Praying Good Friday

"What is your lament today? What is your suffering? What pain of others weighs on you? Words are not necessary. Perhaps you need a break from them. Gaze at something broken. Shake your fists. Stomp your feet. Groan. Roar. Cry. God hears you. Take a deep breath. Lie down and feel your body fully supported. In the shadows with Jesus, cry out with trouble and trust." – Br. Luke Ditewig

Good Friday marks the second day of the Triduum (from the Latin for ‘three days’), the day on which we commemorate the Lord’s crucifixion and death.

The worship offered at the Monastery is in fact a continuation of the liturgy begun last night and it will not ‘end’ until the Great Vigil of Easter. The vesture of the sacred ministers is deep red, accented with black, recalling the solemnity and sobriety of the day, and the Gospel according to John is chanted to an ancient tone, which you can hear below.

The liturgy crests as a cross is carried in and venerated by the gathered congregation. All depart in silence to the awkward waiting of Holy Saturday and the restrained anticipation of the Great Vigil of Easter.

How will you stand beside Jesus in his hour of greatest need?

Audio:

• The Passion Gospel According to John, sung on an ancient tone
• The Solemn Collects 
• Psalm 40
• “Christ became obedient”
• Plainsong Anthems sung by the Schola (We glory in your cross; We adore you, O Christ; O Savior of the world)
• A collection of Hymns sung by the Schola (Jesus keep me near the cross; When Jesus came to Golgotha; When Jesus wept; Cross of Jesus, cross of sorrow)
• Sing, my tongue, the glorious battle
• And now, O Father, mindful of the love
• Come Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy
• Approach, My Soul, the Mercy Seat
• My Faith Looks up to Thee
• Were you there when they crucified the Lord?

Sermons:

• "Gone is thy Shame" – Br. Jim Woodrum
  On Good Friday, Br. Jim Woodrum invites us to leave our shame at the foot of the cross.
• "Finding the Goodness in Good Friday" – Br. Jim Woodrum
  During a Holy Week when there is so much to mourn, Br. Jim Woodrum explores what is "good" about Good Friday.
• "Faith in a Seed" – Br. Nicholas Bartoli
  On Good Friday, Br. Nicholas Bartoli invites us to enter into the paschal mystery as it unfolds for us now, letting our fear be buried with Jesus, to rise with him in new life.
• "Look at Love" – Br. Luke Ditewig
  Would you rather turn away from the Cross? Br. Luke encourages us, "Admit your fear or grief or confusion, your guilt and shame." And look at love on the Cross.
• "Life out of Death" – Br. Curtis Almquist
  We are not spared the experience of the cross, we are shared the experience. And the only way to survive the many deaths of this life is to surrender to Christ, taking him at his word: that life comes out of death.
• "Love Upon a Cross" – Br. David Vryhof
  We have been captured by this love, smitten and overwhelmed by this love, changed and transformed by this love. And how could it not be?
• "Life By His Death" – Br. Geoffrey Tristram
  Our greatest hope in Jesus is that however dark the day, even as dark as Good Friday, we can look in confidence and trust to the cross. “For he hath given me rest by his sorrow, and life by his death.”