FIRST READING (We ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.)

A reading from the Acts of the Apostles (10:34a, 37-43)

Peter proceeded to speak and said: “You know what has happened all over Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power. He went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. We are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree. This man God raised on the third day and granted that he be visible, not to all the people, but to us, the witnesses chosen by God in advance, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commissioned us to preach to the people and testify that he is the one appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness, that everyone who believes in him will receive forgiveness of sins through his name.” —The Word of the Lord.

R. Thanks be to God.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM (118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23)

R. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad. (Ps 118:24)

Or Alleluia.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever. Let the house of Israel say, “His mercy endures forever.” (R)

“The right hand of the Lord has struck with power; the right hand of the Lord is exalted. I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord.” (R)

The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. By the Lord has this been done; it is wonderful in our eyes. (R)

SECOND READING (Seek what is above, where Christ is.)

A reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Colossians (3:1-4)

Brothers and sisters: If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Think of what is above, not of what is on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ your life appears, then you too will appear with him in glory. —The Word of the Lord.

R. Thanks be to God.

Or

SECOND READING (Clear out the old yeast, so that you may become a fresh batch of dough.)

A reading from the first Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians (5:6b-8)

Brothers and sisters: Do you not know that a little yeast leavens all the dough? Clear out the old yeast, so that you may become a fresh batch of dough, inasmuch as you are unleavened. For our paschal lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us celebrate the feast, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. —The Word of the Lord.

R. Thanks be to God.

SEQUENCE

Christians, to the Paschal Victim

Offer your thankful praises!

A Lamb the sheep redeems;

Christ, who only is sinless,

Reconciles sinners to the Father.

Death and life have contended

in that combat stupendous:

The Prince of life, who died,

reigns immortal.

Speak, Mary, declaring

What you saw, wayfaring.

“The tomb of Christ, who is living,

the glory of Jesus’ resurrection;

Bright angels attesting,

The shroud and napkin resting.

Yes, Christ my hope is arisen;

To Galilee he goes before you.”

Christ indeed

from death is risen,

our new life obtaining.

Have mercy, victor King,

ever reigning!

Amen. Alleluia!

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION (1 Cor 5:7b-8a)

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacrificed; let us then feast with joy in the Lord. (R)

 

(The Gospel from the Easter Vigil may also be read in place of the following Gospels at any time of the day.)

GOSPEL (He had to rise from the dead.)

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (20:1-9)

On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.” So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first; he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in. When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place. Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead. —The Gospel of the Lord.

R. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

 

(At an evening Mass the following Gospel may be used as an Alternative.)

GOSPEL (They recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread.)

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (24:13-35)

That very day, the first day of the week, two of Jesus’ disciples were going to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus, and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred. And it happened that while they were conversing and debating, Jesus himself drew near and walked with them, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him. He asked them, “What are you discussing as you walk along?” They stopped, looking downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know of the things that have taken place there in these days?” And he replied to them, “What sort of things?” They said to him, “The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over to a sentence of death and crucified him. But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel; and besides all this, it is now the third day since this took place. Some women from our group, however, have astounded us: they were at the tomb early in the morning and did not find his Body; they came back and reported that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who announced that he was alive. Then some of those with us went to the tomb and found things just as the women had described, but him they did not see.” And he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them what referred to him in all the Scriptures. As they approached the village to which they were going, he gave the impression that he was going on farther. But they urged him, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them. And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight. Then they said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?” So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem where they found gathered together the Eleven and those with them who were saying, “The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!” Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread. —The Gospel of the Lord.

R. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

 

The Creed is said.

However, in Easter Sunday Masses which are celebrated with a congregation, the rite of the renewal of baptismal promises may take place after the Homily, according to the text used at the Easter Vigil. In that case the Creed is omitted.

PRAYER OVER THE OFFERINGS

Exultant with paschal gladness, O Lord,

we offer the sacrifice

by which your Church

is wondrously reborn and nourished.

Through Christ our Lord.

R. Amen.

PREFACE I OF EASTER

(The Paschal Mystery)

It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation,

at all times to acclaim you, O Lord,

but on this day above all

to laud you yet more gloriously,

when Christ our Passover has been sacrificed.

For he is the true Lamb

who has taken away the sins of the world;

by dying he has destroyed our death,

and by rising, restored our life.

Therefore, overcome with paschal joy,

every land, every people exults in your praise

and even the heavenly Powers, with the angelic hosts,

sing together the unending hymn of your glory,

as they acclaim:

 

When the Roman Canon is used, the proper forms of the Communicantes (In communion with those) and Hanc igitur (Therefore, Lord, we pray) are said.

COMMUNION ANTIPHON (1 Cor 5:7-8)

Christ our Passover has been sacrificed, alleluia;

therefore let us keep the feast with the unleavened bread

of purity and truth, alleluia, alleluia.

PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION

Let us pray (pause)

Look upon your Church, O God,

with unfailing love and favor,

so that, renewed by the paschal mysteries,

she may come to the glory of the resurrection.

Through Christ our Lord.

R. Amen.

SOLEMN BLESSING

Bow down for the blessing.

(The Priest, with hands extended over the people, says the blessing.)

May almighty God bless you

through today’s Easter Solemnity

and, in his compassion,

defend you from every assault of sin.

R. Amen.

And may he, who restores you to eternal life

in the Resurrection of his Only Begotten,

endow you with the prize of immortality.

R. Amen.

Now that the days of the Lord’s Passion have drawn to a close,

may you who celebrate the gladness of the Paschal Feast

come with Christ’s help, and exulting in spirit,

to those feasts that are celebrated in eternal joy.

R. Amen.

And may the blessing of almighty God,

the Father, and the Son, X and the Holy Spirit,

come down on you and remain with you for ever.

R. Amen.

 

For the dismissal of the people, there is sung or said:

Go forth, the Mass is ended, alleluia, alleluia.

Or

Go in peace, alleluia, alleluia.

R. Thanks be to God, alleluia, alleluia.

This practice is observed throughout the Octave of Easter.

The paschal candle is lit in all the more solemn liturgical celebrations of the Easter Time.