Good Friday, Part 03

2.) FROM THE NEW ROMAN LECTIONARY:

First Reading

(Isaiah 52:13—53:12)

Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he will be exalted, and lifted up, and be very high;
(just as many were astonished at you) such was the disfigurement of his appearance - more than any man,
And his form more than the sons of men - so shall he sprinkle many nations.
Kings will shut their mouths because of him, for what had not been told them they shall see, and what they had not heard they shall understand.

Who would have believed our report, and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
For he grew up before Him like a sapling, and like a root out of dry ground;
He had no form or majesty that we should see him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to him.
He was despised and lacking of men - a man of pain, acquainted with illness;
Like a hiding of the face from him he was despised, and we did not esteem him.

But indeed he has borne our illnesses and carried our pains, yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted.
He was wounded for our rebellions, crushed for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; by his bruises we are healed.
All we like sheep have wandered - we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has made the iniquity of us all to meet on him.

He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth.
Like a lamb led to slaughter, and an ewe silent before her shearers, so he opened not his mouth.
By humiliation and judgment he was taken away - and his generation, who considers?
For he was cut off from the land of the living, plague-stricken for the rebellion of his people.
They assigned his grave with criminals and with the rich in his deaths, for he had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in his mouth. But the LORD desired to crush him and weaken him.

If he makes his life a guilt offering, he shall see his seed and prolong his days,
And the delight of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
He shall see the labor of his life, and shall be satisfied by his knowledge.

The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous, for he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will assign him a portion with the multitudes, and he shall divide the plunder with the powerful,
Because he laid bare his life to death and was numbered with the rebels,
And he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the rebels.

Responsorial Psalm

(Psalm 31 (32):2, 6, 12-13, 15-16, 17, 25)

R. (Luke 23:46) Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit.
In you, O LORD, I have taken shelter!
Let me never be put to shame; in your justice deliver me.
Into your hand I entrust my spirit; you have redeemed me O LORD, God of truth.
R. Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit.
Because of all my enemies I am a reproach - and to my neighbors, exceedingly, and horror to my acquaintances; those who see me in the street run away from me.
I am forgotten, like a dead man, from the heart; I am like a broken vessel.
R. Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit.
But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, "You are my God!"
My times are in your hand; deliver me from the hand of my enemies and pursuers.
R. Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit.
Let your face shine upon your servant; save me in your steadfast love.
Be strong and let your hearts take courage, all you who hope in the LORD!
R. Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit.

Second Reading

(Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9)

Brethren:
Since, then, we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us boldly approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

In the days of his flesh, He offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His devotion. Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what He suffered; and having been perfected, He became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.

The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ

(John 18:1—19:42)

Good Friday, Part 02

The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John

(continued)

Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the Praetorium - now it was daybreak - and they did not go into the Praetorium so that they would not be defiled, but might eat the Passover. So Pilate went out to them and said, "What charge do you bring against this man?" They answered and said to him, "If He were not an evildoer, we would not have handed him up to you." Then Pilate said to them, "You take Him and pass judgment Him according to your law!" The Judeans said to him, "It is not permitted for us to put anyone to death" - to fulfill what Jesus had said when he indicated the kind of death He would die.

Then Pilate entered the Praetorium again, and called Jesus, and said to Him, "Are you the King of the Judeans?" Jesus answered, "Are you saying this from yourself or did others tell you about me?" Pilate answered, "Am I a Judean? Your own nation and your chief priests handed you over to me! What have you done?" Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my servants would be struggling to keep me from being handed over to the Judeans. But now my kingdom is not from here." Pilate then said to Him, "So you are a king!" Jesus replied, "You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world – to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice." Pilate said, "What is truth?"

And when he had said this he went back outside to the Judeans and said to them, "I find no cause of crime in Him. But you have a custom that I release someone to you at the Passover; so do you want me to release for you the 'King of the Judeans'?" They shouted again, saying, "Not this man, but Barabbas" (now Barabbas was an insurrectionist).

So then Pilate took Jesus and had Him flogged. And the soldiers plaited a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and they clothed Him in a purple garment. And they came up to Him again and again and said, "Hail, King of the Judeans!" And they struck Him repeatedly.

Again Pilate went out and said to them, "Look, I am bringing Him out to you that you may know I find no cause of crime in Him." Then Jesus came outside, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple garment. And he said to them, "Behold, the man!" When the chief priests and their officers saw him, they shouted out, "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!" Pilate said to them, "You take Him and crucify Him; for I find no cause of crime in Him!" The Judeans answered him, "We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, for He made Himself the Son of God."

When Pilate heard this word, he became more afraid, and went again into the Praetorium, and said to Jesus, "Where are you from?" But Jesus gave him no answer. So Pilate said to Him, "Do you refuse to talk to me? Do you know not that I have the authority to release you and the authority to crucify you?" Jesus answered, "You would have no authority at all over me unless it was given you from above. Therefore he who handed me over to you has the greater sin."

