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.

Blessed be the Lord,
the God of Israel,
for he has visited and redeemed his people,
raising up for us a power of salvation
in the house of his servant David.
According to the promise made from ancient times,
through the mouths of his holy prophets,
that he would save us from our enemies
and from the hands of all those who hate us.
Fulfilling in this way the mercy
he had with our fathers,
remembering his holy Covenant,
and the oath he swore to our father, Abraham,
that he would set us free from fear
to be delivered from the hands of our enemies,
to serve him in holiness and virtue
in his presence all our days.
Blessed be the Lord...
And you, little child,
you shall be called Prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord
to prepare a way for him,
announcing to his people salvation
and forgiveness of their sins.
Because of the tender mercy of our God,
a sun, rising from on high, will visit us,
to give light to those who live in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
Blessed be the Lord…

The Lord is my shepherd,
I lack nothing;
in meadows of green grass
he lets me lie.
The Lord is my shepherd,
I lack nothing;
to the waters of life
he leads me.
He revives my strength
and guides me
in the way of love.
He revives my strength
and guides me
for the glory of his Name.
The Lord is my shepherd…
Though I pass
through a dark valley
I fear no harm
because you, because you,
because you are with me.
Your rod and your staff
console me,
look, they console me.
The Lord is my shepherd…
You prepare a banquet
before me
under the eyes of my enemies.
You anoint my head
with oil;
my cup brims over.
The Lord is my shepherd…
Yes, the joy of your love
will accompany me.
Yes, I shall live
in your house for ever.
The Lord is my shepherd…

Console my people
and speak to the heart of Jerusalem,
and shout that her slavery
is ended.
Console my people,
and speak to the heart of Jerusalem,
and shout that her slavery
is ended.
"Oh-ay," a voice in the desert
shouts:
"Prepare the way,
the path to the Lord."
Because the Lord is coming with power,
he brings with him the reward;
like a shepherd gathers the flock,
carrying the lambs on his breast.
Like a shepherd he leads slowly, slowly
the mother ewes.
Like a shepherd, carries on his shoulders
the lost sheep.
Console my people
and speak to the heart of Jerusalem,
and shout that her slavery
is ended.

O my people, o my people,
what harm have I done you,
what harm have I done you?
How have I offended you:
give me an answer,
how have I offended you?
I led you out of Egypt,
I led you out of Egypt,
yet you, you prepared the cross for me!
O my people…
I led you for forty years in the desert,
I fed you with manna
and led you to the Promised Land,
yet you, you prepared the cross for me!
O my people…
What could I have done for you
that I haven’t done?
To you I sang:
"My beloved vineyard,"
yet you, you became bitter!
Hagios Theós,
Sanctus Deus.
Hagios Íschyros,
Sanctus Fortis.
Hagios Athánatos,
eleison hemâs.
Sanctus Immortalis,
miserere nobis.
O my people…

Sing to the Lord, sing hymns to his name,
sing to the Lord, prepare a way
for him who rides on the clouds.
'The Lord' is his name,
rejoice before him:
Father of orphans and defender of widows,
is God.
To the poorest he gives a place in his house,
he frees prisoners – they are full of joy.
Let God arise,
let his enemies scatter,
let all the just rejoice
and let them sing for joy!
Sing to the Lord…

It was still night when Abraham
was preparing to sacrifice his son;
the two were staring into each other’s eyes
when Isaac said:
”Aqeda, aqeda, aqeda, aqeda!
Aqeda, aqeda, aqeda, aqeda!
Bind me, bind me tight, O my father,
lest in fear I resist,
and your sacrifice be not valid,
and both of us be rejected!
Aqeda, aqeda, aqeda, aqeda!
Bind me, bind me tight,
O my father, lest I resist!
Bind me, bind me tight,
O my father, lest I resist!”
Come, see faith on earth,
come, see faith on earth:
the father who sacrifices his only son,
and the beloved son who offers him his throat!
”Aqeda…