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IN REMEMBRANCE OF THE PASSION AND DEATH OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
MORNING (cont.)
Reading of the Holy Gospel
The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ
(kneeling)
XVIII- Jesus on the cross
(St. Matthew 27:35-50; St. Mark 15:25-37; St. Luke 23:33-46; St. John 19:18-30)
Then they crucified Him. It was still the third hour.
They crucified the two robbers with Him, one on His right hand, one on His left, and Jesus in the center.
Thus was the Scripture fulfilled: “And He was reckoned among the wicked.”
Pilate himself had written the inscription bearing the reason for the execution of Jesus and had it put at the top of the cross. It bore these words:
Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews
Many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city. It was written in three languages: in Hebrew, in Greek and in Latin. The Chief Priests of the Jews had gone to Pilate and demanded, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man claims to be the King of the Jews.’”
“What I have written, I have written!” Pilate had retorted.
And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!”
After they had crucified Him, the soldiers took His garments and made four parts, one for each of them.
Since the tunic was without seam, woven in one piece from the top, they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but let us cast lots for it, to see whose it shall be.”
Thus was fulfilled what was spoken through the Prophet, “They divided My garments among them, and upon My vesture they cast lots.”
That is what the soldiers did; then sitting down they kept watch over Him. There was a great crowd of people all around, looking at Jesus and sneering at Him. The passersby were jeering at Him also; they said to Him, shaking their heads: “Ha! You, the One who destroys the Temple and in three days builds it up again, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross!”
The Chief Priests, the Scribes and the Elders also heaped mockery upon Him.
They said to one another, “He saved others, and He cannot save Himself! If He is the Christ, the King of Israel, let Him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in Him! He put His trust in God; let God deliver Him now, if He loves Him! Did He not say, ‘I am the Son of God’?”
The soldiers did not spare Him their insults either; they came to the cross and offered Him vinegar, saying to Him, “If You are the King of the Jews, then save Yourself!”
Even the robbers who were crucified with Him taunted Him with sarcasm.
Soon, however, while one of them went on blaspheming, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us as well!” the other in answer rebuked him strongly with these words: “Have you no fear of God, seeing that you are undergoing the same torment? For us this is justice, for we are receiving the punishment our crimes deserve. But this Man has done nothing wrong.”
Then, speaking to Jesus, he said, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your Kingdom!”
Jesus answered him, “Amen I say to you, this very day you will be with Me in Paradise.”
Standing by the cross were His Mother and His Mother’s sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalen.
Jesus looked at His Mother and the Disciple He loved standing near Her, and He said to His Mother, “Woman, behold Your son!”
Then He said to the Disciple, “Behold your Mother!”
And from that time on, the Disciple took Her into his house.
It was in the sixth hour that Jesus was crucified; and from the sixth until the ninth (three o’clock), darkness covered the whole world. The sun had lost all its light.
About the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a heartrending voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lamma sabacthani?” which means, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
“This Man is calling Elias!” said some of the bystanders.
Knowing that the words of the Prophets were now fulfilled, Jesus accomplished the last, saying, “I thirst!”
There was a vessel standing there full of vinegar. One of the guards ran to get a sponge, soaked it in vinegar, put it on a stalk of hyssop and held it up to Jesus’ lips.
The others said, “Wait! We will see whether Elias comes to save Him.”
“Wait, yourselves!” replied the one who was offering Him the vinegar. “This is precisely to see whether Elias will come and take Him down from the cross!”
Jesus received the vinegar and said, “It is consummated!”
Then He cried out with a loud voice, “Father, into Your hands I commend My soul!”
Having spoken these words, He bowed His head and expired.
(Pause to contemplate Jesus who died on the Cross to redeem us)
(seated)
XIX - Wonders following the death of Jesus - The holy women
(St. Matthew 27:51-56; St. Mark 15:38-41; St. Luke 23:45-49)
Suddenly the curtain of the Temple was torn in the middle from top to bottom; the earth quaked, rocks were split, tombs were opened, and many bodies of saints who had died, arose. Resurrected, they came out of their tombs, went into the Holy City and appeared to a great number of people after the resurrection of Jesus.
The Centurion who stood facing the cross, hearing Jesus’ mighty cry the moment He expired and seeing all that was happening, gave glory to God and exclaimed, “Truly, this Man was the Son of God!”
And those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, terrified at the sight of the earthquake and the other wonders, also said, “Yes, this was a Just Man! Truly He was the Son of God!”
And all the crowd that had come to see Jesus die, terrified at the sight of all these things, returned to Jerusalem beating their breast.
As for those who knew Jesus, they stood apart, observing from a distance what was happening. The women who had followed Him from Galilee also looked on from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalen, Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joseph, and Salome, who had accompanied and served Him when He was in Galilee. There were also many other women who had come with Him all the way to Jerusalem.
XX - Christ’s side opened with the lance
(St. John 19:31-37)
It was the day before the Sabbath. In order that the bodies might not remain upon the cross the following day, which was the Solemn Sabbath, the Jews asked Pilate to command that the legs of the condemned men be broken, and that their bodies be taken away.
Some soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first thief, and of the other, who had been crucified with Him. When they came to Jesus, seeing that He was dead, they did not break His legs. One of them opened His side with the thrust of a lance, and immediately there came out blood and water.
The one who saw it bears witness, and his witness is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, that you also may believe.
Thus did all these things come to pass that these words of Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not a bone of Him shall you break,” as well as these: “They shall look upon Him whom they have pierced.”
XXI - The descent from the cross and the burial
(St. Matthew 27:57-61; St. Mark 15:42-47; St. Luke 23:50-56; St. John 19:38-42)
Joseph, a rich inhabitant of Arimathea, a town of Judea, arrived as evening neared. He was a good and just man who also was waiting for the Kingdom of God; for he was a Disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews. A highly-esteemed Decurion, he had not been party to either their plot or their doings.
He had gone directly to Pilate and boldly asked him for the body of Jesus. Pilate, surprised that He had already died, had sent for the Centurion and asked him whether Jesus was really dead already. When the Centurion replied that He was, he had ordered that the body be given to Joseph.
Nicodemus, the one who from the beginning had gone to see Jesus by night, had also come, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds in weight.
Joseph, who had bought a fine linen cloth, took Jesus down from the cross; then together they covered Him with the linen cloth, wrapped Him in linen bands with the perfumes, and buried Him after the Jewish manner.
Near the place where Jesus was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a tomb belonging to Joseph. This sepulcher, hewn out in the rock, was new and had not yet been used for anyone. Since the preparation day for the Solemn Sabbath was ending and this tomb was close at hand, they laid the body of Jesus in it. Finally, together they rolled a large stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away, as the stars were beginning to shine.
Sitting opposite the sepulcher, Mary Magdalen, Mary, the mother of James and Joseph, and the women who had come with Jesus from Galilee, gazed at the tomb and saw how the Lord’s body was placed there.
Then they left, with the intention of preparing the aromatics and perfumes; but, faithful to the Law, they rested during the entire Sabbath.
