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A Good Friday: Christina Georgina Rossetti
Good Friday
The most important events in Christianity are the death and later resurrection of Jesus Christ, who Christians believe is the Son of God, and whose life and teachings are the foundation of Christianity.
Good Friday is the Friday before Easter. It commemorates the Passion: the execution of Jesus by crucifixion.
Services:
Good Friday is a day of mourning in church. During special Good Friday services Christians meditate on Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross, and what this means for their faith.
In some countries, there are special Good Friday processions, or re-enactments of the Crucifixion.
The main service on Good Friday takes place between 12:00 Noon and 3:00 PM. In many churches it takes the form of a meditation based on the seven last words of Jesus on the cross, with hymns, prayers, and short sermons.
Am I a stone, and not a sheep,
That I can stand, O Christ, beneath Thy cross,
To number drop by drop Thy blood’s slow loss,
And yet not weep?
Not so those women loved
Who with exceeding grief lamented Thee;
Not so fallen Peter weeping bitterly;
Not so the thief was moved;
Not so the Sun and Moon
Which hid their faces in a starless sky,
A horror of great darkness at broad noon —
I, only I.
Yet give not o’er,
But seek Thy sheep, true Shepherd of the flock;
Greater than Moses, turn and look once more
And smite a rock.
The last words from the cross
The Bible quotes seven last sentences that Jesus spoke from the Cross.
- Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.
Luke 23:34 - Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.
Luke 23:43 - Woman, here is your son… Here is your mother
John 19:26 - Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani? (My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?)
Mark 15:34 - I am thirsty
John 19:28 - It is finished
John 19:30 - Father, into your hands I commend my spirit
Luke 23:46
The seven last words have inspired a number of composers, including Schutz, Haydn, Dubois, and James MacMillan.
