GOOD FRIDAY
Ecce Homo Dying, He destroyed our death...
No day is reserved for more fasting, abstinence, penance and silence than Good Friday for it is a day of great reverence in commemorating the Passion and Death of Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior. This is the only day of the year that the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is not celebrated, though there is a Communion Service. The altar remains stripped bare just as Christ was stripped. Today we bring you the veneration of the Cross with the Consecration of the Cross and the Paschal Triduum Novena. For the readings and liturgy of Good Friday, see Daily LITURGY
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Red vestments
Good Friday, April 13:
GOOD FRIDAY OF THE LORD'S PASSION AND DEATH
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First Reading: Isaiah 52: 13-15; 53: 1-12
Psalms: Psalm 31: 2, 6, 12-13, 15-17, 25
Second Reading: Hebrews 4: 14-16; 5: 7-9
Gospel Reading: John 18: 1- 39; 19: 1-42
General Intercessions, Veneration of the Holy Cross, and Holy Communion
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"Thou wouldst have no power at all over Me were it not given thee from above. Therefore, he who betrayed Me to thee has the greater sin." John 19: 11
Pange Lingua
On this most solemn, saddest, but most necessary of days in the Liturgical Year, we can gain a greater insight of the gift we receive from the ultimate sacrifice of the Immolated Lamb on the wood of the Cross - Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The timeless poem first conceived by Saint Venantius Fortunatus in the sixth century is the one below, whereas the more common Pange Lingua used on the Feast of Corpus Christi comes from the Angelic Doctor Saint Thomas Aquinas. The former is used below for this solemn occasion when we meditate upon His Passion and Death. For both the Latin and English verses, see PRAYER & DEVOTION
Stabat Mater
This Hymn captures the essence of the Sorrowful Mother Mary's role as she watched helplessly, but prayerfully and so lamenting the treatment of her Divine Son Jesus for she knew in her heart this Passion He had chosen and must fulfill for the sake of us all. She had long pondered these things in her heart ever since Simeon had foretold the seven sorrows to her intuitively in the temple (cf. Luke 2: 33-35, 51). For both the Latin and English verses, see PRAYER & DEVOTION
VIA CRUCIS WAY OF THE CROSS
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For the Way of the Cross and other prayers, see STATIONS OF THE CROSS FOR GOOD FRIDAY
ELEVENTH, TWELTH & THIRTEENTH STATION OF THE CROSS
On Good Friday in 2000, the Holy Father led the Via Crucis meditations with his own words while leading the faithful on the traditional Papal Way of the Cross. His deep spirituality, renewed by a spontaneous visit to Mount Calvary within the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre during his "Jubilee Journey" to the Holy Land last year is an inspiration we want to share with our readers. Therefore we continue one Station of the Cross at a time leading up to Holy Saturday. It is important to drink in the meditative treasures of each. Today, because it is Good Friday we feature the heart of the Way of the Cross: the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth Stations. For these three by His Holiness, see Papal Way of the Cross
Original painting used with permission copyrite 1995-2000 Matthew Brooks
"Bring Me All Mankind, especially All Sinners and immerse them in the ocean of My Mercy"
Today we begin the Novena of Divine Mercy which will conclude with DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY next week. This Novena was imparted to Saint Faustina Kowalska, a Polish nun of the 1930's who is known as the "Apostle of Mercy" and was canonized last year on April 28th in Rome. For this first day of the Novena and Chaplet of Divine Mercy, see FIRST DAY OF DIVINE MERCY NOVENA
A Martyr makes his stand!
On this date 467 years ago in 1534 Saint Thomas More turned his back on the world, power and riches, and refused to take the illegal oath demanded by King Henry VIII
which was the total rebellion against Rome. Nevermind that 95% of the bishops were too weak-kneed to stay the course and be true to their Faith, Thomas knew that to do what his king was asking was akin to jumping ship from the Barque of Peter and turning his back forever on the King of Kings Who he owed allegiance to first and foremost. For this loyalty, he would meet his death. Now in the new millennium the same fate could befall many who could be faced with the same decision Thomas had to make. The bishops today, through their actions and inaction clearly show that their mettle perhaps is no better than those bishops who bailed on Rome in 1534. As for Thomas, we will follow him and stay the course!
For other Time Capsule events that happened Today in Church history, see TIME CAPSULES
There seems to be no rational for the rationalization of the Intelligentsia.
"Intelligentsia do not become members of a sect for an intellectual reason. That is why when discussing the sect with them, they never seem to understand it. Instead of a 'reason' for becoming a member, they have only an 'intention,' namely the desire to escape boredom. Their motives are alien to the rational."
NOTE: In deference to the Paschal Triduum, Sister Mary Lucy Astuto's regular GETTING TO THE HEART OF THE MATTER column and Thomas A. Droleskey, Ph.D.'s column CHRIST OR CHAOS will return in their normal rotation next Friday. In fact, Dr. Droleskey's column will appear more frequently in the weeks ahead. Stay tuned.
Note: During this Paschal Triduum as well as Easter Sunday and Easter Monday we are suspending the Daily News in deference to this solemn, holy time of the year.. We will resume our up-to-date News on Tuesday, April 17th issue with a new format that will bring you even more news. For this week, we recommend sources we rely on. For these news agencies, see News Sources
Monthly Medjugorje Message for March 2001
April 13, 2001 volume 12, no. 103
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