The Lord be with you
The appointed lessons for Easter Wednesday are: Acts 3:13-15, 17-19; Colossians 3:1-7 or 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; and John 21:1-14.
The Introit is drawn from Psalm 118:13-14, 29, antiphon Psalm 118:17.
I shall not die, but I shall live,
and recount the deeds of the LORD.
I was pushed hard, so that I was falling,
but the LORD helped me.
The LORD is my strength and my sons;
he has become my salvation.
I shall not die, but I shall live,
and recount the deeds of the LORD.
The LORD has disciplined me severely,
but he has not given me over to death.
O Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever!
Glory be to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Collect of the Day
Almighty God, by the glorious resurrection of Your Son, Jesus Christ, You destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light. Grant that we who have been raised with Him may abide in His presence and rejoice in the hope of eternal glory; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Gradual (adapted from Matthew 28:7; Hebrews 2:7; Psalm 8:6)
Christ has risen from the dead,
[God the Father] has crowned him with glory and honor,
He has given him dominion over the works of his hands;
he has put all things under his fet.
Verse (2 Timothy 1:10b)
Alleluia. [Christ Jesus] abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. Alleluia.
You might have noticed that the Introit for Easter Tuesday and Easter Wednesday are the same. The Gradual is the same for Easter Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The Verse is the same for Easter, Easter Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
I don’t have a whole lot of information about this day beyond the propers given above. Clearly its recognition dates back before the modern era when the celebration of Easter lasted an entire week, culminating in the “octave” of Easter (our Second Sunday of Easter). “Octave” comes from the Latin word for eight, like in the word octagon. Counting from Easter Sunday to the next Sunday, inclusively, you have eight days, hence the word octave for the Second Sunday of Easter. The whole “eighth day” thing, with Jesus rising on the “eighth day,” was the main topic in my Easter homily. You can hear it by clicking on this link: The Eighth Day.
Easter Blessings
Pastor