THE PASCHAL TRIDUUM:
GOOD FRIDAY LITURGY
April 6, 2025
12:00 NOON
BISHOP: The Rt. Rev. Kara Wagner Sherer
PRESIDER: Dr. Jean Pedersen
MUSIC DIRECTOR and ORGANIST: Stephen Kennedy
VANDELINDER FELLOW and ASSISTANT ORGANIST: James Jeffery
VANDELINDER FELLOW and ORGANIST: Dominic Fiacco
Honoring the Baptismal Covenant, we strive for justice and peace for all people,
respecting the dignity of every human being.
LITURGY NOTES ON THE PASCHAL TRIDUUM
The Paschal Triduum encompasses Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Great Vigil of Easter on Saturday night. It is one liturgical service divided over three days, with lengthy intermissions. Therefore, we leave the Maundy Thursday and Good Friday portions in complete silence without a blessing or dismissal.
Maundy Thursday is the first part of the Triduum. We commemorate the Lord’s Last Supper with the disciples and recall his instructions for us to continue to share in the Holy Communion of his Body and Blood. After receiving Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament is reposed in the chapel to provide a place for us to watch and pray with the Lord. The Maundy Thursday portion of the Triduum concludes with the striping of the altar, as we recall the Lord’s betrayal and arrest.
Good Friday is observed with solemnity and without instrumental music, as we recall the suffering and death of the Lord. The Holy Eucharist is not offered on Good Friday. The observance includes Scripture lessons, the Solemn Collects, the chanting of the Passion Gospel, and veneration of the cross. Following the Good Friday Liturgy, the Scriptural Stations of the Cross will be prayed in the nave.
The Great Vigil of Easter
The Saturday evening Great Vigil of Easter is the first celebration of Eastertide. The service begins with lighting a new fire and the chanting of the Exultet. By candlelight and through multiple readings from the Hebrew Scriptures, the story of God’s covenant with humanity is recounted. We renew our Baptismal vows before the proclamation of the Resurrection of the Lord and the Gospel. The first Festive Holy Eucharist of Eastertide is then celebrated.
THE WORD OF GOD
Good Friday Liturgy
THE WORD OF GOD
SILENT PRAYER
All who are able, kneel.
Celebrant: Blessed be our God.
People: For ever and ever. Amen.
Celebrant: Let us pray.
COLLECT
Presider Let us pray.
Almighty God, we pray you graciously to behold this your family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed, and given into the hands of sinners, and to suffer death upon the cross; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
THE LESSONS
The people sit.
After each Reading, the Reader says: The Word of the Lord.
People: Thanks be to God.
THE FIRST LESSON
Isaiah 52:13-53:12
See, my servant shall prosper; he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high.
Just as there were many who were astonished at him —so marred was his appearance, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of mortals— so he shall startle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for that which had not been told them they shall see, and that which they had not heard they shall contemplate.
Who has believed what we have heard? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity;
and as one from whom others hide their faces he was despised, and we held him of no account.
Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
By a perversion of justice he was taken away. Who could have imagined his future? For he was cut off from the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people.
They made his grave with the wicked and his tomb with the rich, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.
Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him with pain. When you make his life an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days; through him the will of the LORD shall prosper. Out of his anguish he shall see light; he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge. The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
PSALM 22 Deus, Deus meus
Cantors intone first half of each verse. Observing a longer pause at the asterisk,
All join singing after the asterisk.
1 My God, my God, why have you for-/ saken me? *
and are so far from my cry and from the words / of my distress?
2 O my God, I cry in the daytime, but you do not / answer; *
by night as well, but / I find no rest.
3 Yet you are the / Holy One, *
enthroned upon the praises / of Is-ra-el.
4 Our forefathers put their / trust in you; *
they trusted, and you / delivered them.
5 They cried out to you and were de-/ livered; *
they trusted in you and were / not put to shame.
