Easter Vigil Saturday Night 2025
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Responder: Pat
Meeting ID: 879 3593 0592
Passcode: 543266
We gather as a Community, awaiting on this Holy Saturday evening, the emergence of Holy Light from the darkness of the tomb, and the darkness of death. As the Light emerges, we are called to recognize that this Light resides in each of us, even during dark times in our own lives. It is a Light that breaks through the darkness, opening our minds and our hearts to the reality that Love conquers death, Light unveils the truth, and despair gives way to Hope. Let us celebrate this night when the Light in our midst as a community calls us to follow the Way of Jesus, a way of justice, compassion, and love.
The Solemn Beginning of the vigil - The Blessing of the fire and preparation of the candle
Penny holds the Easter Candle while Juanita blesses the fire.
After the blessing of the new fire, the priest cuts a cross into the candle with a stylus. Then she traces the Greek letter Alpha above the cross, the letter Omega below, and the numerals of the current year between the arms of the cross. While doing this she says….
Nick: Christ yesterday and today (trace vertical line)
R: The beginning and the End (trace a horizontal line)
Nick: The alpha (trace the Alpha)
R: And the Omega
Nick: All times belong to our Creator (trace the numerals)
R: And all ages
Nick: To him be glory and power
R: Through every age and forever.
Juanita now inserts the red grains into the candle.
Karla: By these holy and glorious wounds
May Christ our God, Guard us and protect us. Amen
(Penny lights the fire)
Then Juanita lights the Pascal candle from the new fire, while Karla says:
Karla: May the light of Christ be rising in glory
Dispel the darkness of our hearts and minds.
Juanita places the paschal candle into the holder; while the chant Light of Christ is being sung. She then lights her candle from the Pascal candle as the Magdala’s light their candles.
Light of Christ is intoned.
https://youtu.be/ySjsbBccMrc?si=WV4b9XXoD9TEyaKX
The Easter Proclamation (Exsultet)- Penny
Rejoice, heavenly powers! Sing choirs of angels!
Exult, all creation around God’s throne!
Jesus Christ, our brother, is risen!
Sound the trumpet of salvation!
Rejoice, O Earth, in shining splendor,
Radiant in the brightness of your Savior!
Christ has conquered! Glory fills you!
Darkness vanishes forever!
Rejoice, 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!
It is truly right that with full hearts, minds and voices
We should praise God, the all-powerful Abba God, the only Begotten, Jesus Christ.
This is the night when first you saved our ancestors:
You freed the people of Israel from their slavery
and led them dry-shod through the sea.
This is the night when Christians everywhere,
Washed clean of their brokenness 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?
Most blessed of all nights, chosen by God
to see Christ rising from the dead!
On 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 mourner’s joy; it casts out hatred, brings us peace,
Humbles earthly pride.
Therefore, loving God, in the joy of this night,
Receive our evening offerings of praise, your Church’s solemn offering.
Accept this Easter candle, a flamed 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 humankind,
Jesus who lives and reigns for ever and ever.
Amen
After the Easter Proclamation, the candles are put out.
Easter Alleluia: Christ is Risen
First Reading: -Book of Genesis 1:1 -2:2
Therese: In the beginning,
when God created
the heavens and the earth,
The earth was a formless waste,
and darkness covered the abyss,
While a mighty wind
swept over the waters.
Then God said, "Light: Be!" and light was.
God saw that light was good, and God
separated light from darkness. God called
the light "Day" and the darkness "Night."
Evening came, and morning followed — the
first day.
Kathy N : Then God said, "Now, an expanse between
the waters! Separate water from water!" So, it
was: God made the expanse and separated
the water above the expanse from the water
below it. God called the expanse "Sky."
Evening came, and morning followed - the
second day.
Cathy P: Then God said, "Waters under the sky: be
gathered into one place! Dry ground:
appear!" So, it was. God called the dry
ground "Earth" and the gathering of the
waters "Sea." And God saw that this was
good. Then God said, "Earth: produce
vegetation - plants that scatter their own
seeds, and every kind of fruit trees that bears
fruit with its own seed in it!" So it was: the
earth brought forth every kind of plant that
bears seed, and every kind of fruit tree on
earth that bears fruit with its seed in it. And
God saw that this was good. Evening came,
and morning followed — the third day.
