Office of Readings – Good Friday

V. O Lord, open my lips.
R. And my mouth will proclaim your praise.

Invitatory  Antiphon:
Christ, the Son of God, redeemed us with his blood.
Come let us adore him.

[Psalm 94          A Call to praise God]

Come, ring out our joy to the Lord;
hail the rock who saves us.
Let us come before him, giving thanks,
with songs let us hail the Lord.   (Antiphon)

A mighty God is the Lord
a great king above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his.
To him belongs the sea, for he made it
and the dry land shaped by his hands.  (Antiphon)

Come in; let us bow and bend low;
let us kneel before the God who made us
for he is our God and we
the people who belong to his pasture,
the flock that is led by his hand.    (Antiphon)

O that to-day you would listen to his voice!
Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as on that day at Massah in the desert
when your fathers put me to the test;
when they tried me, though they saw my work.  (Antiphon)

For forty years I was wearied of these people
and I said: 'Their hearts are astray,
these people do not know my ways.'
Then I took an oath in my anger:
'Never shall they enter my rest.'   (Antiphon)

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Antiphon: Christ, the Son of God, redeemed us with his blood.
Come let us adore him.

A suitable hymn or poem may be inserted at this point.

O King of the Friday
Whose limbs were stretched on the cross,
O Lord who did suffer
The bruises, the wounds, the loss,
We stretch ourselves
Beneath the shield of thy might
Some fruit from the tree of thy passion
Fall on us this night!

 From the Irish

Ant. 1: They arise, the kings of earth,
princes plot against the Lord and his anointed.

[Psalm 2]

Why this tumult among nations,
among peoples this useless murmuring?
They arise, the kings of the earth,
princes plot against the Lord and his Anointed.
"Come, let us break their fetters,
come, let us cast off their yoke."

He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the Lord is laughing them to scorn.
Then he will speak in his anger,
his rage will strike them with terror.
"It is I who have set up my king
on Zion, my holy mountain."

I will announce the decree of the Lord:
The Lord said to me: "You are my Son.
It is I who have begotten you this day.
Ask and I shall bequeath you the nations,
put the ends of the earth in your possession.
With a rod of iron you will break them,
shatter them like a potter's jar."

Now, O kings, understand,
take warning, rulers of the earth;
serve the Lord with awe
and trembling, pay him your homage
lest he be angry and you perish;
for suddenly his anger will blaze.

Blessed are they who put their trust in God.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Ant. 1: 
They arise, the kings of earth,
princes plot against the Lord and his anointed.

Ant. 2:
They divided my clothing among them. 
They cast lots for my robe.

[Psalm 21 (22):2-23]

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
You are far from my plea and the cry of my distress.
O my God, I call by day and you give no reply;
I call by night and I find no peace.

Yet you, O God, are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
In you our fathers put their trust;
they trusted and you set them free.
When they cried to you, they escaped.
In you they trusted and never in vain.

But I am a worm and no man,
scorned by men, despised by the people.
All who see me deride me.
They curl their lips, they toss their heads.
"He trusted in the Lord, let him save him;
let him release him if this is his friend."

Yes, it was you who took me from the womb,
entrusted me to my mother's breast.
To you I was committed from my birth,
from my mother's womb you have been my God.
Do not leave me alone in my distress;
Come close, there is none else to help.

Many bulls have surrounded me,
fierce bulls of Bashan close me in.
Against me they open wide their jaws,
like lions, rending and roaring.

Like water I am poured out,
disjointed are all my bones.
My heart has become like wax,
it is melted within my breast.

Parched as burnt clay is my throat,
my tongue cleaves to my jaws.

Many dogs have surrounded me,
a band of the wicked beset me.
They tear holes in my hands and my feet
and lay me in the dust of death.

I can count every one of my bones.
These people stare at me and gloat;
they divide my clothing among them.
They cast lots for my robe.

O Lord, do not leave me alone,
my strength, make haste to help me!
Rescue my soul from the sword,
my life from the grip of these dogs.
Save my life from the jaws of these lions,
my poor soul from the horns of these oxen.

I will tell of your name to my brethren
and praise you where they are assembled.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Ant. 2:
They divided my clothing among them. 
They cast lots for my robe.

Ant 3: Those who sought my life used violence against me.

[Psalm 37 (38)]

O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger;
do not punish me, Lord, in your rage.
Your arrows have sunk deep in me;
your hand has come down upon me:
through my sin, there is no health in my limbs.

