Good Friday Meditation at the Cross
Silence is kept before the service begins. You are invited to stand and join in with the hymns if you wish. For background notes on the music, the composers and poets, please see the pages at the end of this booklet.
Communion will be shared in one kind from the reserved sacrament from the Maundy Thursday liturgy of yesterday evening. If you wish to receive, please come forward when invited to do by the stewards, all are welcome to receive.
The service begins with the Collect for Good Friday and proceeds unannounced.
Eternal God,
In the cross of Jesus
We see the cost of our sin
And the depth of your love:
In humble hope and fear
May we place at his feet
all that we have and all that we are.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord
Amen
Organ
Chorale Prelude: Herzlich, thut mich verlangen, Johannes Brahms
Hymn
O sacred head, surrounded by crown of piercing thorn (181)
Solo
O sacred head, surrounded
by crown of piercing thorn!
O bleeding head, so wounded,
so shamed and put to scorn!
Death’s pallid hue comes o’er thee,
the glow of life decays;
yet angel-hosts adore thee,
and tremble as they gaze.
All
Thy comeliness and vigour
is withered up and gone,
and in thy wasted figure
I see death drawing on.
O agony and dying!
O love to sinners free!
Jesu, all grace supplying,
turn thou thy face on me.
In this thy bitter passion,
good Shepherd, think of me
with thy most sweet compassion,
unworthy though I be:
beneath thy cross abiding
for ever would I rest,
in thy dear love confiding,
and with thy presence blest.
Paul Gerhardt (1607–1676)
from a 14th century Latin hymn
translated by H W Baker (1821–1877)
Reading
Isaiah 52.13-end of 53
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.
Organ
Chorale Prelude ‘Schwing dich auf zu deinem Gott’,
Ethel Smyth (Raise yourself up to your God)
Poem
So loved the world, Malcolm Guite
The whole round world, in Greek the total cosmos,
Is all encompassed in this loving word;
Not just the righteous, right on, and religious
But every one of whom you’ve ever heard,
And all the throng you don’t know or ignore,
For everyone is precious in his sight,
Chosen and cherished, loved, redeemed, before
The circling cosmos ever saw the light.
He set us in the world that we might flourish,
That his belovèd world might live through us.
We chose instead that all of this should perish
And turned his every blessing to a curse.
And now he gives himself, as life and light,
That we might choose in him to set things right.
Organ
Chorale Prelude ‘O Gott, du frommer Gott’, Ethel Smyth
(O God, you righteous God, you source of good gifts)
Passion Gospel – I
John 18. 19 – 32
Then the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching. Jesus answered, ‘I have spoken openly to the world; I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all the Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret. Why do you ask me? Ask those who heard what I said to them; they know what I said.’ When he had said this, one of the police standing nearby struck Jesus on the face, saying, ‘Is that how you answer the high priest?’ Jesus answered, ‘If I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong. But if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me?’ Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.
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.’ 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?’ Again Peter denied it, and at that moment the cock crowed.
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. So Pilate went out to them and said, ‘What accusation do you bring against this man?’ They answered, ‘If this man were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.’
Pilate said to them, ‘Take him yourselves and judge him according to your law.’ The Jews replied, ‘We are not permitted to put anyone to death.’ (This was to fulfil what Jesus had said when he indicated the kind of death he was to die.)
Organ
Canon on ‘O Gott, du frommer Gott’, Ethel Smyth
Passion Gospel – II
John 18. 33 – 40
Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, ‘Are you the King of the Jews?’ Jesus answered, ‘Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?’ Pilate replied, ‘I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done? ’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 Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.’ 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.’ Pilate asked him, ‘What is truth?’
After he had said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them, ‘I find no case against him. 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 Jews?’ They shouted in reply, ‘Not this man, but Barabbas!’ Now Barabbas was a bandit.
Poem
Fire and Ice, Robert Frost
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favour fire.
But if I had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.
Organ
Chorale Prelude on 'Rockingham', Charles Hubert Hastings Parry
Hymn
When I survey the wondrous cross (157)
When I survey the wondrous cross
on which the Prince of glory died,
my richest gain I count but loss,
and pour contempt on all my pride.
Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast
save in the cross of Christ my God;
all the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to his blood.
See from his head, his hands, his feet,
sorrow and love flow mingled down;
did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
or thorns compose so rich a crown!
His dying crimson, like a robe,
spreads o’er his body on the tree:
then am I dead to all the globe,
and all the globe is dead to me.
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
that were a present far too small;
love so amazing, so divine,
demands my soul, my life, my all.
Isaac Watts (1674–1748)
Passion Gospel – III
John 19. 1 – 16
Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they dressed him in a purple robe. They kept coming up to him, saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ and striking him on the face. 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.’ So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, ‘Here is the man!’ When the chief priests and the police saw him, they shouted, ‘Crucify him! Crucify him!’ Pilate said to them, ‘Take him yourselves and crucify him; I find no case against him.’ The Jews 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.’
