The Ordo for
Saturday 27 March 2027
March 2027
| Mar 27 Saturday | Lunar day: 19 |
| violet | HOLY SATURDAY | |
| Roman Stational Church: St John Lateran | ||
| Fast is observed if possible. [CR 20] Celebration of the Mass and the sacraments is strictly prohibited, except for Penance and Anointing of the Sick. Communion may be given only as viaticum. | ||
| Hours of the day. Today the reading of the Martyrology is omitted. Night Prayer is celebrated only by those not present at the Vigil. | ||
| OP | At Morning Prayer, the Litany Verses from the Dominican Supplement may replace the Intercessions. If so, after Mortem autem crucis all pause and kneel in silence; then the Lord's Prayer is said aloud, and the Hour concludes as usual. | |
| Preparation for the Vigil includes: preparation of the bonfire; candles for the brethren and laity; water for the liturgy of Baptism; flowers and decorations for the altar. | ||
| EASTER SEASON | |
| white | The Easter Vigil. |
| The Vigil has four parts: I. Service of Light : Bonfire, Procession with Candle, Exsultet. II. Liturgy of the Word : Readings, psalms, prayers, Gloria, homily. III. Liturgy of Baptism : Litany, Blessing of Water, Baptism and/or Confirmation, Renewal of Promises, Prayer of the Faithful. IV. Liturgy of the Eucharist : Preface of Easter I ("on this Easter night"), special Communicantes and Hanc igitur; double alleluia at dismissal. This liturgical order must not be changed by anyone on his own initiative. [PS 81] The celebration should truly have the character of a Vigil. It must take place at night; to start earlier (e.g. at the customary time for a Sunday vigil Mass) is a "reprehensible abuse". [PS 78] | ||
| OP | The Exsultet may be sung with the melody proper to the Order. Other variations are proposed in the Dominican Supplement: e.g. the Litany may be sung, even when there are no baptisms and no font; Dominican saints and certain invocations are added to the Litany. | |
| OP | Wherever possible, all the readings should be read so that the character of the Easter Vigil, which demands that it be somewhat prolonged, be respected at all costs. Where pastoral conditions require that the number of readings be reduced, there should be at least three readings from the Old Testament, taken from the law and the prophets; and the reading from Exodus (ch. 14) with its canticle, must never be omitted... | |
| The Readings: | ||
|
Gen 1:1-2:2 or 1:1, 26-31 with Ps 104:1-2, 5-6, 10+12, 13-14, 24+35 or Ps 33:4-5, 6-7, 12-13, 20-22 Gen 22:1-18 or 22:1-2, 9-13, 15-18 with Ps 16:5+8, 9-10, 11 Exod 14:15-15:1 with Exod 15:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 17-18 This reading and psalm are obligatory. Isa 54:5-14 with Ps 30:2+4, 5-6, 11-12a+13b Isa 55:1-11 with Isa 12:2-3, 4, 5-6 Bar 3:9-15, 32-4:4 with Ps 19:8, 9, 10, 11 Ezek 36:16-17a, 18-28 with Ps 42:3, 5; 43:3, 4 or Ps 51:12-13, 14-15, 18-19 Epistle: Rom 6:3-11 Alleluia Psalm: Ps 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23 Gospel: Mk 16:1-7 | ||
| OP | Bells are be rung during the Gloria, and the altar candles lit; the brethren put off their cappas if they are wearing them. | |
| The celebrant - or, in case of necessity, a cantor - intones the triple alleluia before the Gospel. The gospel is honoured with incense, but candles are not carried. For integrating the rites of Baptism and Confirmation, see the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, esp. Appendix 1. The dismissal with double alleluia is used tonight and throughout the octave. | ||
Variables for the Current Year
-
Sunday Readings
Since 1969, in order to open a richer selection of the Holy Scriptures to the faithful, the Sunday readings have been arranged in a three-year cycle. St Matthew’s Gospel is read in Year A, St Mark’s in Year B, and St Luke’s in Year C. St John’s Gospel is read in all years, in Lent and Eastertide principally.
- Cycle B
-
Weekday Readings
Since 1969, in order to open a richer selection of the Holy Scriptures to the faithful, the weekday readings have been arranged in a two-year cycle.
- Cycle I
-
Dominical Letter
The Dominical Letter enables one to determine easily which days of the year are Sundays.
- c
-
Golden Number
The Golden Number indicates the current year in the metonic or nineteen-year cycle of the moon. It is used in determining the date of Easter.
- 14
-
Epact
The epact indicates the ‘age’ of the moon at the start of the solar year. For example, an epact of xi (that is, eleven) means that 1 January will be the twelfth day of the lunar month. If the epact is an asterisk (*), 1 January is an ecclesiastical new moon.
- 22
-
Solar Cycle
The solar cycle lasts twenty-eight years, because in the Julian calendar, in any year the days fall on the same day of the week as they did 28 years ago.
- 20
-
Letter of the Martyrology
The letter of the Martyrology is used in conjunction with a table at the head of each day’s reading in that book, indicating the correct day of the lunar month to be announced.
- C
-
Roman Year of Indiction
The Roman emperor Diocletian (284–305) established the practice of taking a census for taxation purposes every fifteen years, a period that became known as the cycle of indiction. In the early middle ages these cycles were taken to have begun with the accession of Constantine in 312, and were widely used to date correspondence, charters and other documents. (To find the year of indiction, add 3 to the year AD, then divide by 15. A zero remainder indicates year 15.)
- 5
-
Julian Period
Invented by Joseph Justus Scaliger (1540–1609), the Julian period combines the solar, metonic and indiction cycles in a period of 7,980 years, beginning on 1 January 4713 BC.
- Year 6740
-
Years since the confirmation of the Order
The Order was confirmed by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216.
- 811
-
Years since the passing of our Holy Father Dominic
Holy Father Dominic died in the Lord in Bologna on 6 August 1221. His feast day is kept on 3 August in Australia and New Zealand, and on 8 August in the General Roman Calendar.
- 806