Above:  One of My Crucifixes, July 2014

Image Source = Kenneth Randolph Taylor

Hymn Source = The Lutheran Hymnal (1941), Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America

Stanzas #1-3, 5 (1651) by Caspar Friedrich Nachtenhofer (1621-1685)

Stanza #4 (1699) by Magnus Daniel Omeis (1646-1708)

English Translation (1927, 1940) by William Gustave Polack (1890-1950)

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The Soul:

1.  Lord Jesus, Thou art going forth

For me Thy life to offer;

For me, a sinner from my birth,

Who caused all Thou must suffer.

So be it, then,

Thou Hope of men;

Thee I shall follow weeping,

Tears flowing free

Thy pain to see,

Watch o’er Thy sorrows keeping.

Jesus:

2.  O Soul, attend thou and behold

The fruit of thy transgression!

My portion is the curse of old

And for man’s sin My Passion.

Now comes the night

Of sin’s dread might,

Man’s guilt I here am bearing.

Oh, weigh it, Soul;

I make thee whole,

No need now of despairing.

The Soul:

3.  ‘Tis I, Lord, Jesus, I confess,

Who should have borne sin’s wages

And lost the peace of heavenly bliss

Through everlasting ages.

Instead ’tis Thou

Who goest now

My punishment to carry.

Thy death and blood

Lead me to God;

By grace I there may tarry.

Jesus:

4.  O Soul, I take upon Me now

The pain thou shouldst have suffered.

Behold, with grace I thee endow,

Grace freely to thee offered.

The curse I choose

That thou mightst lose

Sin’s curse and guilt forever.

My gift of love

From heaven above

Will give thee blessing ever.

The Soul:

What can I for such love divine

To Thee, Lord Jesus, render?

No merit has this heart of mine;

Yet while I live, I’ll tender

Myself alone,

And all I own,

In love to serve before Thee;

Then when time’s past,

Take me at last

To Thy blest home in glory.

Above:  The Missal, by John William Waterhouse

Image in the Public Domain

Hymn Source = Common Service Book of the Lutheran Church (1917), United Lutheran Church in America (1918-1962) and its immediate predecessors

Original German Text by Johann Georg Albinus (1624-1679)

English Translation (1914) by John Caspar Mattes (1876-1948)

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1.  Smite us not in anger, Lord,

But in mercy spare us,

Save us from our just reward,

In Thy pity hear us.

Through our sin,

Great hath been,

Let Christ’s intercession

Cover our transgression.

2.  Strengthen us in love, O Lord,

Gently as a Father;

When Thou dost Thy help afford

All our fears are over.

Weak indeed,

We have need

That Thy love correct us,

And Thy grace protect us.

3.  Glorious God, Thy Name we praise:

Father, Son, and Spirit;

Now and through eternal days,

And Thy mercies merit.

Glory be

Unto Thee

Who hast pity on us,

And with love hast won us.

Above:  Icon of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist

Image in the Public Domain

A hymn for the Feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist (June 24)

Hymn Source = Evangelical Lutheran Hymnal (1880), Evangelical Lutheran Joint Synod of Ohio and Other States (1818-1930)

(The Lutheran Hymnal, 1941, contains an altered translation)

Original German Words (Published in 1646) by Bartholomaus Helder (1585-1635)

English Translation (1880) by August Crull (1845-1923)

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1.  O Jesus, Lamb of God, Thou art

The Life and Comfort of my heart.

From wrath I, wretched sinner, flee

With all my many sins to Thee.

2.  O God, my sinfulness is great!

I groan beneath a dreadful weight;

Yet, be Thou merciful, I pray,

And take my guilty curse away.

3.  St. John, the Baptist, biddeth me

To cast my burden, Lamb, on Thee:

Since Thou art come, as Friend indeed,

To succor me and all in need.

4.  Grant that I may amend my ways,

And keep Thy Word throughout my days:

To this end, Lord, abide with me,

And when I die take me to Thee.

Above:  St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Newnan, Georgia, January 26, 2014

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

Hymn Source = The Lutheran Hymnary (1935), Norwegian Lutheran Church of America

Traditional Latin Text

Norwegian Translation (1861) by Magnus Brostrup Landstad (1802-1880)

English Translation (1909) by Carl Doving (1867-1937)

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1.  Lord God, our Father, Thou our chiefest stay,

Thou art our souls’ delight for aye!

O hearken to our humble prayer:

Forgive our sins and us in mercy spare!

Have mercy on us, O Lord!

2.  Lord Jesus Christ, God’s true light and way,

Shepherd of souls, to Thee we pray:

Thou wast for our salvation slain,

Let not Thy death and sufferings be in vain!

Have mercy on us, O Lord!

3.  Lord God, the Holy Ghost, Thee we implore

Be with us now and evermore!

Lead us to God, His grace to win,

And leave us not to perish in our sin!

Have mercy on us, O Lord!

