We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you: Because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
Now in the place where he was crucified there
was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb where no one had ever
been laid. So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, as the
tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.
The Lord
hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest
on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up.... The men
rowed hard to bring the ship back to land, but they could not,
for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them.
Therefore they cried to the Lord,
"We beseech thee, O Lord,
let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not on us
innocent blood...." So they took up Jonah and threw him into the
sea; and the sea ceased from its raging.... And the Lord
appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was in the
belly of the fish three days and three nights. Then Jonah prayed
to the Lord his
God from the belly of the fish, saying, "I called to the Lord,
out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of
Sheol I cried, and thou didst hear my voice. For thou didst cast
me into the deep, into the heart of the sea, and the flood was
round about me; all thy waves and thy billows passed over me.
Then I said, 'I am cast out from thy presence; how shall I again
look upon thy holy temple?' The waters closed in over me, the
deep was round about me; weeds were wrapped about my head at the
roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars
closed upon me for ever...."
We, too, O God, will descend into the grave.
You know the secrets of our hearts; do not shut your merciful
ears to our prayer; but spare us, O Lord most holy, God most
mighty, holy and merciful Savior, most worthy Judge eternal;
suffer us not, at our last hour, for any pains of death to fall
from you.
Amen.
O Savior of the world, by your
Cross and precious Blood you have redeemed us: Save us and help us, we humbly beseech you, O God.
XIV
Jesus, may thy
Cross defend me,
And thy saving death befriend me,
Cherished by thy deathless grace.
When to dust my dust returneth,
Grant a soul that to thee yearneth
In thy Paradise a place.
The devotion may
end with some or all of the following hymns, anthems, and prayers.
The hymns and anthems are set to music in this video from YouTube.
Crux fidelis, inter omnes
arbor una nobilis:
nulla silva talem profert,
fronde, flore, germine.
Dulce lignum,
Dulces clavos,
dulce pondus sustinet.
Music: attributed to John of Portugal
Faithful Cross, above all
other, one and only noble tree;
none in foliage, none in blossom,
none in fruit thy peer may be:
sweetest wood,
sweetest iron,
sweetest weight is hung on thee.
The royal banners forward go,
the cross shines forth in mystic glow
where he, as man, who gave man breath,
now bows beneath the yoke of death.
Fulfilled is all that David told
in true prophetic song of old;
how God the nations' King should be,
for God is reigning from the tree.
O tree of beauty, tree most fair,
ordained those holy limbs to bear;
gone is thy shame, each crimson'd bough
proclaims the King of glory now.
Blest tree, whose chosen branches
bore
the wealth that did the world restore,
the price of humankind to pay,
and spoil the spoiler of his prey.
O cross, our one reliance, hail!
Still may thy power with us avail
more good for righteous souls to win,
and save the sinner from his sin.
To thee, eternal Three in One,
let homage meet by all be done:
as by the cross thou dost restore,
so rule and guide us evermore. Amen.
Music: Sarum Plainsong, Mode I
Agnus Dei, qui tollis
peccata mundi, miserere nobis.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem. Music: William Byrd, Mass for Four Voices
Lamb of God, you take away the sins
of the world, have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, grant us peace.
Our Father,....
Almighty God, we pray
you graciously to behold this your family, for whom our
Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed and given
into the hands of sinners, and to suffer death upon the
cross; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy
Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen.