6 But as for me, I am a worm and / no man, *
scorned by all and despised by / the people.
7 All who see me laugh me to / scorn; *
curl their lips and wag their / heads, saying,
8 “He trusted in the Lord; let him de-/liver him; *
let him rescue him, if he / delights in him.”
9 Yet you are he who took me out of the / womb, *
and kept me safe upon / my mother’s breast.
10 I have been entrusted to you ever since I was / born; *
you were my God when I was still in / my mother’s womb.
11 Be not far from me, for trouble is / near, * and there / is none to help.
THE SECOND LESSON
Hebrews 10:16-25
The Holy Spirit testifies saying,
“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord:
I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds,”
he also adds,
“I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”
Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin. Therefore, my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh), and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but, encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
THE PASSION ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN John 18:1-19:42
The Passion Gospel is chanted by Stephen Kennedy,
Please remain seated until the indication at John 19:17 that those who are able should stand.
The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ According to John
18:1 After Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the Kidron valley
to a place where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered.
2 Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place,
because Jesus often met there with his disciples.
3 So Judas brought a detachment of soldiers together with guards from the chief priests and the
Pharisees, and they came there with lanterns and torches and weapons.
4 Then Jesus, knowing all that was to happen to him,
came forward and asked them, “Whom are you looking for?”
5 They answered, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus replied, “I am he.”
Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them.
6 When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they stepped back and fell to the ground.
7 Again he asked them, “Whom are you looking for?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.”
8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. So if you are looking for me, let these men go.”
[9 This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken, “I did not lose a single
one of those whom you gave me.”]
10 Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest’s slave,
and cut off his right ear. The slave’s name was Malchus.
11 Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword back into its sheath.
Am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me?”
12 So the soldiers, their officer, and the Judean guards arrested Jesus and bound him.
13 First they took him to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year.
14 Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Judean leaders
that it was better to have one person die for the people.
15 Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. Since that disciple was known to the high priest,
he went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest,
16 but Peter was standing outside at the gate. So. the other disciple, who was known to the high
priest, went out, spoke to the woman who guarded the gate, and brought Peter in.
17 The woman said to Peter, “You are not also one of this man’s disciples, are you?”
He said, “I am not.”
18 Now the slaves and the guards had made a charcoal fire because it was cold,
and they were standing around it and warming themselves.
Peter also was standing with them and warming himself.
19 Then the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching.
20 Jesus answered, “I have spoken openly to the world; I have always taught in synagogues and in
the temple, where all the Judeans come together. I have said nothing in secret.
21 Why do you ask me? Ask those who heard what I said to them; they know what I said.”
22 When he had said this, one of the guards standing nearby struck Jesus on the face, saying,
“Is that how you answer the high priest?”
23 Jesus answered, “If I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong.
But if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me?”
24 Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.
25 Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They asked him,
“You are not also one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.”
26 One of the slaves of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked,
“Did I not see you in the garden with him?”
27 Again Peter denied it, and at that moment the cock crowed.
28 Then they took Jesus from Caiaphas to Pilate’s headquarters. It was early in the morning.
They themselves did not enter the headquarters,
so as to avoid ritual defilement and to be able to eat the Passover.
29 So Pilate went out to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?”
30 They answered, “If this man were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.”
31 Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and judge him according to your law.”
The Judean leaders replied, “We are not permitted to put anyone to death.”
32 (This was to fulfill what Jesus had said when he indicated the kind of death he was to die.)
33 Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus,
and asked him, “Are you the King of the Judeans?”
34 Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?”
35 Pilate replied, “I am not a Judean, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have
handed you over to me. What have you done?”
36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world,
my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Judeans.
But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.”
37 Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king.
For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.
Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”
38 Pilate asked him, “What is truth?” After he had said this, he went out to the Judean leaders
Again and told them, “I find no case against him.
39 But you have a custom that I release someone for you at the Passover.
Do you want me to release for you the King of the Judeans?”
