Good Friday: John 19:38-42; Matthew 27:62-66 ~ Jesus is laid in the tomb

The Way of the Cross

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Opening sentence — St Paul of the Cross

The way of the Cross is the road which leads to Paradise; it is the sure way to holiness.

The Passion of Christ is the greatest and most stupendous work of Divine Love.

Station Fourteen – Jesus is laid in the tomb

John 19:38-42 ESV

After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.

Station 14 - Jesus is laid in tomb — Station 14 – Jesus is laid in tomb

Matthew 27:62-66 ESV

The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’ Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.” So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.

Reflections:

Laid in a borrowed tomb, awaiting the sign of Jonah – the only sign that would be given to His generation – that after three days and nights in the womb of the earth. the belly of the fish, the grave and hell, He would come forth to do His Father’s will – Jesus the humble Son of God, the exultant Son of Man, the eternal contradiction, the Blessed One.

The end is not yet. Weeping endures for a night, but joy comes in the morning. The Good News – “He is risen” – will burst upon the Son-rise.

Therefore with joy shall we draw water out of the wells of salvation.

Approaching Easter: The Way of the Cross

Devotion to the Passion of Jesus is the easiest way to be saved. The crucifix is a book wherein we learn every virtue, we learn the science of the saints, and therein we find all.

–Saint Paul of the Cross

Prayer

When all is dark, and Hope is buried, it is hard to trust His words that promised before the pain: He died that I might live.

In His death is my birth. He died that I might live.

In His life is my life. He died that I might live.

My Jesus! He died that I might live.
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Lord God, You willed that we should be baptized into the death of Your Son, Jesus our Savior. Grant us sincere repentance, so that passing with Him through death, we may be reborn into the joy of newness of life. We ask this through Him Who died, was buried and rose again for us, Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
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Peanut Gallery: A brief word of explanation – the general format for Morning Prayer is adapted from the Northumbrian Community‘s Daily Office, as found in Celtic Daily Prayer (see online resources here.) The Scripture readings are primarily from the Gospel of John, with the intent to complete the reading by Easter. Other Scriptures which illuminate the Gospel of John will be included along the way.

Reflections from various saints will be included as their memorial days occur during the calendar year.

On Sundays, I’ll return to the USCCB readings (see online resources here) and various liturgical resources in order to reflect the Church’s worship and concerns throughout the world.

Photo illustrations and music videos, available online, are included as they illustrate or illuminate the readings. I will try to give credit and link to sources as best I can.

Good Friday: John 19:31-37 ~ Jesus is taken down from the cross

The Way of the Cross

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Opening sentence — St Paul of the Cross

The way of the Cross is the road which leads to Paradise; it is the sure way to holiness.

The Passion of Christ is the greatest and most stupendous work of Divine Love.

Station Thirteen – Jesus dies on the cross

Station 13 - Jesus is taken down from thew cross — Station 13 – Jesus is taken down from thew cross

John 19:31-37 ESV

Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. He who saw it has borne witness — his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth — that you also may believe. For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.”

Reflections:

Jesus could now feel the chill of death creeping through His tissues. And with a loud voice He cried: “It is finished.” His mission of atonement had been completed. Finally, He could allow His body to die. With one last surge of strength, He once again pressed His torn feet against the nail, straightened His legs, took a deeper breath, and uttered His seventh and last cry: “Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit.” A while later, the soldier pierced a long spear into the side of the dead man, to His heart. The watery fluid and blood that flowed out show us He had literally died of a broken heart – not the usual crucifixion death od suffocation. The friends of Jesus were allowed to remove His holy body, and for a moment his mother held Him again upon her lap, cradled in her arms.

Let Him sleep now. It is finished.

Approaching Easter: The Way of the Cross

If we go to the crucifix, we find our Mother of Sorrows, for where the Son is, there also is the Mother.

Blessed Mother, what sorrow you experienced in receiving your dead Son into your arms! May the Passion of our Lord may be for us a fountain of sorrow, of pardon, of love and of life.

