Death and life have contended in that combat stupendous:
The Prince of life, who died, reigns immortal.

If you notice something a little different just before the Gospel Acclamation on Easter, it’s the Easter Sequence.  A sequence is a piece of liturgical poetry (spoken or sung) highlighting the celebration of the day.  There used to be many of them, but now they’re typically only heard on Pentecost and Easter, with options for the Feast of All Souls and Corpus Christi as well.

You can prepare for this one by reading the text on the USCCB’s site (Scroll down to just after the 2nd reading.)  In fact, read it twice to let it soak in and then listen to this musical version from the University of Notre Dame’s Liturgical Choir. [UPDATED with a working link.]

I’ve been at Notre Dame for Easter a number of times and it is precisely at this point in the liturgical year when I wonder how anyone can possibly think Mass is boring!