Attend Easter Day Mass
The feast is of course celebrated on the same day in both the old and the new calendars.
If you would like to attend a traditional Mass for the feast, find a Traditional Latin Mass near you (click here to explore).
Bless food: lamb or ham, buns/bread, easter eggs, a dish of salt
In some places the blessing of special Easter food takes place on Holy Saturday. Among the Slovaks a basket containing lamb meat (which of course signifies Jesus, the Lamb of God), boiled eggs, dyed and plain, Pascha (a special Easter bread), and other foods, is taken to the church in the afternoon where the priest blesses it, using the prayer [Editor’s Note: This is an older version of the blessing. The current blessing can be found in the Book of Blessings]:
Bless, O Lord, this creation that it may be a means of salvation to the human race, And grant that, by the invocation of Thy Holy Name, it may promote health of body, and salvation of soul in those who partake of it, through Christ our Lord.
The food is then taken home and eaten for breakfast on Easter Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday.
Among the Polish people the same custom is practiced, but the main foods blessed are an egg which is broken and shared by all on Easter Sunday morning, and a lamb moulded of butter or pastry. This butter-lamb and blessed Easter egg have a place of honor on the festive Easter table.
In Rome on Holy Saturday there is an old custom which is still in practice. A fresh table cloth is spread on the table in the dining room and on it are laid out the Easter meal, including the uncooked Easter Lamb which is decorated with flowers, eggs, wine, fruit, and a large traditional cake called “pizza”. These are sprinkled with holy water, and are given a special blessing by the priest.
(From How to Make Your House a Home by Rev. Bernard Stokes, O.F.M., Family Life Bureau, Washington D.C., 1955)
Have an easter feast!
Have a beautiful Easter feast and adorn the table!
Here are some ideas from Fisheaters.com:
On this most beautiful of Feasts, the Easter table should be adorned with the best of everything — the most beautiful china, a pure, white tablecloth, the best possible wine, flowers (especially pussy willow, lilies, and spring bulb flowers), etc., all with the colors white and gold — symbolizing purity and glory — and the traditional symbols of Easter predominating. And we should look our best, too; it is common for those who can afford it to buy a new outfit to wear on this day. This custom springs from the idea of “newness” inherent in the entire Season — the new members of the Church baptized at the Vigil in their new Baptismal albs, the New Law, a new life in Christ.
The Paschal Candle representing the Light of Christ (Lumen Christi) is the centerpiece of the table today and, like the Paschal Candle at church, is relit each day (such as at dinner and during family prayer) until the Feast of the Ascension in 40 days when the Light of the World leaves us to ascend to His Father. The candle should be large and white, and should be surrounded with flowers and the symbols of Easter.
Carve and light a family Paschal Candle
As a family we had always used the largest Easter candle, or Lumen Christi, that we could find. When the children grew, they learned to mark it with five cloves in cross form, in memory of the five sacred wounds. The candle stands in a bowl of fresh cut flowers, tokens of new life.
Parents may question whether children will grasp the symbolism of Eastertide, for it is a deep mystery. A child’s mind, like soft wax, receives impressions with ease. These first impressions sink deepest and remain longest. Easter symbols have an appeal for children. The Lamb, the Dove, the Lumen Christi candle are simple objects on which to fix a child’s imagination. “To invest them with a greater meaning than is usually ascribed to them, is to perform a feat of wonder in the child’s eyes, to deepen in him a reverence for the mystery of life.”
Children who make their own baptismal candles to set around the family Lumen Christi will learn what to “put on Christ” means as they add layer after layer of wax to the wick of the candle. It is from such work as this that the world will receive the imprint of Christ, restoring all things to Him.
Three great symbols introduce the Vigil Mass: the blessing of the new fire and the Paschal Candle lit from it; the blessing of the baptismal font; and as climax to the Vigil liturgy, the baptism of converts and infants, with the renewal of our own baptismal vows. Pius Parsch tells us that it was Saint Patrick who christianized the age-old Irish custom of holding a fire service on the hill of Tara at the first full moon of spring. Brought to Rome by Irish monks, this custom of blessing the fire on Holy Saturday then spread throughout the Western Church. Because four members of our family were born in Ireland we hold a special love for this blessed fire, symbol of Christ whose grace illumines our hearts.
The Paschal Candle, or Lumen Christi, is a figure of Christ, its five grains of incense symbolizing our Savior’s transfigured wounds. The Candle is lit from the Easter fire, blessed and carried in procession through the dark church to the sanctuary where the glorious Exsultet, remembered for its lyric beauty, is sung to announce the mystery of this holy night and the resurrection of our Savior.
Next, the baptismal font is blessed and the Lumen Christi is plunged into it. Then comes the baptism of converts and sometimes of infants, and the renewal of our own baptismal promises to quicken the grace of that sacrament in our souls. The Vigil Mass is then celebrated, heralding the full glory of the feast day on Resurrection morning.
Many families bring home the new fire from the Vigil service and use it to light their home Lumen Christi as well as vigil lights throughout the house. Around the Year with the Trapp Family (Pantheon Books, New York 1955) by Maria Augusta Trapp tells how very beautifully their parish in Stowe, Vermont, carries out this custom. A city family, we can not keep the same fire lighted until the following Good Friday, as they do. But there are many families who will enjoy this custom.
