O God, who by invisible power
accomplish a wondrous effect through sacramental signs
and who in many ways have prepared water, your creation,
to show forth the grace of Baptism;
O God, whose Spirit, in the first moments of the world’s creation,
hovered over the waters,
so that the very substance of water
would even then take to itself the power to sanctify;
O God, who by the outpouring of the flood
foreshadowed regeneration,
so that from the mystery of one and the same element of water
would come an end to vice and a beginning of virtue;
O God, who caused the children of Abraham
to pass dry shod through the Red Sea,
so that the chosen people, set free from slavery to Pharaoh,
would prefigure the people of the baptized;
O God,
whose Son, baptised by John in the waters of the Jordan,
was anointed with the Holy Spirit,
and as he hung | upon the Cross,
gave forth from his side | blood and water,
and, after his Resurrection, commanded his disciples:
“Go forth, teach all nations, teach all nations,
look now, we pray, upon the face of your Church
and graciously unseal for her the fountain of Baptism.
May this water receive by the Holy Spirit
the grace of your Only Begotten Son,
so that human nature, created in your image,
and washed clean through the sacrament of Baptism
from all the squalor of the life of old,
may be found worthy to rise to the life of newborn children
through water and the Holy Spirit.
May the power of the Holy Spirit,
O Lord, we pray,
come down through your Son
into the fullness of this font,
so that, all who have been buried with Christ
by Baptism into his death
Who lives and reigns for ever and ever.

From the abyss of death
Christ ascends victorious
together with the ancient fathers.
The sun of Easter shines,
the sky with songs resounds,
all the earth rejoices.
From the abyss of death…
Beside the empty tomb
in vain the guardian watches:
the Lord from death has risen!
From the abyss of death…
O Jesus, immortal King,
unite in your victory
those in baptism reborn.
From the abyss of death…
May the light of your Passover,
the pledge of love and peace,
shine upon your Church.
From the abyss of death…
Glory and honour to Christ,
to the Father and the Spirit,
now and forever.
Amen! Amen! Amen!

At the banquet of the Lamb,
arrayed in white robes,
having crossed the Red Sea,
we sing to Christ the Lord.
His body ablaze with love,
at the banquet, is living bread;
on the altar, his blood
is the cup of the New Covenant.
At the banquet of the Lamb…
On this wondrous evening
the ancient marvels are made present:
a mighty arm saves us
from the angel of destruction.
At the banquet of the Lamb…
The meek slaughtered lamb,
Christ, is our Passover;
his sacred body
is the true unleavened bread.
At the banquet of the Lamb…
Pour out paschal joy
on your Church, O Lord;
unite in your victory
those born again through baptism.
At the banquet of the Lamb…
Praise and honour be to Christ,
triumphant over death,
to the Father and the Holy Spirit
now and forever.
Amen

You who dwell in the gardens,
where my companions are listening,
let me hear your voice,
let me hear your voice.
Flee, my beloved,
like a gazelle,
like a young stag,
on the sweet scented mountains.
I am in his eyes
as one who has found peace,
my vineyard is here in front of me,
my vineyard is here in front of me,
Flee, my beloved,
like a gazelle,
like a young stag,
on the sweet scented mountains.
You who dwell in the gardens…
The Church through Baptism has been introduced into the gardens of the Kingdom "where the
companions are listening."
There, as she has been made mother and teacher of all nations because of the experience of
love she has received and because of the suffering, the joys, the failures, the recoveries and – we
could say – because of the history of salvation that the Song of Songs expresses, the Church is
invited by the Bridegroom to let her voice be heard in a final yearning.
The Church answers with an eschatological paschal cry: what she has come to know and
experienced of the Bridegroom makes her desire to flee with him in a final exodus "to the sweet
scented mountains," which is Heaven, forever free.