Now when Pilate heard this, he was more afraid than ever. He entered his headquarters again and asked Jesus, ‘Where are you from?’ But Jesus gave him no answer. 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?’ 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.’ From then on Pilate tried to release him, but the Jews 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.’
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. Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover; and it was about noon. He said to the Jews, ‘Here is your King!’ 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.’ Then he handed him over to them to be crucified.
Organ
Chorale Prelude ‘O Mensch, bewein dein Sünde groß’ BWV 622 - J.S. Bach (O man, thy grevious sin bemoan)
Poem
XI Crucifixion: Jesus is nailed to the cross, Malcolm Guite
See, as they strip the robe from off his back
And spread his arms and nail them to the cross,
The dark nails pierce him and the sky turns black,
And love is firmly fastened on loss.
But here a pure change happens. On this tree
Loss becomes gain, death opens into birth.
Here wounding heals and fastening makes free,
Earth breathes in heaven, heaven roots in earth.
And here we see the length, the breadth, the height,
Where love and hatred meet and love stays true,
Where sin meets grace and darkness turns to light,
We see what love can bear and be and do.
And here our Saviour calls us to his side,
His love is free, his arms are open wide.
Organ
Chorale Prelude ‘Wo soll ich fliehen hin’ BWV 646 - J.S. Bach (where shall I flee to?)
Passion Gospel – IV
John 19:16b-22
So they took Jesus; and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them. Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, ‘Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.’ Many of the Jews 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. Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, ‘Do not write, “The King of the Jews”, but, “This man said, I am King of the Jews.” ’ Pilate answered, ‘What I have written I have written.’
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. 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 fulfil what the scripture says,
‘They divided my clothes among themselves,
and for my clothing they cast lots.’
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. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, here is your son.’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.
Poem Rood Tree, Ann Lewin
I might have been his cradle,
Rocking him, folding
Securely against harm.
I could have been a ship,
Turning my sturdy timbers
To the wind, keeping him
Safe from storm.
Instead, they used me as
His cross.
No infant rages rocked the
Cradle tree, or storm lashed ship
Such as unleashed on me
That day. Shock waves of hatred
Crashed against me, bearing
On me through his body
Weight of world’s pain,
Weight of agony;
Wringing from him
Drop by drop,
‘Why, God, you too?’
No comforting protection
Could I offer, or deliverance;
Only support, his mainstay in distress.
But did I hold him, or did he
With strength of purpose lovingly
Embrace his work of suffering,
Stretched on my arms?
They say it was a tree whose fruit
Brought sorrow to the world.
The fruit I bore,
Though seeming shame,
They call salvation.
My glory was it then, To be his tree
Organ
Prelude on Song 13, Percy Whitlock
Hymn Morning Glory, starlit sky (544)
Morning glory, starlit sky,
soaring music, scholar’s truth,
flight of swallows, autumn leaves,
memory’s treasure, grace of youth:
Open are the gifts of God,
gifts of love to mind and sense;
hidden is love’s agony,
love’s endeavour, love’s expense.
Love that gives, gives ever more,
gives with zeal, with eager hands,
spares not, keeps not, all outpours,
ventures all, its all expends.
Drained is love in making full,
bound in setting others free,
poor in making many rich,
weak in giving power to be.
Therefore he who shows us God
helpless hangs upon the tree;
and the nails and crown of thorns
tell of what God’s love must be.
Here is God: no monarch he,
throned in easy state to reign;
here is God, whose arms of love
aching, spent, the world sustain. William Hubert Vanstone (1923–1999
544 Words: © J.W. Shore Used by permission.
Prayer of Intercession
God sent his Son, into the world, not to condemn the world,
but that the world might be saved through him.
Therefore we pray to our heavenly Father
for people everywhere according to their needs.
The following response is used throughout the prayers that follow
Lord hear us.
Lord graciously hear us
The prayers end with
O God of unchangeable power and eternal light,
look favourably on your whole Church,
that wonderful and scared mystery,
and by the tranquil operation of your perpetual providence carry out the work of your salvation:
and let the whole world feel and see
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 returning to perfection
through him from whom they took their origin,
even Jesus Christ our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
The Liturgy of the Sacrament
As the Eucharist is not celebrated on Good Friday, communion is distributed from the Reserved Sacrament of bread and wine which was blessed at the Maundy Thursday service.
Standing at the foot of the cross, as our Saviour taught us,
so we pray each in the language that is closest to our hearts
Notre Pere…
Vater Unser…
Onze Vader…
Padre Nuestro…
Ojcze Nasz…
Baba Yetu…
E to matou Matua…
Ein Tad...
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name;
your kingdom come; your will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins,
as we forgive those who sin against us. And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom,
the power and the glory are yours,
Now and forever.
Amen.
Giving of Communion
Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Blessed are those who are called to his supper.
Lord, I am not worthy to receive you,
but only say the word, and I shall be healed.
During Communion the hymn A Purple Robe is sung as a solo and then the chant Jesus, remember me, which you are invited to join in with. Please come forwards to receive when the stewards invite you to move.
Prayer after Communion
Most merciful God
who by the death and resurrection of your son Jesus Christ,
delivered and saved the world.