Patti: Then God said, "Now, lights in the expanse
of the sky! Separate day from night! Let them
mark the signs and seasons, days and years,
and serve as luminaries in the sky, shedding
light on the earth." So it was: God made the
two great lights, the greater one to illumine
the day, and a lesser to illumine the night.
Then God made the stars as well, placing
them in the expanse of the sky, to shed light
on the earth, to govern both day and night,
and separate light from darkness. And God
saw that this was good. Evening came, and
morning followed - the fourth day.
Jay Cee: God then said, "Waters: swarm with an
abundance of living beings! Birds: fly above
the earth in the open expanse of the sky!"
And so it was: God created great sea
monsters and all sorts of swimming creatures
with which the waters are filled, and all kinds
of birds. God saw that this was good and
blessed them, saying, "Bear fruit, increase
your numbers, and fill the waters of the seas!
Birds, abound on the earth!" Evening came,
and morning followed — the fifth day.
John: Then God said, "Earth: bring forth all kinds
of living soul — cattle, things that crawl,
and wild animals of all kinds!" So it was:
God made all kinds of wild animals, and
cattle, and everything that crawls on the
ground, and God saw that this was good.
Then God said, "Let us make humankind in
our image, to be like us. Let them be
stewards of the fish in the sea, the birds of
the air, the cattle, the wild animals, and
everything that crawls on the ground."
Humankind was created in God's image: in
the divine image God created them; female
and male, God made them.
God blessed them and said, "Bear fruit,
increase your numbers, and fill the earth — and
be responsible for it! Watch over the fish of the
sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things
on the earth!" God then told them, "Look! I
give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of
the earth, and every tree whose fruit carries its
seed inside itself: they will be your food; and to
all the animals of the earth and the birds of the
air and things that crawl on the ground,
everything that has a living soul in it, I give all
the green plants for food." So, it was.
God looked at all of this creation, and
proclaimed that this was good, very good.
Evening came, and morning followed, the sixth day.
Janet: Thus, the heavens and the earth,
and all their array were completed.
On the seventh day God finished all the
work of creation, and so, on that seventh
day, God rested.
The Word of God. R: Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm: 104 R: God, send out your Sprit, and renew the face of the earth.
Galen: A reading from the book of Exodus.
God said to Moses, “Why are you crying out
to me? Tell the Israelites to march on. And
you, lift up your staff and stretch out your
hand over the sea, and split the sea in two, so
that the Israelites may pass through it on dry
land. I will make the hearts of the Egyptians
so stubborn that they will come in after you,
and I will glorify myself at the expense of
Pharaoh and all the army, chariots and
charioteers. The Egyptians will know that I
am your God, when I glorify myself over
Pharaoh and his chariots and charioteers.”
Then the angel of God, who was leading the
Israelites, moved to their rear — the pillar of
cloud left the front of their number and took up
position behind them, between the Israelites
and the Egyptians. All during the night the
cloud provided light to one side and darkness
to the other side, so that there was no contact
between them.
Cathy W: Then Moses stretched his hand over the sea,
and God swept the sea with a strong east wind
throughout the night and so turned it into dry
land. When the water was thus divided, the
Israelites marched into the midst of the sea on
dry land, with the water walled up on them
right and on their left.
The Egyptians followed in pursuit; all
Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and charioteers
went after them into the midst of the sea. At
dawn, our God looked down upon the
Egyptian forces from the column of a fiery
cloud, and threw the army into confusion and
panic, clogging their chariot wheels so that
they could hardly turn. The Egyptians turned
to flee from the Israelites, saying “Their God
fights for them against us!”
Therese: Then God told Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, and let the water flow back upon the Egyptians, over their chariots and their
charioteers.” So, at sunrise, Moses stretched
out his hand over the sea, and the waters
rolled back in. As the Egyptians fled, God
hurled them into its midst. As the water
flowed back, covering the chariots and the
charioteers — Pharaoh’s whole army, who had
followed the Israelites into the sea — not one
of them survived. But the Israelites passed
through, walking dry-shod in the sea, with the
water like a wall, on their right and on there
left. Thus, our God saved Israel on that day
from the power of Egypt. When Israel saw the
Egyptians lying dead on the seashore and
beheld the great power that God had shown
against them, the people held God in awe; and
put their faith in our God and in Moses,
God’s trusted servant.
Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song
to God, To you, our God, we sing:
you have triumphed powerfully.
Horse and charioteer you have flung into the sea!
You are our strength and our courage.
You have become our deliverance.
The Word of God. R: Thanks be to God
Responsorial Psalm Taste and See
https://youtu.be/b4EsaIBMp9c?si=Wlu5vRZkEza5RJmx
Nick: Let us pray: You freed the Israelites from Pharaoh’s persecution of slavery. Bring us into the waters of our baptism.
The Gloria is sung. Bells ring –
Gloria
https://youtu.be/udjH7EON5IY?si=jcqrRBr6HNFXz4Bt
Karla: Let us pray: Almighty ever- living God, through the preaching of your prophets you unveiled the mysteries of scripture to this present day.
Epistle: A Reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans 6: 3-11
Janet
Do you not know that when we were baptized into Christ Jesus, we were baptized into Christ's death? We have been buried with Jesus through baptism, and we joined with Jesus in death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by God's glory, we too might live a new life. If we have been united with Christ in the likeness of Christ's death, we will also be united with Christ in the likeness of Christ's resurrection. We must realize that our former selves have been crucified with Christ to make the body of sin and failure completely powerless, to free us from the slavery of sin: for when people die, they have finished with sin.
But we believe that, having died with Christ, we will also live with Christ - knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, will never die again: death is now powerless over our Savior. When Christ died, Christ died to sin, once for all, so that the life Christ lives now is life in God. In this way, you too must consider yourselves to be dead to sin, - but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
The Word of God. R: Thanks be to God.
Alleluia
https://youtu.be/W3AxJbWBlIE?si=HZ8-kYyVajZ_4Xly
Gospel: A Reading from the Holy Gospel According to Luke. Luke 20: 11-18 Juanita
Mary stayed outside the tomb weeping. As she wept, she bent over and looked into the tomb and saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet where the body of Jesus had been. And they said to her, “Woman why are you crying?” She said to them, “They have taken Jesus and I don’t know where they have laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there, but did not know it was Jesus. Jesus said to her,” Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for? She thought it was the gardener, and said to him, Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him.” Jesus said to her, “MARY! She turned and said to him in Hebrew, RABBOUNI, which means teacher. Jesus said to her, STOP clinging onto me, for I have not yet ascended to my Abba God, to my Abba, and your Abba God.” Mary of Magdala went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Risen Jesus and what he told her.
ALL: Christ is Risen, Alleluia! He is truly Risen, Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Short homily
Baptismal Liturgy:
Blessing of the Baptismal Water
https://youtu.be/huERPUnO-bo?si=KRCKNofiJ5duS66U
Everyone goes to get their candle and holds it for the renewal of their baptismal vows.
Nick: Blessed are You, Ever-Present God, Creator of the Universe. Through you we have the gift of water for Baptism. Water that formed in the remnants of ancient stars and brought our Day Star to birth; water that cooled the Earth. Rising from deep within and carried by comets. Water drenched our young planet and covered it in oceans. Water that birthed the first life on Earth, and each life thereafter, water that fills and flows within every living being.
Gina: The water of stars, Earth and life you give to bring us to fullness of life in You. This is the water over which your Spirit hovered over in the Beginning, the water that cleansed the Earth in Noah’s day, in Moses’ day, and in which Jesus was baptized.
Karla: This is the water that Jesus calmed, the water he turned into wine at Cana, and that flowed from his side on Calvary.
Therese: Ever-Present God, your spirit continuously moves within water. Enliven the water in this font and in us so, we may remember that all water flows with your holy presence.
Blessed are you, Ever-Present God, Creator of the Universe, Through you we have the gift of water for baptism.
Juanita: lowers the Easter candle into the water three times
Nick: May the power of the Holy Spirit O Lord we pray, come down through your Son into the fullness of this water, so that all who have been buried with Christ.