From then on, Pilate sought to release Him. But the Judeans shouted out, saying, "If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar! Everyone who makes himself out to be a king opposes Caesar!" When Pilate therefore heard those words he brought Jesus out and sat on the judge's seat in a place called Lithostrotos, or in Hebrew Gabbatha - now it was the Preparation for the Passover and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Judeans, "Behold, your king!" Then these shouted out, "Away with Him! Away with Him! Crucify Him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your king?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar!"

Then he handed Him over to them to be crucified. Therefore they took Jesus; and carrying the cross by Himself, He went out to the place called 'The Place of the Skull' (called in Hebrew Golgotha), where they crucified Him, and with Him two others: on the one side and on the other, in the middle of them Jesus. Pilate also had a notice written and placed on the cross. Now it was written: 'JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JUDEANS'. Then many of the Judeans read this inscription, becuase the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. Then the chief priests of the Judeans said to Pilate, "Do not write, 'The King of the Judeans,' but, 'He said, "I am king of the Judeans."'" Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written."

Now when the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took His garments and made four parts, one for each soldier, and also the tunic (now the tunic was seamless, woven from the top in one piece). Therefore the soldiers said to one another, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see who will get it" - to fulfill the scripture that says, "They divided my garments among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots." Therefore the soldiers did these things.

Now standing beside the cross of Jesus were His mother, and the sister of His mother, Mary of Clopas, and Mary the Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son!" Then He said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" And from that very hour that disciple took her to his own.

After this Jesus, knowing that all things were now consummated, said (in order to consummate the scripture), "I thirst!" A jar full of sour wine was there, so they put a sponge soaked in sour wine on hyssop and brought it to His mouth. Therefore when He had received the sour wine, Jesus said, "Consummated!" And He bowed His head and gave over the spirit.

(Here all kneel and pause for a few moments.)

Then the Judeans, because it was the Preparation, so that the bodies should not stay on the crosses on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), asked Pilate that their legs be broken and they be taken down. 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 blood and water came out immediately. And he who has seen gave witness, and his witness is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe. These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled, "Not a bone of his shall be broken," and again another scripture says, "They shall look on him whom they pierced."

After this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus (but secretly for fear of the Judeans), asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate granted permission, so he went and took away His body. And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes - about a hundred litra. Then they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the custom of the Judeans to prepare for burial. Now at the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden was a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid down. So there they laid Jesus, because of the Preparation of the Judeans, for the tomb was nearby.

The Improperia

V: My people, what have I done to you? In what have I grieved you? Answer me!
V: Because I led you out of the land of Egypt, you have prepared a cross for your Savior.

Agios o Theos!
Sanctus Deus!
Agios Ischyros!
Sanctus Fortis!
Agios Athanatos, eleison imas.
Sanctus Immortalis, miserere nobis.

V: Because I led you out through the desert for forty years, and fed you with manna from heaven, and brought you to an excellent land, you have prepared a cross for your Savior.

Agios o Theos...

V: What more ought I to do for you that I have not done? I planted you, indeed, my most beautiful vineyard, and you have become exceedingly bitter to me; for in my thirst you gave me vinegar to drink, and with a lance you have pierced the side of your Savior.

Agios o Theos...

V: For your sake I scourged Egypt and killed its first-born; and you have delivered Me to be scourged.
R: My people, what have I done to you? In what have I grieved you? Answer me!
V: I led you out of Egypt and drowned Pharaoh in the Red Sea, and you have delivered Me to the chief priests.
R: My people...
V: I opened the sea for you, and you have opened my side with a spear.
R: My people...
V: I went before you in a pillar of cloud, and you have led me to the praetorium of Pilate.
R: My people...
V: I fed you with manna in the desert, and you have beaten me with blows and scourges.
R: My people...
V: I gave you the water of salvation from the rock to drink, and you have given me gall and vinegar.
R: My people...
V: For you I struck down the kings of the Canaanites, and you have struck my head with a reed.
R: My people...
V: I gave you a royal scepter, and you have given my head a crown of thorns.
R: My people...
V: I have exalted you with great strength, and you hanged me on the gibbet of the cross.
R: My people...

We adore your Cross, O Lord: and we praise and glorify your holy Resurrection; for behold, by the wood of the Cross, joy has come into the whole world.
(Psalm 66 [67]:2) May God have mercy on us, and bless us; may He cause the light of His countenance to shine upon us, and have mercy on us.
V: We adore your cross...

Good Friday, Part 01

1.) FROM THE OLD ROMAN LECTIONARY:

Prophecy

(Hosea 5:15; 6:1-6)

Thus says the LORD:
"In their affliction they will rise early to me, 'Come, and let us return to the LORD; for He had seized us, and He will heal us; He will strike, and He will cure us. After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight. We shall know and we shall follow on, that we may know the LORD. His going forth is established as the morning light; and He will come to us like the former and the latter rain to the earth.'
What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your mercy is like a morning cloud and like the dew that goes away in the morning. For this reason I have hewed them by the Prophets, I have killed them by the words of my mouth; and your judgments shall go forth like the light. For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and knowledge of God more than burnt offerings."