The symbols of the Easter vigil fit beautifully into our homes. The Paschal Candle, signifying Jesus’ presence among us, is set in a cut-glass bowl and surrounded by fresh flowers on our dining room table. Easter holy water is added to the first water for the flowers, which are a symbol of new life. Any candle may be used for the Lumen Christi, but it should be as large as possible, because it will be lighted at meal times for forty days to gladden us with its lovely flame. It is a symbol which excites and instructs children. It helps families to glorify our Divine Master, who says, speaking of Himself, “I am the Light of the World.”
Families who wish to fix five cloves, in place of the five blessed grains of incense, in cross form on the Paschal Candle may say this prayer from the Vigil service as they do so:
By His wounds,
Holy and glorious,
May He protect us
And preserve us
Who is Christ the Lord,
Amen.
After the prayer the magnificent Exsultet may be said, or played on one of the Gregorian recordings listed in the Music section of this booklet. This custom alone will make a home “a church in miniature” during Eastertide.
In talking to mothers of large families, we frequently hear the complaint that feast day cooking is not done in large families because the ingredients are frequently so expensive. One feast day recipe which does not fall into that class is the Easter Spice Ring. Baked in a tube pan, the cake serves as a holder for a Lumen Christi candle in the kitchen and keeps surprisingly well and fresh until the end of Easter Week.
(From Family Customs: Easter to Pentecost by Helen McLoughlin, The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minnesota, 1956)
Begin Regina Coeli in place of the Angelus
Traditionally the Angelus is prayed at 6am, 12noon and 6pm as a daily memorial of the Incarnation. During Eastertide the Regina caeli (Queen of Heaven) is prayed instead.
The Angelus
The angel of the Lord declared unto Mary,
and she conceived by the Holy Spirit.
Hail Mary…
Behold the handmaid of the Lord,
be it unto me according to thy word.
Hail Mary…
And the Word was made flesh,
and dwelt among us.
Hail Mary…
Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God,
that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray.
Pour forth, we beseech thee, O Lord, thy grace into our hearts, that we, to whom the incarnation of thy Son, Jesus Christ, was made known by the message of an angel, may by his passion and cross, be brought unto the glory of his resurrection. Through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
—
Regina Caeli (During Eastertide)
English
V. Queen of Heaven, rejoice, alleluia:
R. For he whom thou hast deserved to bear, alleluia,
V. Hath risen, as he said, alleluia.
R. Pray for us to God, alleluia.
V. Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary, alleluia.
R. Because the Lord is truly risen, alleluia.
Let us pray.
O God, who by the Resurrection of thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, has vouchsafed to make glad the whole world, grant, we beseech thee, that through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, his Mother, we may attain the joys of eternal life. Through the same Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Latin
V. Regína caéli laetáre, allelúia.
R. Quía quem meruísti portáre, allelúia.
V. Resurréxit sícut díxit, allelúia.
R. Ora pro nóbis Déum, allelúia.
V. Gáude et laetáre, Vírgo María, allelúia.
R. Quía surréxit Dóminus vére, allelúia.
Oremus.
Déus, qui per resurrectiónem Fílii Túi Dómini nóstri Jésu Chrísti múndum laetificáre dignátus es: praésta, quaésumus: ut per ejus Genitrícem Vírginem Maríam, perpétuae capiámus gáudia vítae. Per eúndem Chrístum Dóminum nóstrum.
Ámen.
Read St. Chrysostom’s Easter Sermon
Is there anyone who is a devout lover of God? Let them enjoy this beautiful bright festival! Is there anyone who is a grateful servant? Let them rejoice and enter into the joy of their Lord!
Are there any weary with fasting? Let them now receive their wages! If any have toiled from the first hour, let them receive their due reward; If any have come after the third hour, let him with gratitude join in the Feast! And he that arrived after the sixth hour, let him not doubt; for he too shall sustain no loss. And if any delayed until the ninth hour, let him not hesitate; but let him come too. And he who arrived only at the eleventh hour, let him not be afraid by reason of his delay.
For the Lord is gracious and receives the last even as the first. He gives rest to him that comes at the eleventh hour, as well as to him that toiled from the first. To this one He gives, and upon another He bestows. He accepts the works as He greets the endeavor. The deed He honors and the intention He commends.
Let us all enter into the joy of the Lord! First and last alike receive your reward; rich and poor, rejoice together! Sober and slothful, celebrate the day!
You that have kept the fast, and you that have not, rejoice today for the Table is richly laden! Feast royally on it, the calf is a fatted one. Let no one go away hungry. Partake, all, of the cup of faith. Enjoy all the riches of His goodness!
Let no one grieve at his poverty, for the universal kingdom has been revealed. Let no one mourn that he has fallen again and again; for forgiveness has risen from the grave. Let no one fear death, for the Death of our Savior has set us free. He has destroyed it by enduring it.
He destroyed Hades when He descended into it. He put it into an uproar even as it tasted of His flesh. Isaias foretold this when he said, “You, O Hell, have been troubled by encountering Him below.”
Hell was in an uproar because it was done away with.
It was in an uproar because it is mocked.
It was in an uproar, for it is destroyed.
It is in an uproar, for it is annihilated.
It is in an uproar, for it is now made captive.
Hell took a body, and discovered God.
It took earth, and encountered Heaven.
It took what it saw, and was overcome by what it did not see.
O death, where is thy sting?
O Hades, where is thy victory?
Christ is Risen, and you, O death, are annihilated!
Christ is Risen, and the evil ones are cast down!
Christ is Risen, and the angels rejoice!
Christ is Risen, and life is liberated!
Christ is Risen, and the tomb is emptied of its dead; for Christ having risen from the dead, is become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
To Him be Glory and Power forever and ever. Amen!