Above:  The Right Reverend Robert C. Wright, Bishop of Atlanta, at St. James Episcopal Church, Macon, Georgia, March 17, 2013

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

Hymn Source = The Hymnal 1982, of The Episcopal Church

Words by John Donne (1573-1631)

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1.  Wilt thou forgive that sin, where I begun

which is my sin, though it were done before?

Wilt thou forgive those sins through which I run,

and do run still, though still I do deplore?

When thou hast done, thou hast not done, for I have more.

2.  Wilt thou forgive that sin, by which I won

others to sin, and made my sin their door?

Wilt thou forgive that sin I did shun

a year or two, but wallowed in a score?

When thou hast done, thou hast not done, for I have more.

3.  I have a sin of fear that when I’ve spun

my last thread, I shall perish on the shore;

swear by thyself, that at my death thy Son

shall shine as he shines now, and heretofore.

And having done that, thou hast done, I fear no more.

Above:  What Our Saviour Saw from the Cross, by James Joseph Jacques Tissot (1836-1902)

Image in the Public Domain

Hymn Source = Lutheran Worship (1982), of The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod

Original German words by Johann Heermann (1585-1647)

English Translation by F. Samuel Janzow (1913-2001), U.S. Lutheran pastor and professor of religion and English

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1.  Grant, Lord Jesus, that my healing

In your holy wounds I find.

Cleanse my spirit, will, and feeling;

Heal my body, soul, and mind.

When some evil thought within

Tempts my wayward heart to sin,

Work in me for its eviction,

Weighted by your crucifixion.

2.  If some lust in current fashion

Rises like a fi’ry flood,

Draw me to your cross and Passion,

Quench the fire, Lord, by your blood.

Lest I to the tempter yield,

Let me front him with the shield,

Thorn-crowned, blood-marked tree displaying,

Sign the devils find dismaying.

3.  Beckoned by the world’s old question,

“Going my broad, easy road?”

Let me turn from its suggestion

To the agonizing load

Which for me you did endure.

Let me thus flee thoughts impure

Lest I toy with soiled emotions,

Losing joy in blest devotions.

4.  Where the wound is and the hurting,

Pour in oil and cleansing wine.

Let your cross, its pow’r asserting,

Touch my life with grace divine.

Ev’ry bitter cup make sweet,

Bread of comfort let me eart.

For you won my soul’s salvation

By your death for ev’ry nation.

5.  Jesus, rock of strength, my tower,

In your death I put my trust.

When you died, death lost its power,

When you rose, it turned to dust.

Let your bitter agony,

Suffered for us, comfort me.

Dying, Lord, in its protection,

I have life and resurrection.

Christ Carrying the Cross, by El Greco

Image in the Public Domain

Hymn Source = The New Psalms and Hymns (1901), of the Presbyterian Church in the United States (1861-1983), the former “Southern Presbyterian Church,” born as the Presbyterian Church in the Confederate States of America (1861-1865)

Several English translations and composite versions of this hymn exist in denominational hymnals.  The original text was in Latin.  Some traditions attribute authorship to St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1091-1153).  The German translation (1656) is the work of the Lutheran hymn writer Paul Gerhardt (1607-1676).  This English rendering (1830) is the product of the mind of the Reverend James W. Alexander (1804-1859), a Presbyterian minister who served churches in Virginia, New Jersey, and New York.

The cross was supposed to carry great shame, at least in the minds of the Roman authorities who used it to make examples of selected people.  May we never assign this sacred symbol any shame.–KRT

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1.  O sacred Head, now wounded,

With grief and shame weighed down;

Now scornfully surrounded

With thorns, Thine only crown.

O sacred Head, what glory,

What bliss till now was Thine!

Yet, though despised and gory,

I joy to call Thee mine.

2.  O noblest brow and dearest,

In other days the world

All feared when Thou appearedst;

What shame on Thee is hurled!

How art Thou pale with anguish,

With sore abuse and scorn;

How does that visage languish

Which once was bright ans morn!

3.  What Thou, my Lord, hast suffered

Was all for sinners’ gain:

Mine, mine was the transgression,

But Thine the deadly pain.

Lo, here I fall, my Saviour!

‘Tis I deserve Thy place;

Look on me with Thy favor,

Vouchsafe to me Thy grace.

4.  What language shall I borrow

To thank Thee, dearest Friend,

For this Thy dying sorrow,

Thy pity without end?

O make me Thine for ever;

And should I fainting be,

Lord, let me never, never

Outlive my love to Thee.

5.  Be near when I am dying,

O show Thy cross to me;

And for my succor flying

Come, Lord, to set me free:

These eyes, new faith receiving,

From Jesus shall not move;

For he who dies believing,

Dies safely, through Thy love.

http://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2010/10/29/thirty-ninth-day-of-lent-good-friday/

Christ Carrying the Cross, by El Greco

Image in the Public Domain

Hymn Source = The Hymnal 1982, of The Episcopal Church

Original German words by Johann Heermann (1585-1647)

English translation (1897) by Robert Seymour Bridges (1844-1930)

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1.  Ah, holy Jesus, how hast thou offended,

that man to judge thee hath in hate pretended?

