, and preserve us thy servants, and all the clergy, and the devout people, together with our holy Father Pope N., and our Bishop N. (Regard also our most devout Emperor: and since thou knowest, O God, the desires of his heart, grant by the ineffable grace of thy goodness and mercy, that he O vere beata nox quæ exspoliavit Ægyptios, "ditavit Hebræos. Nox, in qua terrenis cœlestia, humanis divina junguntur. Oramus ergo te Domine: ut Cereus iste in honorem tui nominis consecratus, ad noctis hujus caliginem destruendam, indeficiens perseveret. Et in odorem suavitatis acceptus, supernis luminaribus misceatur. Flammas ejus Lucifer matutinus inveniat. Ille, inquam, Lucifer, qui nescit occasum. Ille, qui regressus ab inferis, humano generi serenus illuxit. his Precamur ergo te Domine: ut nos famulos tuos, omnemque clerum, et devotissimum populum: una cum beatissimo Papa nostro N. et Antistite nostro N. quiete temporum concessa, in Paschalibus gaudiis, assidua protectione regere, gubernare, et conservare digneris. (Respice etiam ad devotissimum Imperatorem nostrum N., cujus tu, Deus, desiderii vota prænoscens, ineffabili pietatis et misericordiæ tuæ 1 The words here put in parentheses are only said in those countries, which are subject to the Emperor of Austria. See above, page 481. |