PALM SUNDAY
O Saviour of the world, who by your cross and precious blood have redeemed us: save us and help us, we pray.
From Psalm 24:
Lift up your heads, O gates, lift them high, O everlasting doors:
and the King of glory shall come in.
Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory.
Reading: (John 12.12-15)
They took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting,
“Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord – the king of Israel!” Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it; as it is written,
“Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion. Look, your King is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!”
O King of the Friday, whose limbs were stretched on the cross,
O Lord, who didst suffer the bruises, the wounds, the loss,
We stretch ourselves beneath the shield of thy might –
some fruit form the tree of thy passion fall on us this night!
(from the Irish)
Prayers:
For all in positions of power.....
For all the children of the world.....
For Archbishop Rowan and all Christian leaders .....
For all who take part in this Holy Week .....
Our Father...
Everlasting God,
who in your tender love towards the human race
sent your Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ,
to take upon him our flesh, and to suffer death upon the cross:
grant that we may follow the example of his patience and humility,
and also be made partakers of his resurrection;
who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.
MONDAY
O Saviour of the world, who by your cross and precious blood have redeemed us: save us and help us, we pray.
From Psalm 25:
Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation:
in you have I trusted all the day long.
Reading: (John 12.1-11)
Mary took a pound of costly perfume, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair.
We think that Paradise and Calvary,
Christ’s cross, and Adam’s tree, stood in one place;
Look, Lord, and find both Adams met in me;
as the first Adam’s sweat surrounds my face,
may the last Adam’s blood my soul embrace.
(John Donne 1573-1631)
Prayers:
For all who are very poor.....
For all who long to be cherished.....
For all who seek to enrich the lives of others.....
Our Father...
Teach us, Jesus, how to live and worship without being worldly or greedy.
Drive from our lives what spoils them, and make us temples of the Spirit.
TUESDAY
O Saviour of the world, who by your cross and precious blood have redeemed us: save us and help us, we pray.
From Psalm 27:
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom then shall I fear?
The Lord is the strength of my life: of whom then shall I be afraid?
For in the day of trouble he shall keep me safe I his shelter.
You speak in my heart and say: “Seek my face.”
Your face, Lord, will I seek.
Reading: (John 12.20-36)
Jesus said: “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”
In order to arrive at that which thou knowest not,
thou must go by a way that thou knowest not.
In order to arrive at that which thou possessest not
thou must go by a way that thou possesses not.
(St John of the Cross 1542-1591)
Prayers:
For those who long to find meaning in their lives.....
For all who seek and find God outside the Christian faith.....
For all who live in our parish.....
Our Father...
When all we are and everything we do is called into question,
grant us dignity and direction; grant us patience. Jesus, be there then.
WEDNESDAY
O Saviour of the world, who by your cross and precious blood have redeemed us: save us and help us, we pray.
From Psalm 102:
My days pass away like a shadow, and I wither like the grass.
But you, O lord, endure for ever, and your name from age to age.
Reading: (John 13.21-32)
After receiving the piece of bread, Judas went out. And it was night.
When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified,
and God has been glorified in him”.
Of all the pains that lead to salvation, this is the greatest, to see your love suffer. How could any pain be more to me than to see the one who is all my life, my bliss, my joy, suffer? Here I felt truly that I loved Christ so much more than myself, that there was no pain I could suffer that could match the sorrow I had in seeing him in pain.
(Julian of Norwich, 1342-1413)
Prayers:
For those faced with hard moral choices.....
For those who are very ill in body or mind.....
For the friends we have not seen for a long time.....
Our Father.....
Gracious and merciful God, for our sake you Son became incarnate
and suffered death upon the cross; purify our hearts and grant us zeal in your service, through him who lives and reigns for ever and ever.
MAUNDY THURSDAY
O Saviour of the world, who by your cross and precious blood have redeemed us: save us and help us, we pray.
From Psalm 116:
How shall I repay the Lord for all the good things he has done for me?
I will lift up the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord.
I will fulfil my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people.
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his servants.
Reading (John 13.1-20, 31-35)
Jesus said, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.
Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”
Love is that liquor sweet and most divine
which my God feels as blood; but I, as wine.
(George Herbert)
Prayers:
For all bishops, priests, and deacons.....
For all who are, or feel, unloved.....
For the whole church, as we come towards the heart of the Easter mystery....
Our Father.....
Everlasting God, your Son Jesus Christ girded himself with a towel
and washed his disciples’ feet;
grant us the will to be the servant of others, as he was the servant of all,
who gave up his life and died for us, and now lives and reigns for ever.
GOOD FRIDAY
O Saviour of the world, who by your cross and precious blood have redeemed us: save us and help us, we pray.
From Psalm 22:
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
and are so far from my cry, and from the words of my distress?
O my God, I cry in the daytime, but you do not answer;
by night as well, but I find no rest.
Yet you are the Holy One, enthroned upon the praises of your people.
Reading: (John 19)
When Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said, “I am thirsty”.
So they took a sponge full of sour wine and held it to his mouth.
When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished.”
Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
It seemed to me that I beheld a wondrous cross of wood
radiant with rich gold and royal jewels
and still through all this splendour I could see
its agonies of long ago as it began to bleed.
It seemed to change this speeding sign
now all red with blood now with treasure hung.
(from The Dream of the Rood, 8th century AD)
Prayers:
For all who suffer for the truth’s sake.....
For all victims of torture and inhumanity.....
For all in danger of losing their own humanity.....
Our Father.....
Lord Jesus Christ, crucified for us, as we kneel at the foot of your cross,
we see and know the full extent of your love for the world.
As we place at your feet all that we have and all that we are,
make us new through your love and forgiveness.
HOLY SATURDAY
O Saviour of the world, who by your cross and precious blood have redeemed us: save us and help us, we pray.
From Psalm 23:
The Lord is my shepherd: I shall not be in want.
He revives my soul,and guides me along right pathways for his name’s sake.
Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil;
for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
Reading: (Hosea 6.1-6)
Come, let us return to the Lord; it is he who has torn, and he will heal us;
he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.
After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him.
Come. my way, my truth, my life!
Such a way as gives us breath,
such a truth as ends all strife,
such a life as killeth death.
(George Herbert 1593-1633)
Prayers:
For all who have died.....
For all who feel spiritually dead.....
For all who mourn.....
For all those preparing for Baptism.....
Our Father.....
Grant, O God,
that we who are baptised into the death of your Son Jesus Christ
may continually die to sin and be buried with him,
that through the grave and gate of death
we may pass to our joyful resurrection;
for his sake, who died and was buried and rose again for us,
your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ.
EASTER SUNDAY
This is the day which the Lord has made:
we will rejoice and be glad in it, alleluia!
From Psalm 118:
The Lord is my strength and my song, and has become my salvation!
The right hand of the Lord has triumphed!
the right hand of the Lord is exalted!
I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord.
The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes.
Reading: (Luke 24.1-12)
The angels said to the women:
“Why do you look for the living among the dead?
He is not here, but has risen”.
In a flash, at a trumpet crash
I am all at once what Christ is, since he was what I am and
This Jack, joke, poor potsherd, patch, matchwood, immortal diamond
is immortal diamond.
(Gerard Manley Hopkins 1844-1889)
Prayers:
For the whole church as we celebrate the feast of the resurrection.....
For all being baptised today.....
For all who are being called to a new start and a new hope.....
Our Father.....
Eternal Father, through the resurrection of your Son
help us to face the future with courage and assurance,
knowing that nothing in death or life
can ever part us from your love.
