Death, where is thy sting? Christ is risen! ...

"This is the night of which it is written:  

The night shall be as bright as day, dazzling is the night for me, 

and full of gladness. The sanctifying power of this night dispels all wickedness, washes faults away, restores innocence to the fallen, and joy to the mourners, 

drives out hatred, fosters concord, and brings down the mighty." 

- From Exultet, intoned during Easter Vigil  

(beautiful full text linked below)
Click here: Paschal Proclamation (Exsultet) • Recording Easter Proclamation -Holy Saturday

"Poor death, where is your sting?

Poor hell, where is your triumph?

Christ steps out of the tomb and you are

reduced to nothing!

Christ rises and the angels are wild with delight.

Christ rises and life is set free.

Christ rises and graves are emptied of dead.

Oh yes, for He broke from the tomb like a flower,

a beautiful fruit: the first fruit of those already gone.

All glory be His, all success and power . . .

forever and ever."

St John Chrysosotom
Excerpt from Easter homily

387 AD

Painting above: Jacopa Robusti Tintoretto, The Resurrection of Christ (1565)

 

 

  

 

Christ is risen to go before us:
our Brother to the Father,
our Priest to the Altar.
our Saviour to the world!

Christ is risen!
Christ is risen!
Christ is risen!

 Alleluia!     Alleluia!     Alleluia!

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! 

By His great mercy we have been born anew to a living hope

through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead

and to an inheritance which is . . . kept in Heaven for you. - 1 Pet 1:3

Pope Francis’ Easter Vigil Homily 2017 — Full Text | ncregister.com

Pope Francis’ 2017 Easter message “Urbi et Orbi” — Aleteia

Pope Emeritus Benedict 

Happy 90th!

A Child of Holy Saturday: Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI Turns 90 | ncregister.com

Happy 90th Birthday, Holy Father! | Vultus Christi

Touching and seeing - Jesus (EASTER THURSDAY)

It is I myself.  Touch me and see...

Luke 24:39a

 

 

"Those who are called to recognize the risen Jesus do so by following the same two-pronged path:  by the sacrament of Jesus' Body and that of His Word, touching Jesus' Body and understanding the Scriptures.  These two sacraments, in a mysterious way, contain the risen One and at the same time in every Eucharist make Him present to all who believe.

How could we ever believe if Jesus Himself did not take the initiative to make it happen?  How would we recognize Jesus in the sacrament of His Body and Blood if He Himself did not invite us to do this and if He did not tenderly wound our heart at the moment we receive Him?  How would we find the risen One in His Word if He Himself did not open our mind and set our heart on fire every time He spoke to us through Scriptures?  In our own heart, which leaps up with joy, we recognize Jesus, the Jesus Who is risen and still lives, even in our midst."

Dom Andre Louf (+2010)

Abbot - 35 years  - Cistercian monastery

of Mont-des-Cats, France

Seed of immortality (EASTER FRIDAY)

The bread that I will give is My flesh

for the life of the world. ~ Gospel of St John 6:51

“The Eucharist is source and pledge of blessedness

and glory, not for the soul alone, but for the body also.

...In the frail and perishable body that divine Host,

which is the immortal Body of Christ, implants

a principle of resurrection, a seed of immortality,

which one day must germinate.”

Pope Leo XIII