Rejoice now, heavenly hosts and choirs of angels,
and let your trumpets shout Salvation
for the victory of our mighty King.

Rejoice and sing now, all the round earth,
bright with a glorious splendor,
for darkness has been vanquished by our eternal King.

Rejoice and be glad now, Mother Church,
and let your holy courts, in radiant light,
resound with the praises of your people.

All you who stand near this marvelous and holy flame,
pray with me to God the Almighty
for the grace to sing the worthy praise of this great light;
through Jesus Christ his Son our Lord,
who lives and reigns with him,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

This is the night, when you brought our fathers, the children
of Israel, out of bondage in Egypt, and led them through the
Red Sea on dry land.

This is the night, when all who believe in Christ are delivered
from the gloom of sin, and are restored to grace and holiness
of life.

This is the night, when Christ broke the bonds of death and hell,
and rose victorious from the grave.

Holy Father, accept our evening sacrifice, the offering of this
candle in your honor.  May it shine continually to drive away
all darkness. May Christ, the Morning Star who knows no
setting, find it ever burning—he who gives his light to all
creation, and who lives and reigns for ever and ever.  Amen.
From the Book of Common Prayer. P. 286-287

Truly the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,
on those who hope in his steadfast love,
to deliver their soul from death
and to keep them alive in famine.

Our soul waits for the Lord;
he is our help and our shield.
Our heart is glad in him,
because we trust in his holy name.
Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,
even as we hope in you.
Psalm 33

The Lord will fight for you,
and you have only to keep still.
Exodus 14

I will take you from the nations, and gather you from all the countries,
and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water upon you,
and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness, and from all your idols
I will cleanse you. A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you;
and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
I will put my spirit within you, and make you follow my statutes and be careful to
observe my ordinances. Then you shall live in the land that I gave to your ancestors;
and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.
Ezekiel 36

O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones:
I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and
cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and
you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord ...

These bones ... They say, "Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost;
we are cut off completely."  Therefore prophesy and say to them, Thus says
the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, O my people; and I will bring
you back ... And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves,
and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within you,
and you shall live ...
Ezekiel 37

The Lord, your God, is in your midst,
a warrior who gives victory;
he will rejoice over you in his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing
as on a day of festival.
I will remove disaster from you,
so that you will not bear reproach for it.
I will save the lame and gather the outcast,
and I will change their shame into praise
and renown in all the earth.
At that time I will bring you home,
at that time when I gather you;
for I will make you renowned and praised
among all the peoples of the earth,
when I restore your fortunes before your eyes,
says the Lord.
Zephaniah 3         

After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning,
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.
And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of
the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the
stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning and his
clothing white as snow. For fear of him the guards shook and
became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, "Do
not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was
crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said.
Cone, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his
disciples, 'He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is
going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.' This is my
message for you." So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great
joy, and ran to tell his disciples ...

When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. And
Jesus came and said to them:
All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name
of the Father
of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit,
and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.
And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.
Matthew 28

Heavenly Father, we thank you that by water and the Holy
Spirit you have bestowed upon us, your servants the
forgiveness of sin and have raised us to the new life of
grace. Strengthen us, O Lord, with your presence, enfold
us in the arms of your mercy, and keep us safe for ever.

Almighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from
whom every family in heaven and earth is named, grant you
to be strengthened with might by his Holy Spirit, that, Christ
dwelling in your hearts by faith, you may be filled with all the
fullness of God. Amen.

The text for Good Friday is always John 18-19. Jesus makes clear throughout John's gospel that the cross is the hour which he will be glorified. Eugene Peterson writes about how difficult that is for us to get our heads around.

"Jesus takes the brightest word in our vocabularies and plunges it into the darkest pit of experience, violent and excruciating death. Everything we ever associated with glory has to be recast: We have entered a mystery. ... But not a total mystery. Every gardener knows something of this: each spring we bury seeds in our gardens and in a few weeks enjoy the bloom of flowers and the nourishment of vegetables."
Eugene Peterson. Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places.

A dread and marvelous mystery we see come to pass this day. He whom none may touch is seized; He who looses Adam from the curse is bound. He who tries the hearts and inner thoughts of man is unjustly brought to trial. He who closed the abyss is shut in prison. He before whom the powers of heaven stand with trembling, stands before Pilate; the Creator is struck by the hand of His creature. He who comes to judge the living and the dead is condemned to the Cross; the Destroyer of hell is enclosed in a tomb. O Thou who dost endure all these things in Thy tender love, who hast saved all men from the curse, O long-suffering Lord, glory to Thee.

"It is not as individuals that we pass through the Paschal mystery year by year but as a community of faith. Looking at the few drops in my cup -- which is all I can gather of the truth of God-with-us suffering, dying, and rising -- should make me think of all that my co-believers, my brothers and sisters throughout the world are gathering. By myself I know so little; together we know so much of Christ. The knowledge of God which the spirit imparts is a corporate knowledge. What I myself do not yet know of the divine power and wisdom in the folly of the Cross, my sisters and brothers the world over are coming to know in the crucibles of suffering. Mysteriously, through the communion of the Holy Spirit, I am entitled to claim as mine what they through their suffering and faith have brought up from the depths of their experience. God forbid then that I should treat Holy Week as the backdrop for private musings about my life with Christ. Of all times this is when I should know myself a pilgrim amongst pilgrims, a limb of the Body, and open my heart to those countless believers to whom the Spirit has and is revealing through pain and prayer what 'No eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him.' (1 Cor. 2:9). What I so far have been allowed to know of Christ crucified and risen is only a trace of what we have known and are coming to know together as a Church. Just now I need to worship the Spirit and give thanks for all the truth into which my brothers and sisters the world over have been entering at the same time; what a vast ocean of experience of God, what depths have been sounded! In the Spirit this is a single great movement of experienced revelation, and my own steps, small as they are, are a part of it." (Martin L. Smith. A Season for the Spirit.)

Together we are walking through this holy week. Spend time reading the accounts of this week, the accounts of his trial and crucifixion. Tomorrow will be the day of the last supper and on Friday will be the day we remember the cross.

A NIGHT LITANY

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
O God, our Father, graciously hear us.

We plead before Thee the Sacred Heart of Jesus, for all tonight who stand in most need of Thy merciful love and protection.

On souls beset by temptation,
Have mercy.
On those who are in deadly sin,
Have mercy.
On those who are given up to worldliness, and forgetful of Thee,
Have mercy.
On those who at this moment are in danger of losing Thee forever,
Have mercy.

By Thine agony,
Save them, Jesus.

Those who are tempting others,
Convert to Thy love.

On those carrying on wicked trades, and profiting by sin,
Have mercy.
On those indulging in sinful amusements,
Have mercy.
On all frequenting haunts of sin,
Have mercy.
On all who are imperiling their souls by luxury and self-indulgence,
Have mercy.

By Thy scourging,
Save them, Jesus.

On all who are out tonight; the homeless, the weary, the starving, the suicide, the intemperate,
Have mercy.
On those who are out for sin,
Have mercy.

To those who are out to rescue others,
Grant help and protection.

For those who work at night; the police, railwaymen, firemen; those employed in hazardous occupations; those engaged on the stage; soldiers, sailors, chauffeurs, aviators; watchmen on duty; editors and journalists,
Let Thy Presence be with them; by Thy night watching, save them, Jesus.

For the sick and suffering, and all who are enduring any agony of body or mind,
Grant them comfort, peace, and consolation.

For all undergoing medical operations,
Strengthen them, Jesus, and help them in body and soul.

For the sleepless and the lonely,
Be near them.

For those in anxiety, nervous or mental distress,
Calm them.

For the insane,
Keep them in Thy power.

For night nurses,
Give faithfulness and sympathy.

For priests and doctors called out this night,
Encourage and reward them.

By Thy crown of thorns,
Deliver them, Jesus.

For those who this night must suffer bereavement,
Visit and sustain them.

For those for whom this will be their last night on earth,
Deepen their contrition and receive their souls.

For dying priests, religious, and all communicants,
Have mercy upon them and receive them to Thyself, Jesus.

For ourselves in our last hour,
Grant the pardon of our sins, negligences, and ignorances.

By Thy holy death,
Deliver us, Jesus.

On behalf of those who have said no prayers today, let us say:

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 sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory forever and ever, Amen.