| 20 Saturday | |
| | violet | HOLY SATURDAY | | | The Paschal Fast is observed if possible. [CR 20] Celebration of the Mass and the sacraments is strictly prohibited, except for Penance and Anointing of the Sick. Communion may be given only as viaticum. | | | Hours of the day. The Office of Readings and Morning Prayer in public is recommended.
Night Prayer is celebrated only by those not present at the Vigil. | | | | Preparation for the Vigil includes: preparation of the bonfire; candles for all the faithful present; water for the liturgy of Baptism; flowers and decorations for the altar. | | | |
| white | The Easter Vigil. | | | The celebration should truly have the character of a Vigil. It must take place at night. It should not begin before nightfall and should end before dawn. To start earlier (e.g. at the customary time for a Sunday vigil Mass) is a "reprehensible abuse". [PS 78]
The Vigil has four parts:
I. Service of Light : Bonfire, Procession with Candle, Exsultet.
II. Liturgy of the Word : Readings, psalms, prayers, Gloria, homily.
III. Liturgy of Baptism : Litany, Blessing of Water, Baptism and/or Confirmation,
Renewal of Promises, Prayer of the Faithful.
IV. Liturgy of the Eucharist : Preface of Easter I ("on this night"), special
Communicantes and Hanc igitur; double alleluia at dismissal.
This liturgical order must not be changed by anyone on his own initiative. [PS 81]
| | | Wherever possible, all the readings should be read so that the character of the Easter Vigil, which demands that it be somewhat prolonged, be respected at all costs. Where pastoral conditions require that the number of readings be reduced, there should be at least three readings from the Old Testament, taken from the law and the prophets; and the reading from Exodus (ch. 14) with its canticle, must never be omitted. | | | The Readings [41]: | |
- Gen 1:1-2:2 or 1:1, 26-31a with Ps 104:1-2, 5-6, 10+12, 13-14, 24+35 or Ps 33:4-5, 6-7, 12-13, 20-22
- Gen 22:1-18 or 22:1-2, 9a,10-13, 15-18 with Ps 16:5+8, 9-10, 11
- Exod 14:15-15:1 with Exod 15:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 17-18 This reading and psalm are obligatory.
- Isa 54:5-14 with Ps 30:2+4, 5-6, 11-12a+13b
- Isa 55:1-11 with Isa 12:2-3, 4, 5-6
- Bar 3:9-15, 32-4:4 with Ps 19:8, 9, 10, 11
- Ezek 36:16-17a, 18-28 with Ps 42:3, 5; 43:3, 4 (when baptisms occur) or (when no baptisms) Isa 12:2-3, 4bcd, 5-6 or Ps 51:12-13, 14-15, 18-19
- Epistle: Rom 6:3-11
- Alleluia Psalm: Ps 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23
- Gospel: Mark 16:1-7
| | | Bells are to be rung during the Gloria, and the altar candles lit. |
| The celebrant -- or, in case of necessity, a cantor -- intones the triple alleluia before the Gospel. The gospel is honored with incense, but candles are not carried.
For the texts of the rites of Baptism and Confirmation, see the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults.
The dismissal with double alleluia is used tonight and throughout the octave. | | | Archdioceses of Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg, South Africa [SACBC] | | white | St Marcellinus, Bishop | Optional | | Common of Pastors |
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| Anniversary: | 99th anniversary of the death of P. Joseph Hornig (75) d. 1931 at Bulawayo, S. Rhodesia.  | | Anniversary: | 73rd anniversary of the death of P. Christopher Wilmot (88) d. 1957 at Heythrop, England. | | Anniversary: | 17th anniversary of the death of P. Joseph Groselj (69) d. 2013 at Nangoma, Zambia. | | Birthday: | 80th birthday of P. Christopher CHATTERIS (born this day in 1950). | | Birthday: | 78th birthday of P. O. Kenneth JOHNSON (born this day in 1952). |
On this day in our Jesuit history...
| | 1586 | The first and trial edition of the Ratio Studiorum was issued under Fr. General Claudio Acquaviva. | | 1586 | The first Ratio Studiorum was issued under Father General Claude Aquaviva. | | 1842 | Jesuits return to Canada. Superior Peter Chazelle is appointed. 1864. Father Peter de Smet left St. Louis to evangelize the Sioux Indians. | | 1893 | Robert I. Gannon, S.J. is born. Staten Island. He was President of Fordham University, and a famous after dinner speaker. | | 1955 | Pedro Leturia, S.J. dies Rome, historian. He was the founding director of the Archivum Historicum Societatis, Jesu. | | 1996 | Francis McCool, S.J. dies. He had been a professor of Scripture at the Biblicum in Rome. | | | | |
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