Sermon for Good Friday -12:00PM, April 15, 2022

The Easter Triduum (TRIH-djoo-um), the Great Three Days, begins on Maundy Thursday. Lent has ended. We begin the celebration of the Passover of the Lord from death to life. During these Three Days Christians still reckon time according to the customs of the Jewish people. On Maundy Thursday, a number of ancient rites are observed during the Celebration of the Lord’s Supper. On Good Friday, we celebrate the second of the great liturgies of the Easter Triduum, the Celebration of the Passion of the Lord. The worship and ceremonies of the Church on Good Friday are for many Christians the most powerful of the Church year. The liturgy begins with the clergy prostrate before the altar and the people kneeling. Following the Liturgy of the Word and the Passion Narrative from Saint John, the Church offers its prayers in a form used by the ancient Church, a form now used only on Good Friday. Then at the Showing of the Cross we are invited to kneel or sit for a period of reflection and prayer while the choir sings the Reproaches. Finally we receive Holy Communion from the Sacrament consecrated at the Celebration of the Lord’s Supper. As much as possible, silence is observed before and after the liturgy. The Great Vigil of Easter, celebrated on Saturday night, is the final part of a service which began on Maundy Thursday. The service is from the red Book of Common Prayer 1979. All hymns are taken from the blue Hymnal 1982. All hymns are reprinted with permission under OneLicense.net A713125. Our Celebrant and Preacher today is the Reverend Matthew Hoxsie Mead. Today’s Music, Hymns, and Scripture Lessons are available at: https://christchurchpelham.org/worship/ Live-stream licensed under OneLicense.net A-713125.