The Way of the Cross Music & Readings for Lent & Passiontide

The Way of the CrossMusic & Readings for Lent & PassiontideSunday 4 March, 6pm

The GatheringPlease stand to sing thePROCESSIONAL HYMNChrist triumphant, ever-reigning,Saviour, Master, King,Lord of heav’n, our lives sustaining,hear us as we sing:yours the glory and the crown,the high renown, the eternal name.Suffering servant, scorned, ill-treated,victim crucified!Death is through the cross defeated,sinners justified:yours the glory…Priestly King, enthroned for everhigh in heaven above!Sin and death and hell shall neverstifle hymns of love:yours the glory…So, our hearts and voices raisingthrough the ages long,ceaselessly upon you gazing,this shall be our song:yours the glory…Michael Saward (b.1932)© Julbiate Hymns xxx?Tune: Guiting PowerINTRODUCTIONPriestAllPriestAllIn the name of the Father,and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.Amen.The Lord be with youand also with you.

PriestJesus told his disciples, ‘If any want to become my followers, letthem deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow me. Forthose who want to save their life will lose it, and those who losetheir life for my sake will find it.’Let us pray.Please kneel and pray in silence.Then all say togetherO kind and loving Jesus,I kneel here before you,asking you most ferventlyto put into my heartthe virtues of faith, hope, and love,with a true contrition for my sinsand a firm purpose of amendment.Help me to contemplateyour five precious wounds,while I remember David’s prophecy:They have pierced my hands and my feet;they have counted all my bones.Please sit.The Way of the CrossPILATE CONDEMNS JESUS TO DEATHReaderA reading from the gospel according to Mark.Pilate then asked them, ‘Why, what evil has he done?’ But theyshouted all the more, ‘Crucify him!’ So Pilate, wishing to satisfy thecrowd, released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, hehanded him over to be crucified.The Choir sings O vos omnes by Tomas Luis de Victoria (1548–1611)All you who pass by, behold and see if there be any sorrow like my sorrow.Behold, all people, and see my sorrow, if there be any sorrow like mysorrow.

Silence is kept.Please stand with the priest.PriestAllPriestAllwe adore you, O Christ, and we bless youbecause by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.Let us pray.Almighty God,whose most dear Son went not up into joybut first he suffered pain,and entered not into glory before he was crucified:mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross,may find it none other than the way of life and peace;through Jesus Christ our Lord.Amen.Please sit.JESUS FALLS FOR THE FIRST TIMEReaderA reading from Lamentations.My transgressions were bound into a yoke; by the Lord’s handthey were fastened together; they weigh on my neck, sapping mystrength; the Lord handed me over to those whom I cannotwithstand. For these things I weep; my eyes flow with tears; for acomforter is far from me, one to revive my courage; my childrenare desolate, for the enemy has prevailed.Please stand to sing the hymnGlory be to Jesus,who, in bitter pains,poured for me the life-bloodfrom his sacred veins.Grace and life eternalin that blood I find;blest be his compassion,infinitely kind.

Abel’s blood for vengeancepleaded to the skies;but the blood of Jesusfor our pardon cries.oft as it is sprinkledon our guilty hearts,Satan in confusionterror struck departs.oft as earth exultingwafts is praise on high,hell with terror trembles,heaven is filled with joy.lift ye then your voices,swell the mighty flood;louder still and louder,praise the precious blood.Italiantrans. Edward Caswall (1814–78)Tune: CaswallSilence is kept; then the priest sayswe adore you, O Christ, and we bless youAll because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.PriestAllLet us pray.Lord Jesus Christ,you humbled yourself in taking the form of a servant,and in obedience died on the cross for our salvation:give us the mind to follow youand to proclaim you as Lord and King,to the glory of God the Father.Amen.Please sit.

