When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. So Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. He then rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.
You cast me into the deep;
into the heart of the seas,
and the flood surrounded me;
all your waves and your billows
passed over me.
Then I said, 'I am driven away
from your sight;
how shall I look again
upon your holy temple?'
The waters closed in over me;
the deep surrounded me;
weeds were wrapped around my
head
at the roots of the mountains.
I went down to the land
whose bars closed upon me
forever;
yet you brought up my life from
the Pit,
O LORD my God.
(Jonah 2.3-6)
Now is the time to keep silent vigil. Now is the time to remember the words spoken at every Easter vigil: "Keep the flame of faith alive in your heart." I am the resurrection and the life...and on the third day I shall rise again.
Jesus rises: