Oh faithful rosy cross, noblest of trees,
No forest knows such flowers or seeds or leaves,
How sweet the wood, how dear the nails that tear
The flesh of our Beloved hanging there.
Bend with the sacred weight O blessed tree
Of thy dying Lord who created thee.
Upon thy boughs Life suffers Death’s disdain
And dying once forever lives again.
Old Testament Reading
They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture. But be not thou far from me, O Lord: O my strength, haste thee to help me. Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog.
Psalm 22: 18-20
The Collect
Almighty God, we beseech thee graciously to behold this thy family, for which our Lord Jesus Christ was contented to be betrayed, and given up into the hands of wicked men, and to suffer death upon the cross, who now liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.
Book of Common Prayer
Liturgical Affirmation
Scindite corda vestra et non vestimenta vestra et convertamini ad Dominum Deum vestrum.
Virtus in infirmitate perficitur.
Deus meus, Deus meus, ut quid dereliquitur me?
Rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God. Strength is made perfect in weakness. My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?