Prelude: Ah, Holy Jesus (Herzliebster Jesu) by David M. Cherwien
THE WAY OF THE CROSS
Leader: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Congregation: Amen.
Soloist: Trisagion, Traditional
Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Holy Immortal One, have mercy upon us.
Congregation: The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
Leader: Worthy is the Lamb that was slain
Congregation: To receive honor and glory and blessing.
Leader: Let us pray…
THE FIRST STATION: Jesus is condemned to death
Leader: Christ has humbled himself and become obedient unto death,
Congregation: Even death on the cross. (Phil. 2:8)
Scripture Reading: Mark 15:1-2, Mark 14:64; John 19:13, 16
Leader: For this I was born, and for this I came into the world,
Congregation: To testify to the truth. (John 18:37)
Leader: Let us pray…
Hymn: Ah, Holy Jesus (Herzliebster, Jesu) Johann Crüger
Ah, holy Jesus, how hast thou offended, that we to judge thee have in hate pretended?
By foes derided, by thine own rejected, O most afflicted!
For me, kind Jesus, was thine incarnation, thy mortal sorrow, and thy life’s oblation,
Thy death of anguish and thy bitter passion, for my salvation.
THE SECOND STATION: Jesus takes up his cross
Scripture Reading: John 19:17; Hebrews 5:8; Isaiah 53.7b; Revelation 5:12
Leader: The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance,
Congregation: That Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. (1 Timothy 1:15)
Leader: Let us pray…
Organ Meditation: A Lamb Goes Uncomplaining Forth (An Wasserflüssen Babylon) David M. Cherwien
(text:) A Lamb goes uncomplaining forth, the guilt of all men bearing, and laden with the sins of earth, none else the burden sharing! Goes patient on, grow weak and faint, to slaughter led without complaint, that spotless life to offer. Bears shame and stripes, and wounds and death, anguish and mockery, and saith, “Willing all this I suffer.” [Paul Gerhardt]
THE THIRD STATION: Jesus meets his afflicted mother
Scripture Reading: Lamentations 2:14; Matthew 5:4; Isaiah 60:20b
Leader: This child is destined for the falling and rising of many,
Congregation: And a sword shall pierce your own soul also. (Luke 2:34-35)
Leader: Let us pray…
Soloist: At the Cross Her Station Keeping (Stabat Mater) by David M. Cherwien
At the cross her station keeping, stood the mournful mother weeping, close to Jesus at the last. Through her soul, of joy bereaved, bowed with anguish, deeply grieved, now at length the sword hath passed. [17th Century Composite]
THE FOURTH STATION: The cross is laid on Simon of Cyrene
Scripture Reading: Luke 23:26; Matthew 16:24, 11:29a, 30
Leader: Whoever serves me must follow me,
Congregation: And where I am there will my servant be also. (John 12:26)
Leader: Let us pray…
Hymn: Go to Dark Gethsemane (Redhead 76) by Richard Redhead
Go to dark Gethsemane, all who feel the tempter’s power; your Redeemer’s conflict see; watch with him one bitter hour;
Turn not from his griefs away; learn from Jesus Christ to pray.
Follow to the judgment hall; view the Lord of life arraigned; O the worm-wood and the gall! O the pangs his soul sustained!
Shun not suffering, shame, or loss: learn from him to bear the cross.
THE FIFTH STATION: Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem
Scripture Reading: Luke 23:27-28
Leader: Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction;
Congregation: For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life. (Matthew 7:13)
Leader: Let us pray…
Organ Meditation: By the Babylonian River (Kas Dzedäja) by David M. Cherwien
THE SIXTH STATION: Jesus is stripped of his garments
Scripture Reading: Matthew 27:33-34, 35b; John 19:24b
Leader: Take no gold, or silver, or copper in your belts;
Congregation: No bag for your journey, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff. (Matthew 10:9-10)
Leader: Let us pray…
Hymn: O Sacred Head, Now Wounded (Passion Chorale) by Hans Leo Hassler
O sacred head, now wounded, with grief and shame weighed down; now scornfully surrounded with thorns, thine only crown;
O sacred head, what glory, what bliss till now was thine! Yet, though despised and gory, I joy to call thee mine.
What thou, my Lord, hast suffered was all for sinners’ gain: Mine, mine was the transgression, but thine the deadly pain.
Lo, here I fall, my Savior! ‘Tis I deserve thy place; Look on me with thy favor, and grant to me thy grace.
THE SEVENTH STATION: Jesus is nailed to the cross
Reading: Luke 23:33; Mark 15:28
Leader: I am the Way and the Truth and the Life;
Congregation: No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)
Leader: Let us pray…
Soloist: There in God’s Garden (Shades Mountain) by K. Lee Scott
There in God’s garden stands the tree of wisdom, whose leaves hold forth the healing of the nations; tree of all knowledge, tree of all compassion, tree of all beauty. It’s name is Jesus, name that says, “Our Savior!” There on its branches see the scars of suffering; see there the tendrils of our human selfhood feed on its life blood. [Pécselyi Király Imre c. 1641; trans. Erik Routley, 1974]
THE EIGHTH STATION: Jesus dies on the cross
Scripture Reading: John 19:26-27a, 30; Luke 23:46a; John 19:30b
Leader: Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat dies, it remains just a single grain.
Congregation: But if it dies, it bears much fruit. (John 12:24)
Leader: Let us pray…
Organ Meditation: Jesus Dies on the Cross by David M. Cherwien
THE NINTH STATION: Jesus is Laid in the Tomb
Scripture Reading: Matthew 27:57-60a
Leader: Blessed are the pure in heart,
Congregation: For they shall see God. (Matthew 5:8)
Leader: Let us pray…
Organ Meditation: Jesus Is Laid in the Tomb by David M. Cherwin
Hymn: Were You There (Were You There) African-American Spiritual
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
Oh!___ Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
CONCLUDING PRAYERS
Leader: Worthy is the Lamb that was slain
Congregation: To receive honor and glory and blessing. (Revelation 5:12)
Leader: Let us pray…
Leader: To Christ our Lord who loves us, who stretched out his arms on the cross in order to embrace the world, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever.
Congregation: Amen.
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