On Holy Friday at 3 pm we meet in the empty chapel without the Blessed Sacrament,
without flowers and other decorations
to remember the Lord's suffering and death.
We do this not to mourn over his death, but in great awe and gratitude,
for his love and mercy for us knows no end.
O God, who by the Passion of Christ your Son, Our Lord,
abolished the death inherited from ancient sin
by every succeeding generation,
grant that just as, being conformed to him,
we have borne by the law of nature
the image of the man of earth,
so by the sanctification of grace
we may bear the image of the man of heaven.
Through Christ our Lord.
We sing ancient psalms about the struggle between life and death, good and evil.
The narrative of the Lord's passion according to John is read by the priest and four sisters in the different roles.
After listening to the gospel all are invited to venerate the cross.
We show our reverence to the cross which through suffering accepted in love
became a symbol of salvation.
We also bring to the cross our personal suffering and that of the whole world.
In the solemn intercessions we pray for the whole world including Ukraine and Russia.
Were you there...
Celebrating Holy Friday year after year,
meditating the cross every day
we may learn
that the smaller or bigger hardships and pain
want to be embraced in love
knowing that they unite us to him who loved us without end.
Then as the grain of wheat
they will bear fruit,
lead to new life and joy -
at God's own time.
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