“The object of opening the mind, as of opening the mouth, is to shut it again on something solid.”
— G. K. Chesterton
Invitatory
Lord, open thou my mouth.
And my mouth shall declare thy praise.
Antiphon:
Come, let us adore Christ the Lord, who ascendeth above the heavens, alleluia.
Psalm 94
Come let us praise the Lord with joy: let us joyfully sing to God our saviour.
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving; and make a joyful noise to him with psalms.
For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
For in his hand are all the ends of the earth: and the heights of the mountains are his.
For the sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.
Come let us adore and fall down: and weep before the Lord that made us.
For he is the Lord our God: and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.
Today if you shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Antiphon:
Come, let us adore Christ the Lord, who ascendeth above the heavens, alleluia.
Hymn
Jesus, the very thought of Thee
With sweetness fills my breast;
But sweeter far Thy face to see,
And in Thy presence rest.
Nor voice can sing, nor heart can frame,
Nor can the memory find
A sweeter sound than Thy blest Name,
O Saviour of mankind.
O hope of every contrite heart,
O joy of all the meek,
To those who fall, how kind Thou art!
How good to those who seek!
But what to those who find? Ah, this
Nor tongue nor pen can show;
The love of Jesus, what it is
None but His loved ones know.
Jesu, our only joy be Thou,
As Thou our prize wilt be;
Jesu, be Thou our glory now,
And through eternity. Amen.
Psalmody
Antiphon 1
The Lord is risen and shineth upon us, alleluia.
Psalm 62
O God, my God, to thee do I watch at break of day.
For thee my soul hath thirsted; for thee my flesh, O how many ways!
In a desert land, and where there is no way, and no water:
so in the sanctuary have I come before thee, to see thy power and thy glory.
For thy mercy is better than lives:
thee my lips shall praise.
Thus will I bless thee all my life long:
and in thy name I will lift up my hands.
Let my soul be filled as with marrow and fatness:
and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips.
If I have remembered thee upon my bed, I will meditate on thee in the morning:
because thou hast been my helper.
And I will rejoice under the covert of thy wings.
My soul hath stuck close to thee: thy right hand hath received me.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Antiphon:
The Lord is risen and shineth upon us, alleluia.
Antiphon 2
All ye works of the Lord, bless the Lord, alleluia.
Canticle — Daniel 3
Bless the Lord, all ye works of the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
O ye angels of the Lord, bless the Lord.
O ye heavens, bless the Lord.
O all ye waters that are above the heavens, bless the Lord.
O all ye powers of the Lord, bless the Lord.
O ye sun and moon, bless the Lord.
O ye stars of heaven, bless the Lord.
O every shower and dew, bless ye the Lord.
O all ye spirits of God, bless the Lord.
O ye fire and heat, bless the Lord.
O ye cold and heat, bless the Lord.
O ye dews and hoar frosts, bless the Lord.
O ye frost and cold, bless the Lord.
O ye ice and snow, bless the Lord.
O ye nights and days, bless the Lord.
O ye light and darkness, bless the Lord.
O ye lightnings and clouds, bless the Lord.
Let the earth bless the Lord: let it praise and exalt him above all for ever.
O mountains and hills, bless the Lord.
O all ye things that spring up in the earth, bless the Lord.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Antiphon:
All ye works of the Lord, bless the Lord, alleluia.
Antiphon 3
Let Israel rejoice in him that made him, alleluia.
Psalm 149
Sing ye to the Lord a new canticle:
let his praise be in the church of the saints.
Let Israel rejoice in him that made him:
and let the children of Sion be joyful in their king.
Let them praise his name in choir:
let them sing to him with the timbrel and the psaltery.
For the Lord is well pleased with his people:
and he will exalt the meek unto salvation.
The saints shall rejoice in glory:
they shall be joyful in their beds.
The high praises of God shall be in their mouth:
and two-edged swords in their hands.
To execute vengeance upon the nations, chastisements among the people:
To bind their kings with fetters, and their nobles with manacles of iron.