–Saint Paul of the Cross

Prayer

See from His head, His hands, His feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down! Did e’re such love and sorrow meet? or thorns compose so rich a crown? It was for me.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast save in the death of Christ my God. All the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to His blood. It was for me.
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O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, Who at the sixth hour ascended the gibbet of the cross for the redemption of the world and shed Your precious blood for the remission of our sins, grant, we humbly beseech You, that after our death we may enter with joy the gates of Paradise. You, who lives and reigns forever and ever, Amen.

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
_____________________________________

Reflections from various saints will be included as their memorial days occur during the calendar year.

On Sundays, I’ll return to the USCCB readings (see online resources here) and various liturgical resources in order to reflect the Church’s worship and concerns throughout the world.

Photo illustrations and music videos, available online, are included as they illustrate or illuminate the readings. I will try to give credit and link to sources as best I can.

Good Friday: Matthew 27:45-46; John 19:24-30 ~ Jesus dies on the cross

The Way of the Cross

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Opening sentence — St Paul of the Cross

The way of the Cross is the road which leads to Paradise; it is the sure way to holiness.

The Passion of Christ is the greatest and most stupendous work of Divine Love.

Station Twelve – Jesus dies on the cross

Station 12 - Jesus dies on the cross — Station 12 – Jesus dies on the cross

Matthew 27:45-46 ESV

Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

John 19:24-30 ESV

So the soldiers did these things, but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Reflections:

As Jesus slowly sagged down with more weight on the nails in the wrists, excruciating, fiery pain shot along the fingers and up the arms to explode in the brain. As He pushed Himself upward to avoid this stretching torment, He placed His full weight on the nail through His feet. Again there was searing agony as the nail tore through the nerves. As the arms fatigued, great waves of cramps swept over the muscles, knotting them in deep, relentless, throbbing pain. Jesus fought to raise Himself, in order to get even one short breath. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

To the thief dying at His side: “Today thou shalt be with Me in Paradise.”

To His mother and His closest friend: “Woman, behold thy son” – “Behold thy mother.”

In the words of the psalm foretelling the death of Messiah, He cried: “My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?”

Approaching Easter: The Way of the Cross

Jesus died to give us life: all creatures are in sorrow: the sun is darkened, the earth trembles, the rocks split, the veil of the temple is rent; will only our heart remain harder than the rock? Let us be immersed in a sea of sorrow over the death of Jesus and let us say to Him: “Lord, we thank you for having died on the cross for our sins.”

–Saint Paul of the Cross

Prayer

Father God, You waited through the long hours of agony, when He was robbed even of the sense of Your love, Your presence, when the sin and disease and hatred and darkness overwhelmed Him so greatly. He was wounded for my transgressions.

Father, what love is this of His? What love is this of Yours that His dying love reflects? Your forgiveness for me, as we gaze upon His sacrificial death, is as truly and undeserved gift as the pardon He spoke to the dying thief. It is mine if I will only receive: He was wounded for my transgressions.
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Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, Who by the will of the Father and the action of the Holy Spirit, Your death gave life to the world. Through the mysteries of Your Sacred Passion, deliver us from every fault and from every evil, and grant that we may ever be faithful to Your commandments and may never be separated from You Who lives and reigns forever and ever, Amen.

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
_____________________________________

Reflections from various saints will be included as their memorial days occur during the calendar year.

On Sundays, I’ll return to the USCCB readings (see online resources here) and various liturgical resources in order to reflect the Church’s worship and concerns throughout the world.

Photo illustrations and music videos, available online, are included as they illustrate or illuminate the readings. I will try to give credit and link to sources as best I can.

Good Friday: Matthew 27:33-35, 38; John 19:16-23 ~ Jesus is nailed to the cross

The Way of the Cross

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Opening sentence — St Paul of the Cross

The way of the Cross is the road which leads to Paradise; it is the sure way to holiness.

The Passion of Christ is the greatest and most stupendous work of Divine Love.

Station Eleven – Jesus is nailed to the cross

Station 11 - Jesus is nailed to the cross — Station 11 – Jesus is nailed to the cross

Matthew 27:33-35, 38 ESV

And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots.
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Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left.

John 19:16-23 ESV

So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them.

Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”

Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’”

Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.”

