Most glorious Lord of life that on this day
Didst make Thy triumph over death and sin,
And having harrowed hell didst bring away
Captivity thence captive us to win;
This joyous day, dear Lord, with joy begin
And grant that we, for whom Thou didst die
Being with Thy dear blood clean washed from sin,
May live forever in felicity.
And that Thy love we weighing worthily,
May likewise love Thee for the same again;
And for Thy sake that all like dear didst buy,
With love may one another entertain.
So let us love, dear love, like as we ought,
Love is the lesson which the Lord us taught.
--"Easter", Edmund Spenser (1553-1598)
In what is being called a smashing victory for religious freedom, U.S. District Court Judge David Russell has issued a ruling in which he declared the Obama Administration’s controversial “birth control mandate” to be a violation of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and has stopped all enforcement of the mandate against dozens of Catholic dioceses and institutions.
