Tuesday, January 06, 2009

The Epiphany Proclamation

Also known as "The Announcement of Easter and the Moveable Feasts." This is generally sung at the end of the celebration of the Eucharist on Epiphany, using the same tune as is used for singing the Exsultet on Easter (although the page at that link says it's to be sung after the reading of the Gospel). It is explained that "This proclamation dates from a time when calendars were not readily available. It is a reminder of the centrality of the resurrection of the Lord in the liturgical year and the importance of the great mysteries of faith which are celebrated each year."

I've posted about this before, but at last somebody has made an mp3 available online; here's the text on the audio file (for 2009):

THE PROCLAMATION OF THE DATE OF EASTER ON EPIPHANY
IN THE YEAR 2009

Dear brothers and sisters, the glory of the Lord has shone upon us,
and shall ever be manifest among us, until the day of his return.
Through the rhythms of times and seasons
let us celebrate the mysteries of salvation.

Let us recall the year’s culmination, the Easter Triduum of the Lord:
his last supper, his crucifixion, his burial, and his rising celebrated
between the evening of the ninth of April.
and the evening of the twelfth of April.

Each Easter — as on each Sunday—
the Holy Church makes present the great and saving deed
by which Christ has for ever conquered sin and death.
From Easter are reckoned all the days we keep holy.

Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, will occur on the twenty–fifth of February.
[In those places where Ascension is observed on Thursday:
The Ascension of the Lord will be commemorated on the twenty–first of May.]
[In those places where observance of the Ascension is transferred to the Seventh Sunday of Easter:
The Ascension of the Lord will be commemorated on the twenty–fourth of May.]

Pentecost, the joyful conclusion of the season of Easter,
will be celebrated on the thirty–first of May.
And this year the First Sunday of Advent will be on the twenty–ninth of November.

Likewise the pilgrim Church proclaims the Passover of Christ
in the feasts of the Holy Mother of God, in the feasts of the Apostles and Saints,
and in the commemoration of the faithful departed.

To Jesus Christ, who was, who is, and who is to come,
Lord of time and history,
be endless praise, for ever and ever.
R/. Amen. [Amen. Amen.]

The current (2013) text at the USCCB site's "The Announcement of Easter and the Moveable Feasts" is different from what's above; I'm not sure what the significance of that is.  Perhaps a rewrite in the interim?

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