Reflections:

The journey was at an end. Jesus was quickly thrown backward with His shoulders against the wood. The soldier felt for the depression at the front of the wrist; he drove a heavy, square, wrought-iron nail through the wrist and deep into the wood. Quickly, he moved to the other side and repeated the action, being careful not to pull the arms to tightly. The title “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews” was nailed into place, and the cross-bar lifted into position. The left foot was pressed backward against the right foot. With both feet extended, toes down, a nail was driven through the arch of each, leaving the knees moderately flexed.

The victim was now crucified. “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” He is our peace.

Approaching Easter: The Way of the Cross

We must glory in nothing else but in being crucified with Jesus and in bearing the marks of His wounds in our body. We must strive for great detachment from creatures in order to be united only with the Creator, through the various sufferings and pains of life, endured for the love of God, in patience, silence in the midst of all the sacrifices demanded by our state in life, and by practicing the virtues taught by our Divine Savior.

–Saint Paul of the Cross

Prayer

Jesus, our sin put the nails in Your hands. It was love that held You there.

The soldiers hoisted Your cross on high. You were their prisoner; but no one took Your life away from You. You gave it willingly, freely. It was love that held You there.

You were lifted high upon that cross, even as You had prophesied when You promised: “I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to Me.” It was love that held You there.
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Lord, be appeased by our prayers and graciously conform our will to Your own, even when it wishes to rebel against you. Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
_____________________________________

Reflections from various saints will be included as their memorial days occur during the calendar year.

On Sundays, I’ll return to the USCCB readings (see online resources here) and various liturgical resources in order to reflect the Church’s worship and concerns throughout the world.

Photo illustrations and music videos, available online, are included as they illustrate or illuminate the readings. I will try to give credit and link to sources as best I can.

Good Friday: Matthew 27:35 ~ Jesus is stripped of his garments

The Way of the Cross

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Opening sentence — St Paul of the Cross

The way of the Cross is the road which leads to Paradise; it is the sure way to holiness.

The Passion of Christ is the greatest and most stupendous work of Divine Love.

Station Ten – Jesus is stripped of his garments

Station 10 - Jesus is stripped of His garments — Station 10 – Jesus is stripped of His garments

Matthew 27:35 ESV

And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots.

Reflections:

At the place of death the King of life is stripped of His clothes. Naked, He came into the world; naked, He is taken from the world. Vulnerable, exposed, God became man. He was a crying, helpless, dependent baby. Now, vulnerable, exposed, His heart, His life, His body all bared before the world, He will be hung up to be mocked. But God is not mocked – His very nakedness is a parable, a sacrament, a picture of the Father’s hurting heart exposed in love to us.

Approaching Easter: The Way of the Cross

Jesus permitted Himself to be despoiled of His garments on Calvary in order to teach us to renounce our own will when it is not conformable to the will of the Father. He wants us to strip ourselves of earthly affections and all inordinate love of the things of this world, so that we may clothe ourselves with the virtues of Christ.

–Saint Paul of the Cross

Prayer

Lord, You were stripped of the robes You wore, but You were the same – it didn’t change You. Things meant little to You; You never hid behind them. You showed us the Father’s heart, so open and broken: may we be open to You, and to each other.

Lord, for our sake You left the riches of heaven and became poor. You came within our reach. May we be open to You, and to each other.

You did not hold on to even the little You had left to call Your own. May we be open to You, and to each other.

The nakedness of God was exposed before the world. Lord, O lovely Christ, may we be open to You, and to each other.

No robe was left now upon Your tired shoulders, just a crown of mockery on Your head. You were still a King. You loved, and won rejection and pain – but You still loved. May we be open to You, and to each other.
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You protect those who hope in You, Lord; without You there is no strength, no holiness. Extend your mercy ever more and more to us; that drawn by You, we may use the good things of this world only in passing and not lose the treasures of heaven. Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

_____________________________________

Reflections from various saints will be included as their memorial days occur during the calendar year.

On Sundays, I’ll return to the USCCB readings (see online resources here) and various liturgical resources in order to reflect the Church’s worship and concerns throughout the world.

Photo illustrations and music videos, available online, are included as they illustrate or illuminate the readings. I will try to give credit and link to sources as best I can.