By foes derided, by thine own rejected,

O most afflicted.

2.  Who was the guilty?  Who brought this upon thee?

Alas, my treason, Jesus, hath undone thee.

‘Twas I, Lord Jesus, I it was denied thee:

I crucified thee.

3.  Lo, the Good Shepherd for the sheep is offered;

the slave hath sinned, and the Son hath suffered;

for our atonement, while we nothing heeded,

God interceded.

4.  For me, kind Jesus, was thy incarnation,

thy mortal sorrow, and thy life’s oblation;

thy death of anguish and thy bitter passion,

for my salvation.

5.  Therefore, kind Jesus, since I cannot pay thee,

I do adore thee, and will ever pray thee,

think on thy pity and thy love unswerving,

not my deserving.

http://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2010/10/29/thirty-ninth-day-of-lent-good-friday/

Icon of Jesus

Image in the Public Domain

Hymn Source = Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), of predecessor bodies of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada

Words by Samuel Crossman (circa 1624-1683/4), a priest of The Church of England, a royal chaplain, and a Dean of Bristol Cathedral

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1.  My song is love unknown,

My Savior’s love to me,

Love to the loveless shown,

That they might lovely be.

Oh, who am I, that for my sake,

My Lord should take frail flesh and die?

2.  He came from his blest throne

Salvation to bestow;

But men made strange, and none

The longed-for Christ would know.

But, oh, my friend, my friend indeed,

Who at my need his life did spend;

Who at my need his life did spend!

3.  Sometimes they strew his way

And his sweet praises sing;

Resounding all the day

Hosannas to their King,

Then “Crucify!” is all their breath,

And for his death they thirst and cry.

And for his death they thirst and cry.

4.  Why, what hath my Lord done?

What makes this rage and spite?

He made the lame to run,

He gave the blind their sight.

Sweet injuries!  Yet they at these

Themselves displease, and ‘gainst him rise;

Themselves displease, and ‘gainst him rise.

5.  They rise, and needs will have

My dear Lord made away;

A murderer they save,

The prince of life they slay.

Yet cheerful he to suff’ring goes,

That he his foes from thence might free.

6.  In life, no house, no home

My Lord on earth might have;

In death, no friendly tomb

But what a stranger gave.

What may I say?  Heav’n was his home;

But mine the tomb wherein he lay.

7.  Here might I stay and sing–

No story so divine!

Never was love, dear King,

Never was grief like thine.

This is my friend, in whose sweet praise

I all my days could gladly spend!

http://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2010/10/29/thirty-ninth-day-of-lent-good-friday/

Title Page of a 1762 Edition of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer

Image Source = Wikipedia

Prayer Source = The Book of Common Prayer (1662), of The Church of England

I have altered only the formatting and made clear who says what.–KRT

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The Priest says:

Dearly beloved brethren,

the Scripture moveth us in sundry places

to acknowledge our manifold sins and wickedness;

and that we should not dissemble nor cloke

before the face of Almighty God, our heavenly Father;

but confess them with an humble, lowly, and obedient heart;

to the end that we may obtain forgiveness of the same,

by his infinite goodness and mercy.

And although we ought at all times

humbly to acknowledge our sins before God;

yet ought we most chiefly so to do,

when we assemble and meet together to render thanks

for the great benefits that we have received at his hands,

to set forth his most worthy praise,

to hear his most Word,

and to ask those things which are requisite and necessary,

as well as for the body as the soul.

Wherefore I pray and beseech you,

as many as are here present,

to accompany me with a pure heart,

and humble voice,

unto the throne of the heavenly grace,

saying after me;

The Priest and congregants say:

Almighty and most merciful Father,

We have erred, and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep.

We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts.

We have offended against thy holy laws.

We have left undone those things which we ought to have done;

And we have done things which we ought not to have done;

And there is no health in us.

But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable offenders.

Spare thou them, O God, which confess their faults.

Restore thou them that are penitent;

According to thy promises declared unto mankind in Christ Jesu our Lord.

And grant, O most merciful Father, for his sake;

That we may hereafter live a godly, righteous, and sober life,

To the glory of thy holy Name.  Amen.

The Priest says:

Almighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

who desirest not the death of a sinner,

but rather that he may turn from his wickedness, and live;

and hath given power, and commandment, to his Ministers,

to declare and pronounce to his people, being penitent,

the Absolution and Remission of their sins:

He pardoneth and absolveth all them that truly repent,

and unfeignedly believe his holy Gospel.

Wherefore let us beseech him to grant us true repentance,

and his Holy Spirit,

that those things may please him,

which we do at this present;

and that the rest of our life hereafter may be pure, and holy;

so that at the last we may come to his eternal joy;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.