Palm Sunday to Holy Saturday Þ Þ Þ

1. The crowds who had come for the feast went out to receive the Lord and crying out: Blessed whosoever comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna on high!

2. We shall join in unison with angels and children and joyfully proclaim to the Victor over death: Hosanna on high!

3. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory on high!

Zech 9, 9

Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? Because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he comes into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering you would not, but a body have you prepared me: in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you have had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come, in the volume of the book it is written of me, to do your will, O God. Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin you would not, neither had pleasure therein; which are offered by the law. Then said he, Lo, I come to do your will, oh God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God. From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he has perfected for ever them that are sanctified. Whereof the Holy Spirit also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, this is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; nd their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.

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1. Jesus said: I am sorrowful undto death; stay with me, and keep prayerful watch.

2. The judgment of this world is being now fulfilled; now is the prince of this world being thrown out.

3. Jesus, the beginning and completion of our faith, underwent death on the cross without considering its shame, and he now sits on the right hand of the throne of God.

Jer 11, 19-20

I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter. And I did not know it was against me that they devised schemes, saying, "Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, let us cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name will no longer be remembered!" Yet you, oh Lord of hosts, who judge righteously, who try the heart and the mind, let me see your retribution upon them, for to you I have committed my cause.

Brethren: Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the aveil, that is to say, his flesh; and having a high priest over the house of God; let us draw bnear with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; for he is faithful that promised; and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? For we know him that hath said, ‘Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord.’ And again, ‘The Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions; partly, whilst ye were made a gazing-stock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst ye became companions of them that were so used. For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance. Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

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1. Defend my cause, oh Lord; protect me from deceitful and wicked people.

2. Oh Lord, my God, you have defended my cause, you have freed my life, oh my God.

3. My just servant justifies the crowd, and burdens himself with their wickedness.

Zech 12, 10-11

I will pour out a spirit of compassion and supplication on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that, when they look on the one whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn. On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be great.

Brethren: Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, ‘My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.’ If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; and make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.

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1. In my sorrowfulness I seek my Lord, I uplift my hands and pray.

2. Since we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Christ.

3. Christ Jesus was made the wisdom of God for us, justice, holiness and salvation.

Is 50, 5-7

The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I did not turn backward. I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I did not hide my face from insult and spitting. The Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame.

Brethren: Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. For ye are not come unto the amount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard entreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more: for they could not endure that which was commanded, and if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart: and so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake: but ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of bangels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we, receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: for our God is a consuming fire.

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1. Come, Lord, answer me, as I am deep in trouble.

2. God is my salvation; I hope, and I shall not be shy of anything.

3. The Lord has fed us good wheat, he has satisfied us with honey out of the rocks.

Heb 2, 9-10

We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

Brethren: Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins: who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity. And by reason hereof he ought, as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins. And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron. So also Christ glorified not himself to be made a high priest; but he that said unto him, ‘Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee.’ As he saith also in another place, ‘Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.’ Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; and being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; called of God a high priest after the order of Melchisedec.

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1. Not even for his own Son has God altered his will, but he gave him up for us all.

2. Jesus Christ has loved us, and unbound us from our sins by virtue of his blood.

3. We adore, oh Lord, your cross, and we praise and glorify your holy resurrection unto life: for your cross brought salvation to the whole world.

Is 52, 13-15

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.

Brethren: But Christ being come a high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal hinheritance. For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth. Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood. For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, saying, ‘This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you.’ Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; for then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

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Ant. 1 They shall cry over him as one who cries for his only son, for the Lord has been faultlessly put to death.

Hear my voice, oh God, in my complaint;

Preserve my life from the dread enemy.

Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked,

From the scheming of evildoers,

Who whet their tongues like swords,

Who aim bitter words like arrows,

Shooting from ambush at the blameless:

They shoot suddenly and without fear;

They hold fast to their evil purpose;

They talk of laying snares secretly,

Thinking, "Who can see us?

"Who can search out our crimes?

"We have thought out a cunningly conceived plot."

For the human heart and mind are deep.

But God will shoot his arrow at them;

They will be wounded suddenly.

Because of their tongue he will bring them to ruin;

All who see them will shake with horror.

Then everyone will fear;

They will tell what God has brought about,

And ponder what he has done.

Let the righteous rejoice in the Lord

And take refuge in him.

Let all the upright in heart glory.

Ant. 1 They shall cry over him as one who cries for his only son, for the Lord has been faultlessly put to death.

Ant. 2. Free me, oh Lord, from the gates of Hades.

I said, "In the noontide of my days I must depart;

I am consigned to the gates of Sheol for all my years."

I said, "I shall not see the Lord in the land of the living;

I shall look upon mortals no more

Among the inhabitants of the world."

My dwelling is plucked up,

Removed from me like a shepherd’s tent.

I have rolled up my life,

Like a weaver cutting me off from the loom;

From day to night you bring me to an end.

I cry for help until morning;

Like a lion the Lors breaks all my bones;

From day to night you bring me to an end.

Like a swallow I clamor, I moan like a dove.

My eyes are weary with looking upward.

You have held back my life from the pit of destruction,

For you have cast all my sins behind your back.

For Sheol cannot thank you,

death cannot praise you;

They cannot hope for your faithfulness

Those who go down to the pit.

The living thank you, as I do this day;

Fathers make known your faithfulness to children.

The Lord will save me, and we will sing to the harp

All the days of our lives, at the house of the Lord.

Ant. 2. Free me, oh Lord, from the gates of Hades.

Ant. 3. I was dead, and behold, I now live for ever more and I keep the keys of Death and of Hades.

Praise God in his sanctuary;

Praise him in his mighty firmament!

Praise him for his mighty deeds;

Praise him according to his surpassing greatness!

Praise him with trumpet sound;

Praise him with lute and harp!

Praise him with tambourine and dance;

Praise him with strings and pipe!

Praise him with clanging cymbals;

Praise him with loud clashing cymbals!

Let everything that breathes praise the Lord!

Ant. 3. I was dead, and behold, I now live for ever more and I keep the keys of Death and of Hades.

Hos 6, 1-2

Thus speaks the Lord: ‘In their distress they will beg my favour: Come, let us return to the Lord; for it is he who has torn, and he will heal us; he has struck down, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him.’

Brethren: Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his arest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, ‘As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.’ For he spoke in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, ‘And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.’ And in this place again, ‘If they shall enter into my rest.’ Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, ‘To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.’ For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. There remains therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

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