JESUS MEETS HIS MOTHERReaderA reading from the gospel according to Luke.Then Simeon blessed them, and said to his mother Mary, ‘Thischild is destined for the falling and rising of many in Israel, and tobe a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of manywill be revealed – and a sword shall pierce your own soul too.’The choir sings Ave Maria by Robert ParsonsHail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou amongwomen, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.Silence is kept.Please stand with the priest.PriestAllPriestAllwe adore you, O Christ, and we bless youbecause by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.Let us pray.Almighty Father,the Blessed Virgin stood faithfully by your Sonas he hung upon the cross:May she stand by all who suffer,interceding for them to you,the God of mercy and healing.Amen.Please sit.JESUS FALLS FOR THE SECOND TIMEReaderA reading from the prophet Isaiah.he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities;upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by hisbruises we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we haveall turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him theiniquity of us all.

Please stand to sing the hymnMy song is love unknown,my Saviour’s love to me,love to the loveless shown,that they might lovely be.O who am I,that for my sakemy Lord should takefrail flesh and die.He came from his blest throne,salvation to bestow:but men made strange, and nonethe longed-for Christ would know.But O, my friend,my friend indeed,who at my needhis life did spend!Sometimes they strew his way,and his sweet praises sing;resounding all the dayhosannas to their King.Then ‘Crucify!’is all their breath,and for his death they thirst and cry.They rise, and needs will havemy dear Lord made away;a murderer they save,the Prince of Life they slay.Yet cheerful heto suffering goes,that he his foesfrom thence might free.Here might I stay and sing,no story so divine;never was love, dear King,never was grief like thine!This is my friend,in whose sweet praiseI all my dayscould gladly spend.Samuel Crossman (1624–83)Tune: Love Unknown

Silence is kept; then the priest saysAllPriestAllwe adore you, O Christ, and we bless youbecause by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.Let us pray.Lord God,whose blessed Son our Saviourgave his back to the smitersand did not hide his face from shame:give us grace to endure the sufferings of this present timewith sure confidence in the glory that shall be revealed;through Jesus Christ our Lord.Amen.Please sit.JESUS SPEAKS TO THE WOMEN OF JERUSALEMReaderA reading from the Gospel according to Luke.A great number of the people followed him, and among themwere women who were beating their breasts and wailing for him.But Jesus turned to them and said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, donot weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children."The choir sings the Reproaches, set by John Sanders (1933–2003)O my people, what have I done to you? How have I offended you? Answerme!I led you out of slavery to freedom, but you led your saviour to the cross.O my people…etc.Holy is God! Holy and strong! Holy, immortal One, have mercy on us.For forty years I led you safely through the desert. I fed you with manna fromheaven, and brought you to a land of plenty; but you led your saviour to thecross.Holy is God…etc.What more could I have done for you? I planted you as my fairest vine, butyou yielded only bitterness: when I was thirsty you gave me vinegar to drink,and you pierced your saviour’s side with a lance.Holy is God… etc.I opened the sea before you, but you opened my side with a spear. I led youon your way in a pillar of cloud, but you led me to Pilate’s court.

Silence is kept.O my people… etc.I bore you up with manna in the desert, but you struck me down andscourged me. I gave you saving water from the rock, but you gave me gall andvinegar to drink.O my people… etc.I gave you a royal sceptre, but you gave me a crown of thorns. I raised you tothe height of majesty, but you raised me high on a cross.O my people… etc.Please stand with the priestPriestAllPriestAllwe adore you, O Christ, and we bless youbecause by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.Let us pray.How is it possible, good Lord,that ever anyone can despair of your mercy?Who, when we were enemies,hast redeemed us with thy precious blood,and hast reconciled us to God.Behold, O Lord, protected by thy mercy,we run, craving pardon to the throne of glory.For if thou hast called us to pardon, even when we did not seek it,how much more shall we obtain pardon if we ask it?For as thy majesty is, so is thy mercy,who art God, now and for ever.Amen.Please sit.JESUS FALLS FOR THE THIRD TIMEReaderA reading from the Psalms.My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so farfrom helping me, from the words of my groaning? Do not, OLord, withhold your mercy from me; let your steadfast love andyour faithfulness keep me safe for ever. For evils haveencompassed me without number; my iniquities have overtakenme, until I cannot see; they are more than the hairs of my head,and my heart fails me. Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me; O Lord,make haste to help me.