By baptism into death we may rise again to life with him, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, One God, forever and ever.
The candle is lifted out of the water, (place candle in holder)
Renewal of Baptismal Promises
(Presiders asks the following questions and the assembly answers: We promise)
Juanita: Do you promise to see what is good for your sisters and brothers everywhere, rejecting injustice and inequity and living with the freedom and responsibility of the family of God?
All: We promise.
Penny: Do you promise to work for the realization of God’s vision of harmony and right relations among people, rejecting the idols of money property, color, sex and greed?
All: We promise.
Karla: Do you promise to seek peace and live in peace in one human family, rejecting prejudice and half-heartedness in every form, and all barriers to unity?
All: We promise.
Nick: Do you promise to cherish the universe, and this precious planet, working creatively to renew and safeguard the elemental sacraments of air, earth, water and fire?
All: We promise.
Kathy N: Do you believe in God, the great Spirit of Creation, in Jesus, the simple servant of justice and love who lived among us so that all might live with abundant fullness; in the breath of God’s center, the Spirit who continues the work of forgiveness and reconciliation, birthing and blessing, challenge and hope, so that together we can continue the work of creation?
All: We promise.
Rite of Blessing with Sacred Water
Lift up your bowl of water
Cathy P: As we lift up our bowls of water, and ask God to bless them, we acknowledge how this water generates in us memories of our own baptism.
Karla:
Creator God, whose breath sustains all living things, you bestow us with the life source of water; which nourishes and replenishes the earth Through the sacred waters of baptism, we have been made new in fulfillment of your love in Christ Jesus.
Patti:
Gentle One, you restore our hearts and show us our true selves: the child of God that you created. Through your Word, and the Eucharist we celebrate, may this community grow in oneness with you, and with one another. Amen
Everyone lower your bowls.
R: Let us rejoice. Jesus is Risen. Death is no more
Jay Cee: As we prepare for this sacred meal we remember that just as Jesus is anointed, so is each of us. We bring to this table our blessings, our gratitude and our cares and concerns.
We bring to the table…
We pray for these and all unspoken prayers and blessings. Amen.
Sign of Peace for Easter
John: Because we believe that God is with us, and, that we meet God in the everyday, and in special moments, let us greet each other in the Peace and Love of Jesus the Christ.
Cathy W: Let us pray our Eucharistic prayer together.
adapted from “I thank you God for this amazing day,” a poem by e.e. Cummings)
Janet: We thank you, God, for this most amazing day/ for the leaping, greenly spirits of trees/ for the true, blue dream of sky/ for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes. We who were dead are alive again today/ and today is the sun's birth-day, the birth-day of wings/ in all of this wonder, how could we human merely beings/ lifted from the no of all nothing/ doubt unimaginable you? Now the ears of our ears awake/ now the eyes of our eyes are open/ awakened, quickened, alive, we join with all living creatures, and we sing:
Holy, Holy, Holy
https://youtu.be/fdOQaDb2kx0?si=XzBgWAn5egT6onoi
Juanita: We lift up our Bread together and say:
Galen: Blessed are you, God of all creation. Through your goodness we have this bread to offer, which earth has given and human hands have made. It will become for us the bread of life.
Blessed be God forever.
Juanita: We lift up our Wine together and say,
Linda: Blessed are you, God of all creation. Through your goodness we have this wine to offer, fruit of the vine and work of human hands. It will become our spiritual drink.
Blessed be God forever.
Penny: Pray, that our offering may be acceptable to God.
R: May God accept our offer for the praise and glory of God’s name, for our good and the good of all the Church
Eucharistic Prayer: Easter
Juanita:
Blessed are you, God of Resurrection.
We have kept the holy days in oneness with you and one another.
We now surround your table of Grace to be nourished by the holy and everlasting mystery of your sacred meal.
John: We praise you, God of Mystery. Your word imbues life and breath into the void, and into the entire cosmos. You call us to continue in this work of creation. The universe is filled with the splendor of the One who loves so freely, and renews life again and again.
Gina: We praise you God of Life. We thank you for the perpetual ages of gathering stars and shifting earth, of life ever evolving, of the creatures with whom we share this world, and the richness they reveal. We meet these miracles with waking eyes of wonder.
