Versicle & Response
We pause for a moment in silence.
O Lord open our lips
and we shall praise your name
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.
1 Praise to the Holiest in the height,
and in the depth be praise:
in all his words most wonderful,
most sure in all his ways.
2 O loving wisdom of our God!
when all was sin and shame,
a second Adam to the fight
and to the rescue came.
3 O wisest love! that flesh and blood,
which did in Adam fail,
should strive afresh against the foe,
should strive and should prevail;
4 And that a higher gift than grace
should flesh and blood refine,
God’s presence and his very self,
and essence all-divine.
5 O generous love! that he, who smote
in Man for man the foe,
the double agony in Man
for man should undergo;
6 And in the garden secretly,
and on the Cross on high,
should teach his brethren, and inspire
to suffer and to die.
7 Praise to the Holiest in the height,
and in the depth be praise:
in all his words most wonderful,
most sure in all his ways.
John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
Christ the Lord suffered for us and was buried. Come, let us adore him
Venite (Psalm 95)
Come, ring out our joy to the Lord;
hail the God who saves us.
Let us come before him giving thanks,
with songs let us hail the Lord
A mighty God is the Lord,
a great king above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his.
To him belongs the sea for he made it,
and the dry land shaped by his hands.
Come in; let us bow and bend low;
let us kneel before the God who made us
for he is our God and we
the people that belong to his pasture,
the flock that is lead by his hand.
O that today you would listen to his voice!
‘Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
on that day at Massah in the desert
when your fathers put me to the test;
when they tried me, though they saw my work.
For forty years I was wearied of these people
and I said: “Their hearts are astray,
these people do not know my ways.”
Then I took an oath in my anger:
“Never shall they enter my rest.”‘
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.
Christ the Lord suffered for us and was buried. Come, let us adore him
They will mourn for him as for an only son, since he is the innocent one of the Lord who has been slain
Psalm 63 Exaudi, Deus
Hear my voice, O God, as I complain,
guard my life from dread of the foe.
Hide me from the band of the wicked,
from the throng of those who do evil.
They sharpen their tongues like swords;
they aim bitter words like arrows
to shoot at the innocent from ambush,
shooting suddenly and recklessly.
They scheme their evil course;
they conspire to lay secret snares.
They say: “Who will see us?
Who can search out our crimes?”
He will search who searches the mind
and knows the depths of the heart.
God has shot them with his arrow
and dealt them sudden wounds.
Their own tongue has brought them to ruin
and all who see them mock.
Then will all men fear;
they will tell what God has done.
They will understand God’s deeds.
The just will rejoice in the Lord
and fly to him for refuge.
All the upright hearts will glory.
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.
They will mourn for him as for an only son, since he is the innocent one of the Lord who has been slain
I was dead and now I am to live for ever and ever and I hold the keys of death and of hell
Psalm 150 Laudate Dominum
Praise God in his holy place,
praise him in his mighty heavens.
Praise him for his powerful deeds,
praise his surpassing greatness.
O praise him with sound of trumpet,
praise him with lute and harp.
Praise him with timbrel and dance,
praise him with strings and pipes.
O praise him with resounding cymbals,
praise him with clashing of cymbals.
Let everything that lives and that breathes
give praise to the Lord.
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.
I was dead and now I am to live for ever and ever and I hold the keys of death and of hell
Scripture Reading
“Come, let us return to the Lord. He has hurt us but He will heal us. He has cut us but He will cover the sore. After two days He will give us new life. He will raise us up on the third day, that we may live before Him. So keep on trying to know the Lord. His coming to us is as sure as the rising of the sun. He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain giving water to the earth.”
There is no responsory on Holy Saturday
The Benedictus (Luke 1:67-79)
Save us, Saviour of the world. By the cross and the shedding of your blood you have redeemed us. Come to help us, Lord, our God
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel!
He has visited his people and redeemed them.
He has raised up for us a mighty saviour
in the house of David his servant,
as he promised by the lips of holy men,
those who were his prophets from of old.
A saviour who would free us from our foes,
from the hands of all who hate us.
So his love for our fathers is fulfilled
and his holy covenant remembered.
He swore to Abraham our father to grant us,
that free from fear,
and saved from the hands of our foes,
we might serve him in holiness and justice
all the days of our life in his presence.
As for you little child,
you shall be called a prophet of God,
the Most High.
You shall go ahead of the Lord
to prepare his ways before him,
To make known to his people their salvation
through forgiveness of all their sins,
the loving kindness of the heart of our God
who visits us like the dawn from on high.
He will give light to those in darkness,
those who dwell in the shadow of death,
and guide us into the way of peace.
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.
Save us, Saviour of the world. By the cross and the shedding of your blood you have redeemed us. Come to help us, Lord, our God
Intercessions
We pray openly and together for the needs of the world, our local concerns and the needs of those known to us
Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Collect
Almighty, ever-living God
whose Only-begotten Son descended to the realm of the
dead, and rose from there to glory,
grant that your faithful people,
who were buried with him in baptism
may, by his resurrection, obtain eternal life.
We make our prayer through Our Lord Jesus Christ
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
ever one God, world without end.
Amen
Blessing & Dismissal
The Lord be with you.
And also with you
May Almighty God bless us, the +Father,
the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Amen
Go in the peace of Christ
Thanks be to God.
…and then LET THE CLEANING BEGIN!
