Responsorial Psalm

℟. (24) This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.
  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.”

℟. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.
  or:
℟. Alleluia.

“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.”

℟. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.
  or:
℟. Alleluia.

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

℟. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.
  or:
℟. Alleluia.

2nd Reading

Col 3:1-4 or I Cor 5:6b-8

A reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Colossians

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.

Or:

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

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.

SEQUENCE

Victimae paschali laudes

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 will go before you.”
Christ indeed from death is risen, our new life obtaining;
   Have mercy, victor King, ever reigning!
   Amen. Alleluia.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Sequence Victimae paschali laudes

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.

Alleluia, Alleluia.

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

Alleluia, Alleluia.

Gospel

Jn 20:1-9 or Mt 28:1-10

✠ A reading from the holy Gospel according to John

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.

Or:

Matthew 28:1-10
Why do you seek the Living One among the dead?

✠ A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew

After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning,
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.
And behold, there was a great earthquake;
   for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven,
   approached, rolled back the stone, and sat upon it.
His appearance was like lightning
   and his clothing was white as snow.
The guards were shaken with fear of him
   and became like dead men.
Then the angel said to the women in reply,
   “Do not be afraid!
I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified.
He is not here, for he has been raised just as he said.
Come and see the place where he lay.
Then go quickly and tell his disciples,
   ‘He has been raised from the dead,
   and he is going before you to Galilee;
   there you will see him.’
   Behold, I have told you.”
Then they went away quickly from the tomb,
   fearful yet overjoyed,
   and ran to announce this to his disciples.
And behold, Jesus met them on their way and greeted them.
They approached, embraced his feet, and did him homage.
Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid.
Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee,
   and there they will see me.”

Or, at an afternoon or evening Mass:

Luke 24:13-35
They recognized Jesus in the breaking of bread.

✠ A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke

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 bread.

At the end of the Gospel, the Deacon, or the Priest, acclaims:

The Gospel of the Lord.

All reply:

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Then he kisses the book, saying quietly:

Through the words of the Gospel
may our sins be wiped away.

In the United States. in Easter Sunday Masses which are celebrated with a congregation, the Priest addresses the faithful in these or similar words:

Dear brethren (brothers and sisters), through the Paschal Mystery
we have been buried with Christ in Baptism,
so that we may walk with him in newness of life.
And so, now that our Lenten observance is concluded,
let us renew the promises of Holy Baptism,
by which we once renounced Satan and his works
and promised to serve God in the holy Catholic Church.
And so I ask you:

Priest: Do you renounce Satan?
All: I do.

Priest: And all his works?
All: I do.

Priest: And all his empty show?
All: I do.

Or:

Priest: Do you renounce sin,
so as to live in the freedom of the children of God?
All: I do.

Priest: Do you renounce the lure of evil,
so that sin may have no mastery over you?
All: I do.

Priest: Do you renounce Satan,
the author and prince of sin?
All: I do.

If the situation warrants, this second formula may be adapted by Conferences of Bishops according to local needs.

Then the Priest continues:

Priest: Do you believe in God,
the Father almighty,
Creator of heaven and earth?
All: I do.

Priest: Do you believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered death and was buried,
rose again from the dead
and is seated at the right hand of the Father?
All: I do.

Priest: Do you believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy Catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting?
All: I do.

And the Priest concludes:
And may almighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has given us new birth by water and the Holy Spirit
and bestowed on us forgiveness of our sins,
keep us by his grace,
in Christ Jesus our Lord,
for eternal life.
All: Amen.

The Priest sprinkles the people with the blessed water, while all sing:

Ant. I saw water flowing from the Temple,
from its right-hand side, alleluia;
and all to whom this water came were saved
and shall say: Alleluia, alleluia.

The Creed is omitted.

The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ.

Nicene Creed

I believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.

I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only Begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages.

God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
consubstantial with the Father;
through him all things were made.

For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of
the Virgin Mary, and became man.

For our sake he was crucified
under Pontius Pilate,
he suffered death and was buried,
and rose again on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures.

He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right
hand of the Father.

He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead
and his kingdom will have no end.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the
Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son
is adored and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.

I believe in One, Holy,
Catholic and Apostolic Church.
I confess one Baptism
for the forgiveness of sins
and I look forward to
the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come.

Amen.

Apostles Creed

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.

And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the virgin Mary.

He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to hell.

On the third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Holy Catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting.

Amen.

Gospel Canticle

Ant. Very early on the morning after the Sabbath, when the sun had just risen, they came to the tomb, alleluia.

Canticle of Zechariah
Luke 1:68-79
The Messiah and his forerunner

Blessed + be the Lord, the God of Israel; *
he has come to his people and set them free.

He has raised up for us a mighty savior, *
born of the house of his servant David.

Through his holy prophets he promised of old †
  that he would save us from our enemies, *
  from the hands of all who hate us.

He promised to show mercy to our fathers *
and to remember his holy covenant.

This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham: *
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
free to worship him without fear, *
holy and righteous in his sight
   all the days of our life.

You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High; *
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
to give his people knowledge of salvation *
by the forgiveness of their sins.

In the tender compassion of our God *
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, *
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, *
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, *
and will be for ever. Amen.


Ant. Very early on the morning after the Sabbath, when the sun had just risen, they came to the tomb, alleluia.