Easter Day Service - Live from Hereford Cathedral

Welcome to Hereford Cathedral on Easter Day - the day

I'm standing by the shrine of Hereford's Saxon Saint,

Perhaps not one of the more famous saints of England -

but he's one whose life, nevertheless, speaks of courage

Ethelbert's story reminds us that, since his life and death

over 1,200 years ago, worship has been offered on this

site, and pilgrims have come to this holy place to seek God,

to seek encouragement for the journey and to

find Jesus Christ - who lived among us, died

We welcome you all this morning as fellow pilgrims,

joining our congregation gathered here in Hereford

and pray that you, too, will discover the Risen Christ -

in Word and Sacrament and in hymns of praise.

BISHOP: In the name of the Father, and of the Son,

BISHOP: Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father

and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this most holy day,

when our Lord Jesus was raised from death to life, we are gathered

in this ancient and hallowed place to celebrate the sacred mystery

of his resurrection and, through his Holy Word

and Blessed Sacrament, to share in his victory

So let us offer our praise and thanksgiving to God,

as we proclaim the triumph of his Son, the light of the world,

who is Christ yesterday and today, the beginning and the end,

Alpha and Omega, for all time belongs to him and all the ages,

to him be glory and power through every age and for ever.

ALL: He is risen indeed, Alleluia.

Christ, our passover lamb, has been sacrificed for us.

Let us therefore rejoice by putting away all malice and evil

and confessing our sins with a sincere and true heart.

ALL: Almighty God, our heavenly Father, we have sinned

against you and against our neighbour, in thought and word

and deed, through negligence, through weakness, through our

We are truly sorry and repent of all our sins.

BISHOP: Almighty God, who in Jesus Christ has given us

a kingdom that cannot be destroyed, forgive you your sins,

open your eyes to God's truth, strengthen you to do God's

will and give you the joy of his kingdom, through

# Et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis.

# Gratias agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam.

# Domine Deus, rex coelestis, Deus pater omnipotens,

# Domine fili unigenite Jesu Christe.

# Domine Deus, agnus Dei, filius patris.

# Qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.

# Qui tollis peccata mundi, suscipe deprecationem nostram.

# Qui sedes ad dexteram patris, miserere nobis.

# Quoniam tu solus sanctus, tu solus Dominus, tu solus

# Cum sancto spiritu, in gloria Dei patris.

Lord of all life and power, who through the mighty resurrection

of your Son overcame the old order of sin and death to make all things

new in him, grant that we, being dead to sin and alive

to you in Jesus Christ, may reign with him in glory -

to whom with you and the Holy Spirit be praise and honour,

glory and might, now and in all eternity.

A reading from the Acts of the Apostles.

Peter began to speak to those assembled in the house of Cornelius.

"I truly understand that God shows no partiality,

but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right

You know the message he sent to the people of Israel,

preaching peace by Jesus Christ - he is Lord of all.

That message spread throughout Judaea, beginning in Galilee

after the baptism that John announced how God anointed Jesus

of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power - how he went

about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil,

We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judaea and in Jerusalem.

They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him

on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people

but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses,

and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.

He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify

that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead.

All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him

receives forgiveness of sins through his name."

# O give thanks unto the Lord for he is gracious

# Because his mercy endureth for ever.

# Let Israel now confess and that he is gracious

# And that his mercy endureth for ever.

# The Lord is my strength and my song and is become my salvation.

# The voice of joy and health is in the dwellings of the righteous.

# The right hand of the Lord bringeth mighty things to pass.

# The right hand of the Lord hath the pre-eminence.

# The right hand of the Lord bringeth mighty things to pass.

# I shall not die but live and declare the works of the Lord.

# The Lord hath chastened and corrected me

# But he hath not given me over unto death.

# That I may go into them, and give thanks unto the Lord.

# I will thank thee, for thou hast heard me

# The same stone which the builders refused

# Is become the headstone in the corner.

# This is the Lord's doing and it is marvellous in our eyes.

# This is the day which the Lord hath made.

# I am the first and the last, says the Lord,

# I was dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore.

Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ

After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning,

Mary Magdalen and the other Mary went to see the tomb.