My guilt towers higher than my head;
it is a weight too heavy to bear.
My wounds are foul and festering,
the result of my own folly.
I am bowed and brought to my knees.
I go mourning all the day long.

All my frame burns with fever;
all my body is sick.
Spent and utterly crushed,
I cry aloud in anguish of heart.

O Lord, you know all my longing:
my groans are not hidden from you.
My heart throbs, my strength is spent;
the very light has gone from my eyes.

My friends avoid me like a leper;
those closest to me stand afar off.
Those who plot against my life lay snares;
those who seek my ruin speak of harm,
planning treachery all the day long.

But I am like the deaf who cannot hear,
like the dumb unable to speak.
I am like a man who hears nothing
in whose mouth is no defence.

I count on you, O Lord:
it is you, Lord God, who will answer.
I pray: "Do not let them mock me,
those who triumph if my foot should slip."

For I am on the point of falling
and my pain is always before me.
I confess that I am guilty
and my sin fills me with dismay.

My wanton enemies are numberless
and my lying foes are many.
They repay me evil for good
and attack me for seeking what is right.

O Lord, do not forsake me!
My God, do not stay afar off!
Make haste and come to my help,
O Lord, my God, my saviour!

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Ant 3: Those who sought my life used violence against me.

V. False witnesses rise against me,
R. And falsehood has deceived itself.

THE FIRST READING        Heb 9:11 – 28

A reading from the letter to the Hebrews

[Christ, the high priest, through the shedding of his own blood has entered the sanctuary once and for all.]

Now Christ has come, as the high priest of all the blessings which were to come. He has passed through the greater, the more perfect tent, which is better than the one made by men’s hands because it is not of this created order; and he has entered the sanctuary once and for all, taking with him not the blood of goats and bull calves, but his own blood, having won an eternal redemption for us. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer are sprinkled on those who have incurred defilement and they restore the holiness of their outward lives; how much more effectively the blood of Christ, who offered himself as the perfect sacrifice to God through the eternal Spirit, can purify our inner self from dead actions so that we do our service to the living God.

He brings a new covenant, as the mediator, only so that the people who were called to an eternal inheritance may actually receive what was promised: his death took place to cancel the sins that infringed the earlier covenant. Now wherever a will is in question, the death of the testator must be established; indeed, it only becomes valid with that death, since it is not meant to have any effect while the testator is still alive. That explains why even the earlier covenant needed is something to be killed in order to take effect, and why, after Moses had announced all the commandments of the Law to the people, he took the calves’ blood, the goats’ blood and some water, and with these he sprinkled the book itself and all the people, using scarlet wool and hyssop; saying as he did so: This is the blood of the covenant that God has laid down for you. After that, he sprinkled the tent and all the liturgical vessels with blood in the same way. In fact, according to the Law almost everything has to be purified with blood; and if there is no shedding of blood, there is no remission. Obviously, only the copies of heavenly things can be purified in this way, and the heavenly things themselves have to be purified by a higher sort of sacrifice than this. It is not as though Christ had entered a man-made sanctuary which was only modelled on the real one; but it was heaven itself, so that he could appear in the actual presence of God on our behalf. And he does not have to offer himself again and again, like the high priest going into the sanctuary year after year with the blood that is not his own, or else he would have had to suffer over and over again since the world began. Instead of that, he has made his appearance once and for all, now at the end of the last age, to do away with sin by sacrificing himself. Since men only die once, and after that comes judgement, so Christ, too, offers himself only once to take the faults of many on himself, and when he appears a second time, it will not be to deal with sin but to reward with salvation those who are waiting for him.

R. He was led out as a lamb that is led to the slaughter-house; harshly dealt with,  he never opened his mouth; he was given over to death,* so as to give life to  his people.

V. He surrendered himself to death and was ranked with sinners,* so as to give  life to his people.
 
THE SECOND READING            Cat 3:13-19

A reading from the instructions of St John Chrysostom to the catechumens

[The power of the blood of Christ]

Do you wish to know of the power of Christ's blood? Let us go back to the ancient accounts of what took place in Egypt, where Christ's blood is foreshadowed.

Moses said: ‘Sacrifice a lamb without blemish and smear the doors with its blood.’  What does this mean? Can the blood of a sheep without reason save man who is endowed with reason? Yes, Moses replies, not because it is blood, but because it is a figure of the Lord's blood. So today if the devil sees, not the blood of the figure smeared on the doorposts, but the blood of the Reality smeared on the lips of the faithful, which are the doors of the temple of Christ, with all the more reason will he draw back.