Please stand to sing the hymnO sacred head, sore wounded,defiled and put to scorn;O kingly head, surroundedwith mocking crown of thorn:what sorrow mars thy grandeur?Can death thy bloom deflower?O countenance whose splendourthe hosts of heaven adore.In thy most bitter passionmy heart to share doth cry,with thee for my salvationupon the cross to die.Ah, keep my heart thus movedto stand thy cross beneath,to mourn thee, well beloved,yet thank thee for thy death.My days are few, O fail not,with thine immortal power,to hold me that I quail notin death’s most fearful hour:that I may fight befriended,and see in my last strifeto me thine arms extendedupon the cross of life.Silence is kept; then the priest saysAllPriestAllPaul Gerhardt (1607–76)Trans. Robert Bridges (1844–1930)Tune: Passion Chroralewe adore you, O Christ, and we bless youbecause by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.Let us pray.Lord Jesus Christ,you taught usthat what we do for the least of our brothers and sisterswe do also for you:give us the will to be the servant of othersas you were the servant of all,and gave up your life and died for us,but are alive and reign, now and for ever.Amen.

Please sit.JESUS IS STRIPPED OF HIS GARMENTSReaderA reading from the Gospel according to John.The soldiers took his clothes and divided them into four parts,one for each soldier. They also took his tunic; now the tunic wasseamless, woven in one piece from the top. So they said to oneanother, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see who will getit." This was to fulfil what the scripture says, "They divided myclothes among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots."The choir sings Vexilla regis prodeunt by Venantius Fortunatus (530–609)Silence is kept.The royal banners forward go, the cross shines forth in mystic glow, wherehe in flesh, our flesh who made, our sentence bore our ransom paid. Wheredeep for us the spear was dyed, life’s torrent rushing from his side, to washus in that precious flood, where mingled water flowed, and blood. O Tree ofbeauty, Tree of light, O Tree with royal purple dight, Elect on whosetriumphal breast those holy limbs should find their rest! To thee, eternalThree in One, let homage meet by all be done: whom by thy Cross thou dostrestore, preserve and govern evermore. Amen.Trans. J.M. Neale (1818–66)Please stand with the priest.PriestAllwe adore you, O Christ, and we bless youbecause by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.PriestAllLet us pray.Almighty Father,look with mercy on this your familyfor which our Lord Jesus Christ was contented to be betrayedand given up into the hands of sinnersand to suffer death upon the cross;who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,one God, now and forever.Amen.Please remain standing for the rest of the service.

JESUS DIES ON THE CROSSReaderA reading from the Gospel according to MarkAt three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lemasabachthani?’ which means, ‘My God, my God, why have youforsaken me?’ When some of the bystanders heard it, they said,‘Listen, he is calling for Elijah.’ And someone ran, filled a spongewith sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink,saying, ‘Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take himdown.’ Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last.Silence is kept for a long period of time.Then the choir sings the Crucifixus à 8 by Antonio Lotti (1667–1740)PriestFor our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death, andwas buried.Nicene CreedLet us pray.All remain standing and pray in silence.AllHear us, O Lord,and remember the hourin which thou didst commend thy blessed Spiritinto the hands of thy heavenly Father,when with thy torn body and broken heartthou didst show forth thy mercyby dying to deliver us from eternal death;and so assist us by this thy most precious death,that, dying unto the world, we may live unto thee,and that, at the hour of our departing from this mortal life,we may be received into thine everlasting kingdom,there to reign with thee, world without end.Amen.The choir and ministers leave in silence.Please leave the chapel in silence; but join the chaplain for drinks in the Rector’slodgings after the service.

Common Worship: Service & Prayers for the Church of England, and Common Worship:Times & Seasons, material from which is included in this service book, are copyright © TheArchbishops’ Council 2000 & 2006 respectively; reproduction of the hymns falls within the provisionof CCL 2559570.