Exult, choirs of angels,
Exult, heavenly assembly!
May a hymn of glory
greet the triumph of our risen Lord!
Rejoice, all the earth,
flooded with the new light!
The splendour of the King has conquered darkness,
the darkness of the world!
The splendour of the King has conquered darkness,
the darkness of the world!
Rejoice, O Mother Church, made resplendent
with the glory of your risen Lord.
Let this holy building resound,
echoing the song of a people in feast.
The Lord be with you.
And with your spirit.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right and just.
It is truly right and just
to express, by singing, the great joy of the spirit
and to praise the all powerful Father
and his Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ.
He paid for us to the eternal Father Adam’s debt,
and with his blood, shed out of love,
he wiped away the condemnation of the ancient fault.
This is the Passover
in which is slain the one true Lamb.
This is the night
in which you freed our fathers from the slavery of Egypt.
This is the night
that with a pillar of fire banished the darkness of evil.
This is the night in which you have conquered the darkness of sin.
This is the night
in which Christ has destroyed death
and from the dead arises victorious.
How wonderful is the mercy
of your grace,
how boundless the tenderness of your love;
to ransom a slave you sacrificed your Son!
Without the sin of Adam,
Christ would not have redeemed us!
O happy fault,
which deserved so great a Saviour,
O happy fault!
O Night, truly blessed,
which knew the hour in which Christ arose!
O Night, truly blessed,
which despoiled the Egyptians to make Israel wealthy!
O Night, which conquers evil and washes guilt away!
O Night, truly glorious,
which reconciles man | to his God!
This is the night
in which Christ has destroyed death
and from the dead arises victorious.
In this night, receive, heavenly Father,
the sacrifice of praise
that the Church is offering you by the hand of her ministers
in the solemn liturgy of the candle,
sign of the new light.
We pray you, O Lord:
let this candle,
offered in honour of your name,
shine with light;
let it ascend to you like fragrant perfume,
let it mingle with the stars of heaven;
may the morning star find this flame still burning,
the morning star which never sets:
Christ, your Son, risen from the dead,
who shines resplendent with his peaceful light!
Amen, Amen, Amen!

Mary, little Mary,
you are the gentle breeze of Elijah,
the breath of the Spirit of God.
You are the burning bush of Moses
which bears the Lord without being consumed.
You are 'That place near me,'
which the Lord showed to Moses.
You are the cleft in the rock
which God covers with his hand
while his glory passes by.
Let the Lord come with us
if we have found favour in his eyes.
It’s true that we are sinners,
but pray for us,
and we shall be his heritage forever.
Mary, little Mary,
daughter of Jerusalem.
Mother of all nations,
Virgin of Nazareth.
You are the cloud which protects Israel,
the tent of meeting,
the Ark of the Covenant,
the place where the Lord dwells,
the sanctuary of his Shekinah.
Let the Lord come with us…
You are 'That place near me'…

Mary, mother of the burning way,
you free us from the fire of the passions
with the dew of your intercession.
You free us from the fire of the passions
with the dew of your intercession.
Meek Mary, all immaculate,
guardian angel of the third millennium,
place of all graces,
image of every virtue,
the heavenly Jerusalem sings your beauty.
You have shown us the way,
under the cross you have received us,
Mother of the burning way.
Under the cross you have received us,
how could you refuse your dying Son?
Meek Mary...

Even if I speak with the eloquence of angels:
if I have no love, I am nothing!
Even if I have the gift of prophecy
and understand all the mysteries;
even if I have faith in its fullness
and I am able to move mountains:
if I have no love, I am nothing!
Even if I give away all my goods to the poor
and hand over my body to be burned:
if I have no love, I am nothing!
Because love, love, love,
is patient, is kind,
is not envious, is not boastful,
is not conceited,
is never rude;
does not seek its own interest,
does not get angry.
Does not take offence,
is not resentful,
takes no pleasure in injustice,
but rejoices in the truth.
Love believes everything,
excuses everything,
is always hoping:
endures everything,
endures everything.
Because love,
love,
because love:
is God, is God, is God.

You have seduced me, Lord,
and I let myself be seduced.
You wrestled with me and you defeated me,
You ve taken me by force and have prevailed!
When I speak I have to shout:
"Violence! Oppression!"
And so your word
has brought me insult and derision.
I said to myself:
"I will think of him no more,
I will not speak any more in his name."
But in my heart there was a burning fire
that was raging in my bones.
But in my heart there was a burning fire
that was raging in my bones.
Cursed be the day I was born;
cursed be the man
who brought the news to my father:
"A son is born to you."
Why did I come out of my mother’s womb
only to see torment and sorrow?
But the Lord is at my side
like a brave and mighty warrior.
But the Lord is at my side
like a brave and mighty warrior.
Sing hymns to the Lord,
praise the Lord,
for he has freed the life of this poor man.
But the Lord is at my side…

Upon a dark night,
ablaze with love, with urgent longings,
O happy chance! –
I left without being noticed,
my house at last completely quiet.
In darkness, and secure,
by the secret ladder, in disguise,
O happy chance! –
in darkness and concealed,
my house at last completely quiet.
On this blessed night,
in secret and not seen by anyone,
I beheld nothing
with any other light or guide
but for that which in my heart was burning.
And this was guiding me,
more surely than the light of noon,
to where he was awaiting me –
he whom I knew so well –
and no one, no one else was there.
O night that was my guide!
O night more lovely than the dawn's first light!
O night that united
the Lover with his beloved,
the beloved in her Lover transformed.
Upon a dark night…
O night that was my guide…