Do you wish to learn from another source the power of this blood? See where it began to flow, from what spring it flowed down from the cross, from the Master's side. The gospel relates that when Christ had died and was hanging on the cross, a soldier approached him and pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out water and blood. The one was a symbol of Baptism, the other of the mysteries. That soldier, then, pierced his side: he breached the wall of the holy temple, and I found the treasure and acquired the wealth. Similarly with the lamb. The Jews slaughtered it in sacrifice, and I gathered the fruit of that sacrifice -- salvation.

‘There came out from his side water and blood.’  Dearly beloved, do not pass the secret of this great mystery by without reflection. For I have another interpretation to give you. I said that Baptism and the mysteries were symbolized in that blood and water. It is from these two that the holy Church has been born ‘by the washing of regeneration and the renewal of the Holy Spirit’ , by Baptism and by the mysteries. Now the symbols of Baptism and the mysteries came from his side. It was from his side, then, that Christ formed the Church, as from the side of Adam he formed Eve.

That is why in his account of the first man, Moses has the words, ‘bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh’, giving us a hint here of the Master's side. For as at the time God took a rib from Adam's side and formed woman, so Christ gave us blood and water from his side and formed the Church. Just as then he took the rib while Adam was in deep sleep, so now he gave the blood and water after his death.

Have you understood how Christ has united his bride, the Church, to himself? Have you seen with what kind of food he feeds us all? By the same food we are formed and fed. As a mother feeds her child with her own blood and milk, so too Christ continually feeds those whom he has begotten, with his own blood.

R. Your ransom was not paid in anything corruptible, neither in silver nor gold, but in the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish. * Through him we all have access to the Father in the one Spirit.

V. The blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, purifies us from all sin.* Through him we all have access to the Father in the one Spirit.

Concluding prayer

Celebrant: 
Let us pray.
  (pause)

Be mindful, Lord, of this your family,
for whose sake our Lord Jesus Christ, when betrayed,
did not hesitate to yield himself into his enemies hands,
and undergo the agony of the cross:
We make our prayer through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son, 
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, God or ever and ever

All:  Amen. 

Good Friday—Morning Prayer

HYMN: 

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 death 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?

Ant. 1: God did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all.

[Psalm 50 (51)]

 Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness.        
 In your compassion blot out my offence.
 O wash me more and more from my guilt
 and cleanse me from my sin.

 My offences truly I know them;
 my sin is always before me
 Against you, you alone, have I sinned;
 what is evil in your sight I have done.

 That you may be justified when you give sentence
 and be without reproach when you judge,
 O see, in guilt I was born,
 a sinner was I conceived.

 Indeed you love truth in the heart;
 then in the secret of my heart teach me wisdom.
 O purify me, then I shall be clean;
 O wash me, I shall be whiter than snow.

 Make me hear rejoicing and gladness,
 that the bones you have crushed may thrill.
 From my sins turn away your face
 and blot out all my guilt.

 A pure heart create for me, O God,
 put a steadfast spirit within me.
 Do not cast me away from your presence,
 nor deprive me of your holy spirit.

 Give me again the joy of your help;
 with a spirit of fervour sustain me,
 that I may teach transgressors your ways
 and sinners may return to you.

 O rescue me, God, my helper,
 and my tongue shall ring out your goodness.
 O Lord, open my lips
 and my mouth shall declare your praise.

 For in sacrifice you take no delight,
 burnt offering from me you would refuse,
 my sacrifice, a contrite spirit.
 A humbled, contrite heart you will not spurn.

 In your goodness, show favour to Zion:
 rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
 Then you will be pleased with lawful sacrifice,
 holocausts offered on your altar.

 Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
 As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Ant. 1: God did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all.

Ant 2: Jesus Christ showed his love for us and freed us from our sins with his life’s blood.

[Canticle: Hab 3:2-4, 13a, 16-19]

 Lord, I have heard of your fame,
 I stand in awe of your deeds.
 Do them again in our days,
 in our days make them known!
 In spite of your anger, have compassion.

 God comes forth from Teman,
 the Holy One comes from Mount Paran.
 His splendour covers the sky
 and his glory fills the earth.
 His brilliance is like the light,
 rays flash from his hands;
 there his power is hidden.

 You march out to save your people,
 to save the one you have anointed.
 You made a path for your horses in the sea,
 in the raging of the mighty waters.

 This I heard and I tremble with terror,
 my lips quiver at the sound.
 Weakness invades my bones,
 my steps fail beneath me,
 yet I calmly wait for the doom
 that will fall upon the people who assail us.

