Leader: We tell your story.  We follow in your footsteps.

All:     Lead us into Holy Week.

Leader: We walk with you towards the city.  We wait in the garden.

All:     Lead us onto Holy Ground.

Leader: We journey with you towards death.  We hope for resurrection.

All:     Lead us into Holy Joy.

 

Please join in this Holy Week hymn.

Man of sorrows, wrapt in grief, bow your ear to our relief;

You for us the path have trod of the dreadful wrath of God;

You the cup of fire hath drained till its light alone remained.

Lamb of love, our comfort be: hear our mournful litany.

 

By the garden filled with woe, where to rest you oft would go;

By your agony of prayer in the desolation there;

By the dire & deep distress more than human mind can guess,

Lord our grief in mercy see; hear our fervent litany.

 

 

We will read a contemporary canticle based on scripture.

Side 1:   Praise to the mysterious God whose heart bears the

              pain of creating, pressing through the points of anguish & death.

Side 2: Praise to the pioneer who showed us the way,

         calling us to join in the greatest of stories, to

         follow & embrace the path of true love.

Side 1:   God-revealing Christ, no guile was found on your lips. 

             When you were reviled you did not give back in due measure.

Side 2: When you suffered, you did not threaten revenge.

         In the justice of God, you put all your trust.

Side 1:  You carried our disease in your body on the tree, that

             in your wounds our sin might shrivel & die.

Side 2: We contemplate you in awe & wonder, we ponder

         the cost of the burden of glory.

Side 1:   We have erred & strayed from your ways: call us again

              to the place of our healing,

Side 2:  To the solid strength of the vulnerable, to the

           guardian of our truest self.

 

Please sing the antiphon & psalm as indicated.

Cantors:    He carried our sins in his own body on the cross,

                 So that we might die to sin & live for holiness.

Side 1:  The Lord’s revelation to my Master: sit on my right.

             Your foes I will put beneath your feet.

Side 2: The Lord will wield from Sion your sceptre of power:

         Rule in the midst of your foes.

Side 1:  A prince from the day of your birth on the holy mountains:

             From the womb before the dawn I begot you.

Side 2: The Lord has sworn an oath he will not change,

          You are a priest for ever, a priest like Melchizedek of old.

Side 1:  The Master standing at your right hand

    Will shatter kings in the day of his wrath.

Side 2: He shall drink from the stream by the wayside

   And therefore he shall lift up his head.

All: 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 .

All:       He carried our sins in his own body on the cross,

            So that we might die to sin & live for holiness.

                        

Reading (Isaiah 50.) followed time for personal reflection.

Our God has given me a well-instructed tongue,
    to know the word that sustains the weary.
God wakens me morning by morning,
    wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.
 Our loving God has opened my ears;
    I have not been rebellious,
    I have not turned away.
 I offered my back to those who beat me,
    my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard;
I did not hide my face
    from mocking and spitting.
Because our God helps me,
    I will not be disgraced.
Therefore have I set my face like flint,
    and I know I will not be put to shame.

 

Please sing the Magnificat as indicated.

Cantors:  It is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd down & the sheep of his flock will be scattered’. 

              But after my resurrection I will go before you into Galilee; there you will see me, says the Lord.

Side 1:      My being proclaims your greatness,

And my spirit finds joy in you, God my Saviour;

Side 2:    For you have looked upon me, your servant, in my lowliness:

All ages to come shall call me blessed.

Side 1:      God, you who are mighty, have done great things for me:

Holy is your name.

Side 2:    Your mercy is from age to age

Towards those who fear you.

Side 1:      You have shown might with your arm,

And confused the proud in their inmost thoughts.

Side 2:    You have deposed the mighty from their thrones,

And raised the lowly to high places.

Side 1:      The hungry you have given every good thing,

While the rich you have sent away empty.

Side 2:    You have upheld Israel, your servant,

Ever mindful of your mercy-

Side 1:      Even as you promised our ancestors,

Side 2:    Promised Abraham, Sarah, and their descendants for ever.

All:   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.

 

All:       It is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd down &

                      the sheep of his flock will be scattered’.

          But after my resurrection I will go before you into

                Galilee; there you will see me, says the Lord.

 

Intercessions:

Reader:     On our journey through life our hearts & our hands have become stained & dirtied.  If we have stretched out our hands in greed, or lust, or love of money & possessions,………. pause …………. we ask,

All:        Cleanse us by your mercy.

Reader:      If our hearts have been sullied by pride or

                  resentment, ………. pause …………. we ask,

All:         Cleanse us by your mercy.

Reader:       If we have turned aside from our pilgrimage to

                   follow a lesser way, or to seek false Gods, or

                   spirits other than your holy spirit,………. pause ……… we ask,

All:         Cleanse us by your mercy.

Reader:     Give us new strength to follow you on your way so  

                  that even we may ascend the hill of our Christ &

                  stand in the holy place ,………. pause …………. we ask,

All:        May we, this week, stand in your holy place.

Reader:     We pray for people who have died today and those who will die tonight. 

We also remember those whose anniversaries of death occur tomorrow, remembering especially:

Leader begins the Our Father….

Leader:     O Christ, you entered the city as a poor man, not in style but simply, yet still you caused uproar, & questions everywhere; you drew the expectations of a hungry crowd, & brought buried conflicts to the light.  May we, who are sometimes swayed by the crowd’s approval, & who often avoid conflict for fear of its cost to us, hold fast to the gospel of peace & justice, & follow faithfully in your way of compassion & solidarity with those who are poor & excluded.

All:        Amen.

Leader:      Let us pray for God’s blessing as we take our first

                 steps into Holy Week: may we be blessed with

                 encouragement, with a capacity to live deeply the

                 days ahead, to keep our eyes on Jesus as we meet

                 him in all those who will be part of our week.

All:        Amen.

 

As we anticipate the days ahead, let us conclude our time of prayer together with Lloyd Webber’s Pie Jesu –

(Songs of Praise CD)