| 27 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. |
| Anniversary: | 82nd anniversary of the death of P. Isidore Lallemand (82) d. 1945 at Cape Town, RSA.  | | Anniversary: | 16th anniversary of the death of F. William Nash (87) d. 2011 at London, England. | | Anniversary: | 7th anniversary of the death of P. Roland Lesseps (UCS) (87) d. 2020 at Grand Coteau, LA, USA. |
On this day in our Jesuit history...
| | 1540 | Simon Rodriguez sets out for India. He is the first Jesuit missionary. 1547. Ignatius wrote a letter to Jesuits in Spain on religious perfection. | | 1540 | Xavier, chosen in Father Nicholas Bobadilla's place left Rome for the Indies... St. Ignatius' parting words were, "Ite omnia incendite et inflammate." | | 1548 | Fr. Anthony Corduba, rector of the College of Salamanca, begged Ignatius to admit him into the Society so as to escape the cardinalate which Charles V intended to procure for him. | | 1587 | The death at Messina of Thomas Evans, a Jesuit who had suffered imprisonment for his defense of the Catholic faith in England. He was 28 at the time of his death. | | 1708 | By a decree of Pope Clement XI the convent of Port Royal, a nest of Jansenism, was suppressed. | | 1766 | A forged letter (the work of Choiseul) from Father General Ricci to the Spanish Provincial, imputing illegitimacy to King Charles III, was shown to that monarch, who at once became the Society’s implacable enemy. | | 1840 | Among the North American Indians, Father Peter de Smet was welcomed with great joy, being the first "Blackrobe" seen among them since the Suppression. | | 1840 | Peter de Smet set out from St. Louis on his first trip to the Rocky Mountains at the invitation of a delegation from the Salishan people in what is now Montana. This exploratory trip resulted in starting amission to the Indians a year later. | | | | |
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