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!

The children of Bethlehem
are playing in the square,
look, the kings are coming,
there are one and two and three:
"But where are you coming from,
with your horses and your camels,
but who are you, pray, who are you?
what is it that brings you here?"
"I’m coming from the Distant Orient,
from the land of gold and silver,
but at night I cannot sleep:
I saw a star, a star in the sky."
But at night he cannot sleep:
he saw a star, a star in the sky.
The children of Bethlehem…
"I’m coming from the Distant Orient,
from the land of flowers and of perfumes,
but at night I cannot sleep…
The children of Bethlehem…
"I’m coming from the Distant Orient,
from the land of the poor and the sick,
but at night I cannot sleep…
The children of Bethlehem…
…with incense, gold and myrrh…
"We’re coming from the Distant Orient,
we saw his star as it rose,
we’ve come all this way to adore
the King of the Jews who is born here."
They’ve come all this way to adore
the King of the Jews who is born here.
The children of Bethlehem
are looking at the sky;
"Look, the star is shining
right above Lord Jesus’ house.
Let’s go quickly all together
with the horses and the camels;
with the wise men we have found
where our Saviour Christ is born."

Let him kiss me
with the kisses of his mouth;
your love is sweeter than wine.
Your name is the fragrance of your perfume:
that’s why
the maidens love you.
Take me with you, let us go out:
draw me towards you, let us run!
We shall praise your love more than wine,
how wonderful it is to love you!
Tell me then, beloved of my heart,
where do you lead your flock to pasture,
so that I may not wander as a vagabond
behind other shepherds?
Tell me then, beloved of my heart,
where do you lead your flock to pasture,
so that I may not wander as a vagabond
behind other shepherds?
If you don’t know this,
O loveliest of women,
follow the tracks of my flock
and take your kids to graze
close by the shepherds’ tents.
Take me with you, let us go out…

My beloved is for me
a rose of Sharon,
a lily of the valleys.
My beloved is for me
the perfume of myrrh,
as he rests on my breast.
My beloved is for me
as a lily among the thistles,
so is my beloved among the maidens.
My beloved is for me
a cluster of henna flowers
among the vines of En-gedi.
How beautiful are you, my love,
how beautiful, how beautiful!
Your eyes are doves,
your eyes are doves.
How beautiful are you, my beloved,
how delightful, how delightful!
Even our bed is verdant.
Even our bed is verdant.
As an apple tree among the trees of the forest,
so is my beloved,
my beloved among the young men.
In his shade, for which I longed, I am seated
and sweet is his fruit,
how sweet it is to my taste!
Into the wine cellar he has taken me
and his banner over me is love:
Into the banqueting hall he has led me
and his banner over me is love.
His left arm is under my head
and his right arm embraces me.
I implore you, daughters of Jerusalem,
do not rouse nor wake my beloved,
do not rouse nor wake my beloved.

You stole my heart,
you stole my heart,
my sister, my bride,
you stole, you stole, my heart.
How beautiful your loves,
how beautiful your loves!
The fragrance of your perfumes
more than all the balsams of love.
Honey flows from your lips,
my bride, my sister,
honey and milk are under your tongue.
The fragrance of your garments
is the fragrance of Lebanon;
my sister, my bride,
tastier than wine are your loves.
A garden enclosed are you, sister of mine,
a sealed fountain, bride of mine!
Your fruits a paradise of pomegranates,
of nard and saffron, of myrrh and aloes
Awake wind, rise Auster, and come!
Blow in my garden
that it may release its scents,
and my beloved may enter my garden
and delight in its exquisite fruits.
I have already entered my garden,
my bride,
I have eaten my honey in its comb,
I have drunk my wine and my milk.
Friends, come! Drink, O my dear ones,
and get drunk!
You stole my heart…