40 They shouted in reply, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a bandit.
19:1 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged.
2 And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head,
and they dressed him in a purple robe.
3 They kept coming up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Judeans!” and striking him on the face.
4 Pilate went out again and said to them, “Look, I am bringing him out to you
to let you know that I find no case against him.”
5 So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe.
Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”
6 When the chief priests and the guards saw him, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”
Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him; I find no case against him.”
7 The Judean leaders answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die
because he has claimed to be the Son of God.”
8 Now when Pilate heard this, he was more afraid than ever.
9 He entered his headquarters again and asked Jesus, “Where are you from?”
But Jesus gave him no answer.
10 Pilate therefore said to him, “Do you refuse to speak to me? Do you not know that
I have power to release you, and power to crucify you?”
11 Jesus answered him, “You would have no power over me unless it had been given you
from above; therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”
12 From then on Pilate tried to release him, but the Judean leaders cried out,
“If you release this man, you are no friend of the emperor.
Everyone who claims to be a king sets himself against the emperor.”
13 When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside and sat on the judge’s bench
at a place called The Stone Pavement, or in Hebrew Gabbatha.
14 Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover; and it was about noon.
He said to the Judean leaders, “Here is your King!”
15 They cried out, “Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!” Pilate asked them, “Shall I crucify
your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but the emperor.”
16 Then he handed him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus;
17 and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull,
which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. (All who are able, please stand.)
18 There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them.
19 Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross.
It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Judeans.”
20 Many of the Judeans read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified
was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek.
21 Then the chief priests of the Judeans said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Judeans,’
but, ‘This man said, I am King of the Judeans.’”
22 Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.”
23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts,
one for each soldier. They also took his tunic; (now the tunic was seamless,
woven in one piece from the top).
24 So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see who will get it.”
(This was to fulfill what the scripture says, “They divided my clothes among themselves,
and for my clothing they cast lots.”)
25 And that is what the soldiers did. Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother,
and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her,
he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.”
27 Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.”
And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.
28 After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished,
he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), “I am thirsty.”
29 A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine
on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth.
30 When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished.”
Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
(A silent pause is observed, all bowing down, as able, until the chant resumes.)
31 Since it was the day of Preparation, the Judean leaders did not want the bodies left on the cross
during the sabbath, especially because that sabbath was a day of great solemnity. So they asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken and the bodies removed.
32 Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other
who had been crucified with him.
33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.
34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out.
35 (He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe.
His testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth.)
36 These things occurred so that the scripture might be fulfilled, “None of his bones shall be broken.” 37 And again another passage of scripture says, “They will look on the one whom they have pierced.”
The HOMILY Dr. Jean Pedersen
THE SOLEMN COLLECTS
All who are able, stand.
Presider: Dear People of God: Our heavenly Father sent his Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved; that all who believe in him might be delivered from the power of sin and death, and become heirs with him of everlasting life.
We pray, therefore, for people everywhere according to their needs.
Let us pray for the holy Catholic Church of Christ throughout the world; For its unity in witness and service. For all bishops and other ministers and the people whom they serve For Steven, our Bishop, and all the people of this diocese. For all Christians, and for the world to whom Christ came;
That God will confirm his Church in faith, increase it in love, and preserve it in peace.
The people observe silence, either seated or kneeling.
Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of your faithful people is governed and sanctified: Receive our supplications and prayers which we offer before you for all members of your holy Church, that in their vocation and ministry they may truly and devoutly serve you; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
All who are able, stand.
Let us pray for all nations and peoples of the earth, and for those in authority among them; For Donald, the President of the United States. For the Congress and the Supreme Court For the Members and Representatives of the United Nations; For all who serve the common good.
That by God's help they may seek justice and truth, and live in peace and concord.
The people observe silence, either seated or kneeling.
Organ response Stephen Kennedy
Almighty God, kindle, we pray, in every heart the true love of peace, and guide with your wisdom those who take counsel for the nations of the earth; that in tranquility your dominion may increase, until the earth is filled with the knowledge of of your love; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
All who are able, stand.
