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Lenten Season · Easter Vigil Sixth Reading · Year A

Baruch 3:9-15, 32-4:4

The Fountain of Wisdom

April 4, 2026

Wisdom, Titian
Wisdom, Titian, about 1560Biblioteca Marciana, Venice
Wisdom, crowned with laurel, sits enthroned on the clouds reading from a scroll and holding a tablet, painted for the ceiling of a library to be seen from below.She is the book of the commandments of God, the law that endures forever. All who hold her fast will live, and those who forsake her will die.TitianThe greatest painter of Renaissance Venice, who worked for popes, kings and emperors for more than sixty years.Biblioteca Marciana, VeniceThe Biblioteca Marciana in Venice, on the ceiling of its reading room.Biblioteca Marciana, Venice
Roman Lectionary
GospelMatt. 28:1-10Mt 28:1-10
Second ReadingRom. 6:3-11Rom 6:3-11
First ReadingBar. 3:9-15, 32-4:4Bar 3:9-15, 32-4:4
Responsorial PsalmPs. 19:8, 9, 10, 11 (John 6:68c)Ps 19:8, 9, 10, 11 (Jn 6:68c)

Overview & Insights

“Learn where there is wisdom, where there is strength, where there is understanding.” (Baruch 3:14)

Baruch, associated with the prophet Jeremiah, addresses a people in exile and asks why Israel has grown old in a foreign land, defiled among the dead. The answer is that they have forsaken the fountain of wisdom. The passage praises the wisdom that no ruler or hero of old ever found on their own, for God alone knows the way to her; he who established the earth and calls the stars, who fills all things with understanding, has given wisdom to Jacob his servant and Israel whom he loved. Read at the Easter Vigil, the poem sings of the wisdom of God that appeared on earth and lived among men, which the church hears fulfilled in Christ, the wisdom of God who leads his people out of exile into life.

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Take it further: Baruch 3:9-15, 32-4:4

Commentary

Baruch, Lesson 3 (Wisdom and the Law, 3:9-4:4)Bar, Lesson 3 (Wis and the Law, 3:9-4:4) Agape Bible Study

A Catholic verse-by-verse study of exactly this passage, the poem that identifies Wisdom with the Law given to Israel.

The Easter Vigil (Year B), Dr. Brant Pitre Catholic Productions · Brant Pitre

A Catholic scholar sets the Baruch reading within the Vigil's sweep of salvation history toward the Resurrection.

Baruch 3, Haydock CommentaryBar 3, Haydock Commentary Haydock Commentary

Classic Catholic verse notes (Calmet, Haydock, Worthington) on the call to forsake wisdom's rivals and return to the fountain of understanding.

Background & Word Study

Catholic Encyclopedia: BaruchCatholic Encyclopedia: Bar New Advent · Catholic Encyclopedia

Background on the deuterocanonical book's authorship, canon status, and contents, since Baruch stands outside the Hebrew Bible.

Baruch and the Letter of JeremiahBar and the Letter of Jer bibleproject.com

BibleProject's overview video covers Baruch's themes of exile, repentance and wisdom that this reading draws on.

Study Hub

Baruch, Chapter 3 (Douay-Rheims text)Bar, Chapter 3 (Douay-Rheims text) newadvent.org

New Advent's Douay-Rheims text gives the primary reading itself for reference alongside the commentary links.

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