GOOD FRIDAY
All creation is filled with fear,
when it sees you, O Christ, hanging on the cross.
Your disciple, who lay beside you at the great supper,
now sings the story of your suffering.
With awe we behold the wood of the cross,
now shining in glory, now drenched with your precious blood:
and we approach in wonder and fear,
kneeling on the hill of Golgotha.
Glory to you, O Lord, glory to you!
Nailed to the cross, pierced by the spear,
you become for us the source of immortality.
Blood and water flow from your side,
and we taste the sweetness of your life.
O Lord beyond comprehension, glory to you!
1. Liturgy of the Word
All kneel. The ministers enter in silence, and prostrate themselves in front of the altar for a while.
The Collect for the Day is read:
Almighty God, look with mercy on this your family for which our Lord Jesus Christ was content to be betrayed and to suffer death upon the cross; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
First reading: Isaiah 52.13 – 53.end
Psalm 31 is said with the response:
Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.
Second reading: Hebrews 10.16-25
Gradual Hymn:
O sacred head, surrounded
by crown of piercing thorn!
O bleeding head, so wounded,
so shamed and put to scorn!
Death’s palled hue comes o’er thee,
the glow of life decays;
yet angel hosts adore thee
and tremble as they gaze.
Thy comeliness and vigor
is withered up and gone,
and in thy wasted figure
I see death drawing on.
O agony and dying!
O love to sinners free!
Jesus, all grace supplying,
turn thou thy face on me.
In this thy bitter passion,
Good Shepherd, think of me
with thy most sweet compassion,
unworthy though I be:
beneath thy cross abiding
for ever would I rest,
in thy dear love confiding,
and with thy presence blest.
Remain standing for The Passion according to St John.
(see separate sheet: please join in the crowd parts)
2. The Veneration of the Cross
When the deacon arrives at the back of church, all turn to face him. Accompanied by two torch-bearers, he brings a large cross up the aisle, stopping three times. At each station is sung:
Behold the wood of the Cross,
on which hung the Saviour of the world:
and all genuflect towards the cross. After the third station, on the chancel step, the cross (a symbol of the real Crucifixion) is held up for veneration.
While the choir venerates the cross, all sing:
When I survey the wondrous cross
on which the Prince of Glory died,
my richest gain I count but loss,
and pour contempt on all my pride.
Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
save in the cross of Christ, my God:
all the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to his blood.
See, from his head, his hands, his feet,
sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet,
or thorns compose so rich a crown?
His dying crimson like a robe
spreads o’er his body on the tree;
then am I dead to all the globe,
and all the globe is dead to me.
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
that were an offering far too small;
love so amazing, so divine,
demands my soul, my life, my all.
Then all may come up to venerate the cross, while the choir sings The Reproaches. The tradition is to genuflect before the cross, then kneel and kiss the wood; but please do whatever is right for you.
At the end, as the cross and candles are placed on the altar, all sing:
Faithful Cross, above all other,
one and only noble Tree,
none in foliage, none in blossom,
none in fruit thy peer may be;
sweetest wood and sweetest iron,
sweetest weight is hung on thee..
Bend, O lofty Tree, thy branches,
thy too rigid sinews bend;
and awhile the stubborn hardness,
which thy birth bestowed, suspend;
and the limbs of heaven's high Monarch
gently on thine arms extend.
Thou alone wast counted worthy
this world's Ransom to sustain,
that by thee a wrecked creation
might its ark and haven gain,
with the sacred Blood anointed
of the Lamb that hath been slain.
Praise and honour to the Father,
praise and honour to the Son,
praise and honour to the Spirit,
ever Three and ever One:
One in might, and One in glory,
while eternal ages run. Amen.
The Solemn Prayers are said before the cross. Then all sing:
The royal banners forward go,
the cross shines forth in mystic glow;
where he in flesh, our flesh who made,
our sentence bore, our ransom paid.
Where deep for us the spear was dyed,
life's torrent rushing from his side,
to wash us in that precious flood,
where mingled water flowed, and blood.
Fulfilled is all that David told
in true prophetic song of old,
amidst the nations, God, saith he,
hath reigned and triumphed from the tree.
O tree of beauty, tree of light!
O tree with royal purple dight!
Elect on whose triumphal breast
those holy limbs should find their rest.
On whose dear arms, so widely flung,
the weight of this world’s ransom hung,
the price of humankind to pay,
and spoil the spoiler of his prey.
O cross, our one reliance, hail!
Still may thy power with us avail
to give new virtue to the saint,
and pardon to the penitent.
To thee, eternal Three in One,
let homage meet by all be done:
whom by the cross thou dost restore,
preserve and govern evermore.
3. Holy Communion
All kneel in silence while the Sacrament is brought to the altar, accompanied by two candles.
The Our Father is said.
All are invited to receive Communion (on this occasion, Communion is given in one kind only).
The Post-Communion prayer is said:
Most merciful God, who by the death and resurrection
of your Son Jesus Christ delivered and saved the world:
grant that by faith in him who suffered on the cross
we may triumph in the power of his victory,
who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.
The priest extends his hands towards the congregation and says this blessing:
Lord, send down your abundant blessing
upon your people.
Give mercy and grace to the living, rest to the departed,
To your holy Church peace and concord,
To your world justice and salvation,
And to us sinners eternal life and glory.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Instead of the dismissal all sing:
The ministers depart.It is finished! Christ hath known
all our human life wayfaring,
all our joys and sorrows sharing,
making human needs his own.
Lord, in us thy life renewing,
lead us where thy feet have trod,
till, the way of truth pursuing,
human souls find rest in God.
It is finished! Christ is slain,
on the altar of creation,
off’ring for a world’s salvation
sacrifice of love and pain.
Lord, thy love through pain revealing,
purge our passions, scourge our vice,
till, upon the tree of healing
Self is slain in sacrifice.
It is finished! Christ our King
wins the victor’s crown of glory;
sun and stars recite his story,
floods and fields his triumph sing.
Lord, whose praise the world is telling,
Lord, to whom all power is given,
by thy death, hell’s armies quelling,
bring thy saints to reign in heaven.
Please remain in silence while the cloths and candles are removed from the altar. The Cross remains there until after Evening Prayer.