Let us pray for all who suffer and are afflicted in body or in mind; For the hungry and the homeless, the destitute and the oppressed; those who endure sickness, wounds, and weakness. For those in loneliness, fear, and anguish; For those who face temptation, doubt, and despair; For the sorrowful and bereaved; For prisoners and captives, and those in mortal danger;
That God in his mercy will comfort and relieve them, and grant them the knowledge of his love, and stir up in us the will and patience to minister to one another’s needs.
The people observe silence, either seated or kneeling.
Organ response Stephen Kennedy
Gracious God, the comfort of all who sorrow, the strength of all who suffer: Let the cry of those in misery and need come to you, that they may find your mercy present with them in all their afflictions; and give us, we pray, the strength to serve one another for the sake of him who suffered for us, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
All who are able, stand.
Let us pray for all who have not received the Gospel of Christ; For those who have never heard the word of salvation; For those who have lost their faith; For those hardened by sin or indifference; For the contemptuous and the scornful; For those who are enemies of the cross of Christ and persecutors of his disciples; For those who in the name of Christ have persecuted others
That God will open their hearts to the truth, and lead them to faith and obedience.
The people observe silence, either seated or kneeling.
Organ response Stephen Kennedy
Merciful God, creator of all the peoples of the earth and lover of souls: Have compassion on all who do not know you as you are revealed in your Son Jesus Christ; let your Gospel be preached with grace and power to those who have not heard it; turn the hearts of those who resist it; and bring home to your fold those who have gone astray; that there may be one flock under one shepherd, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Presider: O God of unchangeable power and eternal light: Look favorably on your whole Church, that wonderful and sacred mystery; by the effectual working of your providence, carry out in tranquility the plan of salvation; let the whole world see and know that things which were cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection by him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
THE VENERATION OF THE CROSS
The people sit. All are invited to come forward and venerate the cross.
THE REPROACHES
All who are able, stand.
Presider: My peace I gave, which the world cannot give, yet the children of God have turned against each other and committed mass murder and genocide. You have even drawn the sword to strike in my name, but not for my kingdom.
Presider: I offered you my body and blood, and washed your feet as a sign of my love, but you deny and abandon me. You have misspent the riches of creation and while others die from famine and disaster.
Presider: I came to you as the least of your brothers and sisters; I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink. I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison, and you did not visit me.
(sung once, slowly)
Presider: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, we pray you to set your passion, cross, and death between your judgment and our souls, now and in the hour of our death. Give mercy and grace to the living; pardon and rest to the dead; to your holy Church peace and concord; and to us sinners everlasting life and glory; for with the Father and Holy Spirit you live and reign, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
CONFESSION OF SIN
All may stand or kneel as they are able.
Presider: Let us confess our sins against God and our neighbor.
Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.
Presider: Almighty God have mercy on you, forgive you all your sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen you in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep you in eternal life. Amen.
Please stand, as able.
The Lord's Prayer recited in unison
Presider: As our Savior Christ has taught, we now pray
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours
now and for ever. Amen.
Holy Communion is administered from the reserved Sacrament.
Concluding Prayer
POST COMMUNION PRAYER
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, we pray you to set your passion, cross, and death between your judgment and our souls, now and in the hour of our death. Give mercy and grace to the living; pardon and rest to the dead; to your holy Church peace and concord; and to us sinners everlasting life and glory; for with the Father and the Holy Spirit you live and reign, one God, now and forever. Amen.
The people are invited to leave in silence or remain for the Stations of the Cross.
This second portion of the Paschal Triduum ends in silence.
The Stations of the Cross will be prayed here beginning in 10 minutes.
The Paschal Triduum resumes with the
Great Vigil of Easter to be celebrated here
tomorrow night, Saturday April 4th at 7 PM.