And suddenly there was a great earthquake, for an angel

of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back

His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow.

For fear of him, the guards shook and became like dead men.

But the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid - I know that

you are looking for Jesus who was crucified."

He is not here, for he has been raised, as he said.

Then go quickly and tell his disciples, "He has been

raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead

of you to Galilee - there you will see him.

with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples.

Suddenly Jesus met them and said, "Greetings!"

And they came to him, took hold of his feet,

Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid.

Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee -

Maybe words of my mouth and the thoughts of our hearts be always

acceptable in your site, O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer, amen.

Cathedrals have a love-hate relationship with notices

On one hand, we want to be informative to

On the other hand, we don't want to clutter up the place -

we want the beauty of the building to speak for itself.

So what to do about our Easter garden in the south transept,

Surely an excellent opportunity for a well-crafted notice

telling our visitors all about it - why the stone is rolled away,

why there's a linen cloth rolled up there, why

Without a notice, people may stand and look puzzled.

The Resurrection is a mystery which we simply cannot explain.

Whatever happened on that first Easter morning was a mystery and,

One thing is also certain - the Resurrection is a multi-faceted

jewel which can be seen from many different directions

and about which there are many different interpretations.

For some, the empty tomb is not helpful.

In a letter to a friend during the 1950s, the writer

Rose Macaulay wrote: "If my mind can't quite take certain things,

such as the physical resurrection, does it matter, so long as it

doesn't get in the way of belief in Christ as Master

and Saviour and Helper, to be sought and served?"

There is one reaction, we may not agree.

What any visitor will surely notice, even if he or she knows

nothing about the meaning, is that the whole thing -

tomb and garden - is hugely important.

It's a large feature, it's obviously been constructed with great care,

It clearly means a lot to those who've had anything

Whatever its meaning, it is hugely important to this place -

to any church, to any Christian believer - however it's expressed.

If we look around the cathedral - indeed, if we look at examples

in the world of art - we'll see many images

of Christ's Passion - the crowning with thorns,

the nailing, the scene in the garden, the trial before

Images of the Resurrection are different, for the gospel

doesn't tell us how Jesus rose from the dead and so there's

True, some artists have had a go - with a muscular Jesus holding

a flag, breaking out of a stone grave, soldiers nearby in a faint.

But most of the images of the Resurrection in art

are about people's responses - the disciples in a fishing boat,

The images of the Resurrection are, on the whole,

what happened as a result - how lives were changed, how

In the cathedral, we do have images of the Resurrection,

but they're more abstract - the Traherne windows by Tom Denny,

the phoenix of new life, rising out of the cross.

Or our new Ascension window, completed only

a couple of weeks ago - the darkness of the lower area

splintering into shards of light, as despair gives way to hope.

The window, with the blue stone memorial below,

commemorates our local regiment, the Special Air Service,

and we pray that this new addition will add to a sense of Resurrection

in this building and give hope and encouragement to all who visit,

especially those who come in sadness or bereavement.

All these images are about experience, not description,

and perhaps that's the best way we can interpret our Easter tomb

here - not with a notice describing what happened

The best scenario would be if you or I were standing

by the garden one day and a visitor also stood there, looking, puzzling,

How your life will have been changed by that event -

how the Resurrection is about now, how it enables us to turn

darkness into light, sadness into joy, loss into gain.

Each one of us will have our own story of the Resurrection,

which no notice can possibly do justice to - only personal encounter

This is how the Resurrection dawned on those first disciples -

they had those first 50 days to see Jesus in unexpected ways.

They learned to see him on a beach, cooking breakfast,

breaking bread with them - nothing startling,

but it was in those ordinary, human encounters that they found

That he was alive and infinitely stronger than darkness and death.

Rose Macaulay, in that letter, for all her doubts about the empty

tomb, had nevertheless got to the heart of the Resurrection

all their difference, who can make sense of the resurrection today.