 For even though the fig does not blossom,
 nor the fruit grow on the vine,
 even though the olive crop fail,
 and fields produce no harvest,
 even though flocks vanish from the folds
 and stalls empty of cattle.

 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord
 and exult in God my saviour.
 The Lord my God is my strength.
 He makes me leap like a deer,
 he guides me to the high places.

 Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
 As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Ant 2: Jesus Christ showed his love for us and freed us from our Sins with his life’s blood.

Ant. 3: We venerate your cross. Lord; we praise and glorify your holy resurrection:  because of the tree, joy has come into the whole world.

[Ps 147]
O praise the Lord, Jerusalem!
 Zion praise your God!

 He has strengthened the bars of your gates
 he has blessed the children within you.
 He established peace on your borders,
 he feeds you with finest wheat.

 He sends out his word to the earth
 and swiftly runs his command.
 He showers down snow white as wool,
 he scatters hoar-frost like ashes.

 He hurls down hailstones like crumbs.
 The waters are frozen at his touch;
 he sends forth his word and it melts them:
 at the breath of his mouth the waters flow.

 He makes his word known to Jacob,
 to Israel his laws and decrees.
 He has not dealt thus with other nations;
 he has not taught them his decrees.

 Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
 As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Ant. 3: We venerate your cross. Lord; we praise and glorify your holy   resurrection: because of the tree, joy has come into the whole world.

Scripture Reading
A reading from the prophet Isaiah            (52:13-15)

See my servant will prosper, he shall be lifted up, exalted, rise to great heights.  As the crowds were appalled on seeing him -  so disfigured did he look that he seemed no longer human - so will the crowds be astonished at him and kings stand speechless before him; for they shall see something never told and witness something never heard before.

Ant:
Christ humbled himself for us,
and, in obedience, accepted death,
even  death on a cross.

Benedictus Antiphon:
Over his head was placed the charge against him:
‘This is Jesus, the Nazarene, the King of the Jews.’

Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel!
He has visited his people and redeemed them.

He has raised up for us a mighty saviour
in the house of David, his servant,
As he promised by the lips of holy men,
those who were his Prophets from of old.

A saviour who would free us from our foes,
from the hands all who hate us.
So his love for our fathers is fulfilled
and his holy covenant remembered.

He swore to Abraham, our father, to grant us
that free from fear and safe from the hands of our foes,
we might serve him with holiness and justice
all the days of our life in his presence.

As for you little Child,
you shall be called a Prophet of God the most high.
You shall  go ahead of the Lord
to prepare his ways before Him,

To make known to his people their salvation
through forgiveness of all their sins,
The loving kindness of the heart of our God
who visits us like the dawn from on high.

To give light to those in darkness,
those who dwell in the shadow of death,
and guide us into the way of peace.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Benedictus Ant:
Over his head was placed the charge against him:
‘This is Jesus, the Nazarene, the King of the Jews.’

Intercessions
Let us pray to our Redeemer, who suffered for us, was buried and rose from the dead.  R. Lord, have mercy on us.

Lord and master, for us you became obedient even to death; keep us faithful to God’s will in the darkness of our lives. R.Lord, have mercy on us.

Jesus, our life, by dying on the cross you destroyed hell and death; grant that we may die with you and rise with you in glory. R.Lord, have mercy on us.

Christ, our king, you were the scorn of the people, a worm not a man; teach us to tread your path of humility. R. Lord, have mercy on us.

Jesus, our saviour, you laid down your life for your friends; let us love one another as you have loved us. R. Lord, have mercy on us.

Jesus, our hope, you stretched out your hands on the cross to embrace all ages; gather all God’s scattered children into the kingdom of salvation. R. Lord, have mercy on us.

Celebrant: 
Let us now pray in the words our Saviour gave us

All:
Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name,
Thy Kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
And forgive us our trespasses
As we forgive those who trespass against us,
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.

Concluding Prayer
Celebrant: 
Be mindful, Lord, of this your family,
for whose sake our Lord Jesus Christ, when betrayed,
did not hesitate to yield himself into his enemies hands,
and undergo the agony of the cross:
We make our prayer through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son, 
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, God or ever and ever
All:  Amen.

Final Blessing & Dismissal
Celebrant: The Lord be with you.
All:   And also with you.

Celebrant: May almighty God bless you, Father, Son + and Holy Spirit.
All:   Amen.

Celebrant: Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.
All:   Thanks be to God.