Good
Friday began with the church bare, the Blessed Sacrament kept
in the Repository outside the main worship space. Worship
songs were somber as befit the day. Father Taylor and the
lay ministers entered silently and prostrate themselves before
scripture readings. The final scripture was the reading of
the Passion, recounting the suffering and death of our Savior.
Then followed prayers of intercession, asking God's favor
on humankind's collective needs. Father Taylor then brought
in "The Old Rugged Cross" to recitations of "Behold
the wood of the cross, on which hung the Savior of the world,"
to which we replied, "Come let us worship!"
The heart
rending lament of Mary for her dying Son sets the tone for
the veneration of the cross. The Reproaches of Jesus "My
people, what have I done to you, how have I offended you,
answer Me?" accompany the faithful as they journey to
the cross, leave their nails - symbolizing their sins, and
kiss or touch the cross. Another song asks, "What kind
of man is this?"
The closing
part of the liturgy was the reception of Communion - there
is no mass on this solemn day.
Good Friday 2006 will be remembered in many ways at Holy Angels.
As the late afternoon service unfolded, the skies darkened
to leaden gray outside the familiar stained glass windows,
emblazoned with the cross of Jesus. It was difficult not to
recall the scriptural account of darkness spreading over the
land at the death of the Savior. Just as the Blessed Sacrament
was brought into the church for Communion, and as the congregation
prepared to say the Our Father, hail began to fall with earsplitting
sounds around the gathering. Difficult again not to recall
accounts of the plagues to which we had listened at the Seder
the night before.
After Communion,
accompanied by such songs as "It wasn't the nails...",
and final blessings and remarks, the faithful departed in
silence from a most remarkable commemoration of the Passion
of the Savior. |
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