John: We praise you God of Oneness. We thank you for Jesus, formed in Mary’s womb and nurtured by her faith. He walked the earth and proclaimed a courageous kin-dom of never-ending love and peace for all humankind. A world, which does not distinguish by race or creed, but one where all persons are equal in your sight.
A world where your love transforms our hearts, our experiences and our actions.
Cathy P: We praise you God of Mercy. In Jesus we learned that dying to self in Christ is living in truth with Christ. On the cross Jesus joins the labor of all creation’s yearnings. Yet, death could not confine him. His acceptance of death broke its fearful hold:
Juanita: We extend our hands over our bread and wine
Come Holy Spirit. Be intensified in these our gifts, so they may become the Body + and Blood + of Jesus the Christ for the world.
As we lift our bread, we remember that, on the night before he died, Jesus took bread and gave you thanks and praise. He broke the bread and gave it to those at the table, saying.
All: “Take this, all of you, and eat: this is my body which will be given up for you.”
Juanita: As we lift our cup we remember how at the end of the meal, he lifted the cup, praised you for your goodness, and shared the cup with these words:
All: “Take this, all of you, and drink: this is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant,
Do this in memory of me.”
Karla: Great is the Mystery of our Faith: All: Christ has died, Alleluia! Christ is risen, Alleluia!
Christ will come again, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Cathy W: We praise you, God of Miracles. Raised to new life, Jesus appears to the women who held vigil at the tomb. In the days that follow, he appears to his friends along the road, and at the lakeside. In the breaking of the bread Jesus reveals himself among us. In each new day, in our comings and our goings, he is with us. When we lie down and when we rise at dawn, he calls us to take up his work, and walk
in truth and compassion with him.
Kathy N: Blessed are you, Wondrous God.
May your grace awaken our inner conversion, that we may see the evolving beauty of all creation. Gather us together from all the corners of the earth to share at your Table of Grace. We long to be one in spirit with you, and with one another. May we know that together we are your body and we are your blood infusing new life into the world. Let us proclaim our praise and thanksgiving:
Penny: Through Christ, with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours, Loving God, forever and ever. R: Amen
Pat: THE PRAYER OF JESUS
Let us pray with confidence to our God in the words that Jesus taught us Abba God, who is everywhere, and in all things, Hallowed be your name. Your reign will come; your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us. Strengthen us against temptation, and deliver us from evil. For dominion, power, and glory are yours now and forever – Amen
Nick:
May the lavish, welcome of the Creator accept us for who we are.
May the incarnation of the Word touch and hold us close.
May the wandering of the Spirit help us risk ourselves for love.
Communion
Karla: As we share communion, we become both communion Love’s nourishment, and Love’s challenge.
Communion song
https://youtu.be/f3ABJGtnZwU
Prayer After Communion
Penny:
Let us Pray.
Risen Christ! whom we have seen with our eyes, and heard with our ears, and touched with our hands. We have tasted the sweetness of your sacred meal. Bring all to new life in you, in whom our joy is complete.
We pray through the Christ. In the unity of the Holy Spirit,
One, forever and ever. R: Amen
Closing Blessing
Nick:
Let us Pray.
Risen Christ! whom we have seen with our eyes, and heard with our ears, and touched with our hands. We have tasted the sweetness of your sacred meal. Bring all to new life in you, in whom our joy is complete.
We pray through the Christ. In the unity of the Holy Spirit,
One, forever and ever. R: Amen
Juanita:
Risen Christ! Send us forth to declare your truth, to share your unshakable faith in the world we love. May your Spirit set us, and all creation free. And seal our hearts with faith and the blessing of God.
We pray through Jesus the Christ. In the unity of the Holy Spirit,
One, forever and ever.
May our Wondrous God bless us all, in the name of the Creator, Jesus the Christ and the Holy Spirit.
Dismissal: Karla:
All: Jesus is Risen, Alleluia, alleluia
Jesus Christ Is Risen Today
https://youtu.be/PcTP3Pj6Smo?si=2sdSchWfYX1uopqM
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