To execute upon them the judgment that is written:
this glory is to all his saints.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Antiphon:
Let Israel rejoice in him that made him, alleluia.
Short Reading
Romans 6:8–11
Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall live also together with Christ:
Knowing that Christ rising again from the dead, dieth now no more, death shall no more have dominion over him.
For in that he died to sin, he died once; but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
So do you also reckon, that you are dead to sin, but alive unto God, in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Responsory
The Lord is risen from the tomb, alleluia, alleluia.
— The Lord is risen from the tomb, alleluia, alleluia.
Who for our sake hung upon the tree.
— Alleluia, alleluia.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
— The Lord is risen from the tomb, alleluia, alleluia.
Benedictus Antiphon
I came forth from the Father and am come into the world; again I leave the world and I go to the Father, alleluia.
Benedictus — Luke 1:68–79
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel;
because he hath visited and wrought the redemption of his people:
And hath raised up an horn of salvation to us,
in the house of David his servant:
As he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets,
who are from the beginning:
Salvation from our enemies,
and from the hand of all that hate us:
To perform mercy to our fathers,
and to remember his holy testament,
The oath, which he swore to Abraham our father,
that he would grant to us,
That being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
we may serve him without fear,
In holiness and justice before him,
all our days.
And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest:
for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways:
To give knowledge of salvation to his people,
unto the remission of their sins:
Through the bowels of the mercy of our God,
in which the Orient from on high hath visited us:
To enlighten them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death:
to direct our feet into the way of peace.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Antiphon:
I came forth from the Father and am come into the world; again I leave the world and I go to the Father, alleluia.
Intercessions
Christ, risen from the dead and ever living to intercede for us, hear us.
— King of glory, hear our prayer.
Christ, light and salvation of all peoples,
send the fire of thy Spirit upon the earth.
— King of glory, hear our prayer.
Thou who didst promise to remain with thy Church until the end of the world,
strengthen all pastors, missionaries, and teachers of the faith.
— King of glory, hear our prayer.
Thou who hast conquered death and opened paradise,
comfort the lonely, the sick, and the forgotten.
— King of glory, hear our prayer.
Thou who didst ascend to the Father and prepare a place for thy faithful,
guide us through the confusions of this passing world.
— King of glory, hear our prayer.
Our Father
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive them that trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Concluding Prayer
Grant, we beseech thee, almighty God,
that we who have celebrated the paschal mysteries
may by thy gift hold fast unto them in our manner of life.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ thy Son,
who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost,
God, world without end. Amen.
Paradox of the Day
The modern world is full of men who demand proof that heaven exists, while living every hour as though hell certainly does.
Chestertonian Reflection
There is a curious sadness in modern civilization which consists not in the absence of comforts, but in the absence of conclusions. The ancient peasant, though poor, often knew where he stood in the universe. He believed the stars had meaning, the bells had purpose, and the dead had destinations. The modern man possesses thermostats, electric lighting, and six hundred channels of entertainment, yet walks about spiritually like a tourist who has lost both his luggage and his map.
The Resurrection is not merely comforting because it promises immortality. Every religion vaguely hints at immortality. The Resurrection is startling because it insists upon personality. Christ did not rise as an idea, nor as a poetic influence, nor as some diffuse moral atmosphere floating through the centuries like incense in an abandoned church. He rose bodily, historically, scandalously. He ate fish. He walked roads. He frightened practical men who thought they understood reality.
And this is why Christianity remains perpetually revolutionary. The faith does not merely say that goodness survives. It says a particular Man walked out of a particular tomb in a particular garden while soldiers blinked in the dawn.
The world can tolerate vague spirituality because vague spirituality asks nothing of anyone. But a risen Christ changes everything. It means history has a center. It means suffering has boundaries. It means despair is not realism, but rebellion.
And perhaps that is why Easter joy feels so strangely defiant. The Christian laughs not because life is simple, but because death itself has been made ridiculous.
Chesterton Radio
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