Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion

READINGS OF THE DAY

El Greco, Christ on the Cross with the Two Marys and St John c. 1588, National Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic

In his own body
he brought your sins to the cross,
so that all of us, dead to sin,
could live in accord with God's will.

...BY HIS WOUNDS YOU WERE HEALED!
1 Peter 2:24

 O Sacred Head Surrounded

O sacred head, surrounded
by crown of piercing thorn!
O bleeding head, so wounded,
reviled and put to scorn!
Our sins have marred the glory
of thy most holy face,
yet angel hosts adore thee
and tremble as they gaze

I see thy strength and vigor
all fading in the strife,
and death with cruel rigor,
bereaving thee of life;
O agony and dying!
O love to sinners free!
Jesus, all grace supplying,
O turn thy face on me.

In this thy bitter passion,
Good Shepherd, think of me
with thy most sweet compassion,
unworthy though I be:
beneath thy cross abiding
for ever would I rest,
in thy dear love confiding,
and with thy presence blest.