Tract

(Habbakuk 3:1-4)

[NOTE: this is actually a passage using one a Vetus Latina translation instead of the Latin Vulgate]

O LORD, I have heard your hearing and was afraid; I have looked at your works and trembled.
V: In the midst of two animals you will be made known; when the years draw near you will be recognized; when the time comes you will be manisfested.
V: When my soul is in trouble, you will remember mercy, even in your wrath.
V: God will come from Lebanon, and the Holy One from from the shady and thickly covered mountain.
V: His majesty has covered the heavens, and the earth is full of His praise.

Lesson

(Exodus 12:1-11)

In those days the LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt:
"This month is to be your beginning of months; it will be the first month of the year to you. Speak to the whole assembly of the sons of Israel, saying, 'On the tenth day of this month let everyone take a lamb, by their families and houses. But if the number is less than may suffice to be able to consume the lamb, he shall accept his neighbor who has been joined with his house, according to the number of souls which may be enough to eat the lamb.
It shall be a lamb without blemish, a male, of one year; according to this rite, you shall also take a young goat, and it will be for you for a keeping until the fourteenth day of this month; and the whole multitude of the sons of Israel shall sacrifice it towards evening.
And they will take from its blood, and place it upon both the side posts and the upper doorposts of the houses, in which they will eat it. And they will eat the meat that night roasted by fire, and unleavened bread with wild lettuce. You shall not eat anything from it raw nor boiled in water, but only roasted by fire. You shall devour the head with its legs and intestines. Neither shall there remain anything from it until morning; anything that have been left over you shall burn with fire. And thus you shall eat it: you shall gird your waist, and you shall have sandals on your feet, holding staves in your hands, and you shall consume it in haste - for it is the Passover (that is, the crossing) of the LORD."

Tract

(Psalm 139:2-10, 14)

Deliver me, O LORD, from the evil person; rescue me from the unjust man.
V: Who have devised iniquities in their hearts; all day long they constructed conflicts.
V: They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; the venom of asps is under their lips.
V: Keep me, O LORD, from the hand of the sinner, and deliver me from unjust men.
V: Who have decided to supplant my steps; the arrogant have hidden a snare for me.
V: And they have stretched out cords for a snare for my feet; they have placed for me a stumbling-block near the road.
V: I said to the LORD, "You are my God; O LORD, hear the voice of my supplication!"
V: LORD, O LORD, the strength of my salvation; overshadow my head in the day of battle.
V: Give me not up by my desire to the sinner; they have plotted against me. Do not abandon me, lest they should triumph!
V: The head of those who encompass me, the labor of their lips, will overwhelm them.
V: So then truly the just will confess your Name, and the upright will dwell with your Face.

The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John

(John 18:1-40; 19:1-42)

At that time Jesus went out with his disciples across the torrent of the Kidron, where there was a garden, which He and His disciples entered. And Judas, who betrayed Him, also knew the place because Jesus met there often with His disciples; so Judas obtained a cohort, and officers of the chief priests and Pharisees, and they came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons. Jesus therefore, knowing all things that were coming upon Him, went forward and said to them, "Whom do you seek?" They answered, "Jesus the Nazarene." Jesus said to them, "I AM." And Judas who betrayed Him also stood with them. Now when He said to them, "I AM," they moved back and fell to the ground. Again He asked them, "Whom do you seek?" And they said, "Jesus the Nazarene." Jesus answered, "I told you that I AM. If you are seeking me, let these men go," (to fulfill the word He had spoken, "Of those whom you gave me, I did not lose one of them.")
Simon Peter then - who had a sword - drew it and struck the high priest's slave, cutting off his right ear - the slave’s name was Malchus. But Jesus said to Peter, "Put your sword back into the sheath! The cup that the Father has given me to drink, shall I not drink it?" Then the cohort and the tribunus and the officers of the Judeans seized Jesus and bound Him, and brought him first to Annas - for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas who was high priest that year. (Now it was Caiaphas who counseled the Judeans that it was expedient that one man die for the people.)

And Simon Peter and another disciple was following Jesus - now that disciple was known to the high priest - and went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, but Peter stood outside at the door. Then the other disciple who was known to the high priest went out and spoke to the doorkeeper, and brought Peter in. Then said the maidservant who was the doorkeeper to Peter, "You are not also one of this man's disciples, are you?" He said, "I am not." Now the slaves and the officers were standing there, having made a charcoal fire because it was cold, and they were warming themselves. Peter also was standing with them, warming himself.

The high priest questioned Jesus about His disciples and His doctrine. Jesus answered him, "I spoke publicly to the world. I always taught in the synagogues and in the temple where all the Judeans come together, and I have said nothing in secret. Why do you ask me? Ask those who heard what I said to them. Look, they know what I said." When He had said this, one of the officers standing by gave Jesus a strike, saying, "Is that how you answer the high priest?" Jesus answered, "If I have spoken improperly, testify to the evil. But if rightly, why do you beat me?" Then Annas sent Him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They said to him, "You are not also one of His disciples, are you?" He denied it and said, "I am not." One of the slaves of the high priest, a relative of him whose ear Peter had cut off, said, "Did I not see you in the garden with Him?" Again therefore Peter denied it; and immediately a rooster crowed.