I remember hearing Archbishop Fulton J Sheen reciting this powerful poem whilst watching one of his talks on YouTube. I think it's very appropriate for this sacred day.
When Jesus Came to Birmingham
When Jesus came to Golgotha, they hanged Him on a tree,
They drove great nails through hands and feet, and made a Calvary;
They crowned Him with a crown of thorns, red were His wounds and deep,
For those were crude and cruel days, and human flesh was cheap.
When Jesus came to Birmingham, they simply passed Him by.
They would not hurt a hair of Him, they only let Him die;
For men had grown more tender, and they would not give Him pain,
They only just passed down the street, and left Him in the rain.
Still Jesus cried, 'Forgive them, for they know not what they do, '
And still it rained the winter rain that drenched Him through and through;
The crowds went home and left the streets without a soul to see,
And Jesus crouched against a wall, and cried for Calvary.
G. A. Studdert-Kennedy
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A wonderful thing happened to me yesterday as I was buying Easter Eggs in Sainsbury's. The woman behind the till asked me, with genuine interest, what Easter was all about. I tried to explain to her, as best I could. She then asked me what happens in churches on Good Friday, so I told to her that we commemorate Christ's suffering and death, and how his death both redeems mankind and reveals God's infinite mercy and abounding love. I also told her that Christians pray for the whole world in a special way today.
She seemed very interested, so I pointed towards Westminster Cathedral and invited her to there tomorrow at 3:00pm. She said she might go along, and then carried on with the job at hand.
This little anecdote just goes to show, though, that there are many people out there who really do want to know more about, or want to reconnect with, the Christian faith. Many hunger and thirst for what we have... Let us try and be as generous as possible in sharing our Good News, for freely we received and freely we should give.
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Some prayers and meditations
It is related in the annals of Clairvaux that St. Bernard asked Our Lord which was His greatest unrecorded suffering and that Our Lord answered, “I had on my shoulder while I bore My cross on the Way of Sorrows a grievous wound which was more painful than the others which is not recorded by men. Honour this wound with devotion, and I will grant thee whatsoever thou dost ask through its virtue and merit, and in return to all who venerate this wound I will remit to them all their venial sins and will no longer remember their mortal sins.
O most loving Jesus, meek lamb of God, I a miserable sinner, salute and worship the most sacred wound of Thy shoulder. Alone thou didst bear Thy heavy cross which so tore Thy flesh and laid bare Thy bones as to inflict on Thee an anguish greater than any other wound on Thy Blessed Body. I adore Thee, O Jesus, Most Sorrowful, I praise and glorify Thee and give Thee thanks for this most secret painful wound, beseeching Thee by the merit and pain of Thy heavy cross to be merciful to me a sinner and to forgive me my mortal and venial sins and to lead me on towards heaven along the Way of the Cross. Amen
O Jesus, Who by reason of Thy burning love for us
hast willed to be crucified
and to shed Thy Most Precious Blood
for the redemption and salvation of our souls,
look down upon us here gathered together
in remembrance of Thy most sorrowful Passion and Death,
fully trusting in Thy mercy;
cleanse us from sin by Thy grace,
sanctify our toil,
give unto us and unto all those who are dear to us our
daily bread,
sweeten our sufferings,
bless our families,
and to the nations so sorely afflicted,
grant Thy peace,
which is the only true peace,
so that by obeying Thy commandments
we may come at last to the glory of heaven.
Amen.
My crucified Jesus!
I adore the wounds in your sacred head
with sorrow deep and true.
May every thought of mine today
be an act of love for you.
I adore the wounds in your sacred hands
with sorrow deep and true.
May every work of my hands today
be an act of love for you.
I adore the wounds in your sacred feet
with sorrow deep and true.
May every step I take today
be an act of love for you.
I adore the wound in your sacred heart
with sorrow deep and true.
May every beat of my heart today
be an act of love for you. Amen.
Lord, have mercy
Christ, have mercy
Lord, have mercy
Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us
[Images: Top: Christ on the Cross by Matthias Grünewald, dated 1523 - 1524, Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe; this image is in the public domain; source: Wikimedia. Bottom: Pietà by Luis de Morales (1509 - 1586), Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, Madrid; this image is in the public domain; source: Wikimedia]
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