Opening Prayer
1. In an accepted time of love
To Thee, O Jesus, we draw near;
Wilt Thou not the veil remove,
And meet Thy mournful followers here,
Who humbly at Thy altar lie,
And wait to find Thee passing by?
Mark 15:19-20
They struck his head with a reed
and spat on him; and they went down on their knees to do him homage. And when
they had finished making fun of him, they took off the purple and dressed him
in his own clothes. They led him out to crucify him. NJB
Prayer for Illumination
2. Thou bidd’st us call Thy death
to mind;
But Thou must give the solemn power:
Come then, Thou Savior of mankind,
Bring back that last tremendous hour,
And stand in all Thy wounds
confest,
And wrap us in Thy bloody vest.
Lamentations 3:43-63
You
have enveloped us in anger, pursuing us, slaughtering without pity.
You
have wrapped yourself in a cloud too thick for prayer to pierce.
You
have reduced us to rubbish and refuse among the nations.
Our
enemies open their mouths in chorus against us.
Terror
and pitfall have been our lot, ravage and ruin.
My eyes
dissolve in torrents of tears at the ruin of my beloved people.
My eyes
will weep ceaselessly, without relief,
until
Yahweh looks down and sees from heaven.
My eyes
have grown sore over all the daughters of my city.
Unprovoked,
my enemies hunted me down like a bird.
They
shut me finally in a pit, they closed me in with a stone.
The
waters rose over my head; I thought, ‘I am lost!’
Yahweh,
I called on your name from the deep pit.
You
heard my voice, do not close your ear to my prayer, to my cry.
You are
near when I call to you. You said, ‘Do not be afraid!’
Lord,
you defended my cause, you have redeemed my life.
Yahweh,
you have seen the wrong done to me, grant me redress.
You
have seen their vindictiveness, all their plots against me.
You
have heard their insults, Yahweh, all their plots against me,
the
whispering and murmuring of my enemies against me all day long.
Look, whether
they sit or stand, I am their refrain. NJB
Prayer of Response:
3. With reverential faith we claim
Our share in Thy great sacrifice:
Come, O Thou all-atoning Lamb,
Revive us by Thy dying cries,
Apply to all Thy healing blood,
And sprinkle me, my Lord, my God!
—Charles
and John Wesley, Hymns on the Lord’s Supper #25
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