Who can act on Jesus's risen life every day. Thanks to Tim seven --

God for this wonderful Easter hope. Let us affirm our faith,

as we say together the Nicene Creed. ALL: We believe in one God,

the Father, the almighty, maker of heaven and earth,

of all that is, seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord,

Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father,

God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God,

begotten, not made, For us and for our salvation

he came down from heaven, was incarnate from the Holy Spirit

and the Virgin Mary For our sake, he was crucified under

Pontius Pilate In the power of the Spirit

and in union with Christ, Father, we praise you

for the resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ

from the dead. Shed his glorious light

on all Christian people that we may live as those who believe

in the triumph of the cross. We pray for those who at this season

are receiving in baptism your Son's Dying with Christ, may they know

the power of his resurrection. We pray for all whom we know

and love, both near and far. May their eyes be opened to see

the glory of the risen Lord. We pray for those who

suffer pain and anguish. Grant them the faith to reach out

towards the healing wounds of Christ We commend to your tender mercy the

people of Syria and all who been made refugees.

We remember before you those who have died in the hope

Unite us with them in your undying love.

Join our voices, we pray, Lord our God, to the songs

of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St John the Baptist,

St Ethelbert the King, St Thomas of Hereford

and all your saints in proclaiming that you give us the victory

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The risen Christ came and stood among his disciples and said, "Peace

Then were they glad when they saw the Lord.

The peace of the Lord be always with you.

Let us offer one another a sign of peace.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

ALL: It is right to give thanks and praise.

It is indeed right, our duty and our joy,

always and everywhere to give you thanks, almighty and eternal

Father, and in these days of Easter to celebrate with joyful hearts

For by the mystery of his passion Jesus Christ, your risen Son,

has conquered the powers of death and hell and restored in men

He has placed us once more in paradise and opened to us

And so, in the joy of this Passover, earth and heaven resound

with gladness, while angels and archangels and the powers

of all creation sing for ever the hymn of your glory.

# Pleni sunt caeli et terra gloria tua.

# Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini.

# Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini.

Accept our praises, heavenly Father, through your Son our

Saviour Jesus Christ, and as we follow his example

and obey his command, grant that by the power

of your Holy Spirit these gifts of bread and wine may be

to us his body and blood; who, in the same night that he was

betrayed, took bread and gave you thanks he broke it and gave it

"Take, eat; this is my body

which is given for you; do this in remembrance of me."

In the same way, after supper he took the cup and gave you thanks;

"Drink this, all of you; this is my blood

of the new covenant, which is shed for you and for many

Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."

Therefore, heavenly Father, we remember his offering of himself

made once for all upon the cross; we proclaim his mighty resurrection

and glorious ascension; we look for the coming of your kingdom,

and with this bread and this cup we make the memorial

ALL: Lord, by your cross and resurrection you have set us free.

BISHOP: Accept through him, our great high priest,

and praise, and as we eat and drink these holy gifts in the presence

of your divine majesty, renew us by your Spirit,

inspire us with your love and unite us in the body of your Son,

Through him, and with him, and in him, in the unity

of the Holy Spirit, with all who stand before

you in earth and heaven we worship you, Father almighty in songs

ALL: Blessing and honour and glory and power be

Let us pray with confidence as our Saviour has taught us.

ALL: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom

We break this bread to share in the body of Christ.

Though we are many, we are one body, because we all share in one bread.

Christ our passover is sacrificed for us.

ALL: Therefore let us keep the feast.

# Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata

# Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata

God of Life, who for our redemption gave your only-begotten Son

to the death of the cross, and by his glorious resurrection

have delivered us from the power of our enemy, grant us so to die

daily to sin, that we may evermore live with him

Father of all, we give you thanks and praise,

that when we were still far off you met us in your Son

The God of peace, who brought again from

the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep,

through the blood of the eternal covenant, make you perfect in

every good work to do his will, in you that which is

and the blessing of God almighty,

the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

be among you and remain with you always.

# Make us more than conquerors through thy deathless love

# Bring us safe through Jordan to thy home above.

# Thine be the glory, risen, conquering Son

# Endless is the victory thou o'er death hast won.