In his homily at the Easter Vigil last night, Pope Francis preached on the three words that describe the behaviour of the women who first arrived at the tomb early on that first Easter morning: they saw, they heard and they proclaimed. The Holy Father ended his homily thus:
Let us make Jesus, the Living One, rise again from all those tombs in which we have sealed him. Let us set him free from the narrow cells in which we have so often imprisoned him. Let us awaken from our peaceful slumber and let him disturb and inconvenience us. Let us bring him into our everyday lives: through gestures of peace in these days marked by the horrors of war, through acts of reconciliation amid broken relationships, acts of compassion towards those in need, acts of justice amid situations of inequality and of truth in the midst of lies. And above all, through works of love and fraternity.
Brothers and sisters our hope has a name: the name of Jesus. He entered the tomb of our sin; he descended to those depths where we feel most lost; he wove his way through the tangles of our fears, bore the weight of our burdens and from the dark abyss of death restored us to life and turned our mourning into joy. Let us celebrate Easter with Christ! He is alive! Today, too, he walks in our midst, changes us and sets us free. Thanks to him, evil has been robbed of its power; failure can no longer hold us back from starting anew; and death has become a passage to the stirrings of new life. For with Jesus, the Risen Lord, no night will last forever; and even in the darkest night, in that darkness, the morning star continues to shine.
In this darkness that you are living, Mr. Mayor, Parliamentarians, the thick darkness of war, of cruelty, we are all praying, praying with you and for you this night. We are praying for all the suffering. We can only give you our company, our prayer and say to you: “Courage! We are accompanying you!” And also to say to you the greatest thing we are celebrating today: Christòs voskrés! Christ is risen!
When the Pope celebrates Mass in St Peter's Square on the morning of Easter Sunday, a first act is a witness of the Holy Father to the resurrection, modelled on that of St Peter at the tomb. As the doors covering an icon of the Holy Redeemer are opened, the deacon sings, alternating with the three fold Alleluia of the choir and congregation:
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.
The Lord has risen from the tomb, who hung on the cross for us.
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.
(At this point the deacon turns to face towards the Holy Father.)
The Lord has truly risen, and has appeared to Peter.
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.
And the Successor of St Peter venerates the icon representing the risen Lord.
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