A voice resounds from heaven,
it echoes in the night;
let dreams and anguish flee,
the light of Christ shines forth.
The heart awakes from slumber
no longer troubled by evil;
a new star is shining
in the darkness of the world.
Behold the Lamb of God,
the price of our ransom;
with living faith we implore
his forgiveness and peace.
When at the end of time
Christ comes in his glory,
may his grace release us
from his fearsome judgement.
Praise be to Christ the Lord,
to the Father and the Spirit,
as it was in the beginning,
is now and ever shall be. Amen.

Flee, shadows and darkness,
the light of day shines forth,
Christ the Lord is coming.
The sun of justice
transfigures and inflames
the waiting universe.
With pure and humble joy,
amid songs and prayers,
we welcome the Lord.
You, Saviour of the poor,
let the glory of your face
shine on a new world.
Praise to you, O Christ,
with the Father and the Spirit,
now and forever.
Amen.

When Israel came out of Egypt,
the house of Jacob from a foreign nation,
Judah became his sanctuary,
Israel his dominion.
Judah became his sanctuary,
Israel his dominion.
The sea fled at the sight,
and the Jordan turned back,
the mountains skipped like rams,
the hills like lambs.
Why, sea, do you flee,
and you, Jordan, turn back,
and you, mountains, skip like rams,
and you, hills, like lambs?
Tremble, earth, tremble
before God who is passing,
before the God of Jacob
who draws out water from the rock!
When Israel came out of Egypt,
the house of Jacob from a foreign nation;
Judah became his sanctuary,
Israel his dominion.
Judah became his sanctuary,
Israel his dominion.
The sea fled at the sight,
and the Jordan turned back,
the mountains skipped like rams,
the hills like lambs.
Why, sea, do you flee,
and you, Jordan, turn back,
and you, mountains, skip like rams,
and you, hills, like lambs?
Tremble, earth, tremble
before God who is passing,
before the God of Jacob
who draws out water from the rock!

If in the Lord I have taken my refuge,
how can you say to me, how can you say to me:
flee like a bird to the mountain,
flee like a bird to the mountain?
I know that the wicked bend the bow,
and fit their arrows on the string,
to shoot in darkness the upright of heart,
but when the foundations quake,
what can the just man do?,
what can the just man do?
The Lord, the Lord is in his holy temple;
the Lord has his throne in heaven,
his eyes look upon the world,
his gaze searches every man.
The Lord tests the just,
but the Lord tests the wicked as well,
the Lord does not love violence,
the Lord does not love violence.
If in the Lord I have taken my refuge…

The Lord announces good news,
the messengers are an immense army,
the enemy kings flee, flee,
the woman of the house divides the spoils.
And while you are sleeping,
sleeping among the sheepfolds,
the wings of the dove
are covered with silver,
its feathers with gleaming gold.
And with her the snow falls
upon the mountain
upon the Dark Mountain.
The Lord announces good news…
Sing hymns to the Lord,
sing hymns to the Lord.
The Lord rides the heavens,
he rides the ancient heavens.
Behold! His voice thunders,
his voice,
his mighty voice, thunders.
The Lord announces good news…

Lord, you search me and you know me,
you know when I lie down and when I get up.
From afar, you know my thoughts,
you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my lips,
you, O Lord,
already know it.
You press me from behind,
you attack me from the front
and at the same time
you keep your hand on me:
such knowledge is mysterious to me,
knowledge I cannot grasp,
knowledge too high for me to understand.
But where shall I go, far from your spirit?
where, from your face, shall I flee?
If I climb the heavens, you are there;
if I descend to death, there I find you.
You press me from behind,
you attack me from the front
and at the same time, you keep your hand on me:
such knowledge is mysterious to me,
knowledge I cannot grasp,
knowledge too high for me to understand.
Lord, you search me and you know me,
you put my heart to the test,
so that I may not walk in a way of duplicity,
so that I may never abandon your way.

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.

The Virgin Mary was betrothed to Joseph
when, before they came to live together,
she was found to be with child
through the Holy Spirit.
And Joseph, who was just,
did not want to repudiate her.
He decided to send her away in secret.
How bitter are the waters, Mary!
She-lamb of God, humble lamb,
you, who don’t resist evil,
Mother of Jesus and our Mother,
pray for us, pray for us!
And Mary gave birth to her son,
swaddled him and put him in a manger
because there was no room for them at the inn.
How bitter are the waters, Mary!
She-lamb of God…
Then Joseph woke up,
took with him the child and his mother,
and in the night fled to Egypt
because Herod was looking for the child
to kill him.
How bitter are the waters, Mary!
She-lamb of God…
A cry is heard in Ramah: "ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay"
– a cry and a great lamentation:
it is Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be consoled
because they are no more.
How bitter are the waters, Mary!
She-lamb of God…
And the angel of the Lord said to Joseph in Egypt:
"Get up and take with you the child and his mother
and go back to the land of Israel;
because from Egypt I have called my son."
She-lamb of God…