Grant that by faith in him who suffered on the cross
we may triumph in the power of his victory;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Poem
XII Jesus dies on the cross, Malcolm Guite
The dark nails pierce him and the sky turns black,
We watch him as he labours to draw breath.
He takes our breath away to give it back,
Return it to its birth through his slow death.
We hear him struggle, breathing through the pain,
Who once breathed out his spirit on the deep,
Who formed us when he mixed the dust with rain
And drew us into consciousness from sleep.
His Spirit and his life he breathes in all,
Mantles his world in his one atmosphere,
And now he comes to breathe beneath the pall
Of our pollutions, draw our injured air
To cleanse it and renew. His final breath
Breathes and bears us through the gates of death.
We leave in silence
THE MUSIC AND ITS COMPOSERS
The musical core of this meditation is formed from several stand-alone Chorale Preludes by Dame Ethel Mary Smyth and J.S. Bach, based on seasonal Lutheran Chorales. Alongside these are three hymns for the congregation to join in with. Each of these will be preceded by a composed prelude on their melody by a different composer.
Johannes Brahms, 1833-1897, composed his op.122 Eleven Chorale Preludes in the last year of his life, and they were published posthumously. Whilst Brahms and Smyth certainly knew and encountered each other, any musical similarities are more likely due to their common inspiration and methods rooted in Baroque music, through mutual study of counterpoint and the works of Bach, rather than mutual influence. Interestingly, they both set ‘O Gott, du frommer Gott’ as a Canon.
Ethel Smyth, 1858-1944, was an English composer, conductor, author and Suffragette whose ‘March of the Women’ became the anthem of that movement. Raised during the Victorian age, Smyth fought against societal restrictions that said a woman should not have a profession: she insisted on an education, she insisted on performances of her works, and she insisted on having her works published.
Despite being granted a damehood in 1922 (the first female composer to be so honoured), her work was subjected to evaluation as that of a ‘woman composer’ rather than simply the work of a composer among composers, which served to keep her on the margins of the profession.
Doubtless, her unabashed attraction to women and preference for a more masculine form of dress can only have served to reinforce such prejudices.
The preludes we hear today are from a set of five, composed between 1882-1884 and published by Novello in 1913. They draw on the musical devices and counterpoint of Bach and are based on Lutheran Chorale melodies rather than English hymnody and Victorian sentiment. Smyth employs forms familiar to Bach of the melody chorale and the chorale canon – a canon being both a musical form but also a reference to the law, hence it today being placed at an appropriate point in the gospel reading.
The collection was well received in the Musical Times, whose critic wrote “…
There are few composers who can write living music in this form, and it is satisfactory to find that two of those who can do it well – and think it worthwhile – are British musicians. Patriotic organists who are jealous of their artistic standard have an opportunity to satisfy both claims by giving to these works the attention which they have shown to the choral preludes of Sir Hubert Parry.”
Despite such a positive review, it is Parry’s works which have endured through the intervening period since their publication, whilst Smyth’s are only recently being rediscovered.
In contrast to Smyth, Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, 1848-1918, cuts a distinctly ‘establishment’ figure. Parry’s comparable compositions of two sets of Chorale Preludes were also published by Novello either side of Smyth’s, in 1912 and 1916 towards the end of his life. Writing in the Musical Times in 1968, Gwilym Beechey argued that Parry’s work helped to put English Organ Music back on its feet after a decline in the previous century. Whilst Parry’s preludes too draw on the legacy of Bach, they do so to a lesser extent than Smyth’s and are arguably more ‘Victorian’. Parry’s heads each of his preludes with a quotation from the hymn which inspired them. In the case of Rockingham this is ‘Thither be all Thy children led’, pointing towards Dodderidge’s Eucharistic hymn ‘My God, and is thy table spread’ rather than Watts’ ‘When I survey’. This perhaps explains the general tone and mood, but is, nonetheless, a fitting prelude.
The influence of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) on all of the composers whose works feature in this meditation cannot be understated. In addition to the ‘Free Works’ (the Prelude and Fugues, Fantasias etc.), are a large body of organ chorale preludes in a number of collections: Neumeister, Orgelbüchlein, Clavierübung III, the Eighteen or Leipzig Chorales, Schübler, as well as the various Individual Chorales. The pieces in today’s meditation come from the Orgelbüchlein and Schübler collections, each employing different compositional techniques. O Mensch, bewein dein Sünde groß is the best setting of an ornamented chorale in Orgelbüchlein and one of the most acclaimed in Bach’s ouvre. It has the largest harmonical vocabulary of any Orgelbüchlein chorale and as is to be expected of Bach, certain key words in the chorale text are musically highlighted e.g. the chord and tempo marking Adagissimo to highlight ‘lange’ (long upon the cross). It dates from around 1708-12 so falls into the early composition phase. Woll soll ich fliehen hin? Is from the Schübler Chorales which gain their name from their publisher, and are literal reductions of Leipzig cantata arias. It is in trio form with the left-hand serving as both bass and as imitative second voice; the cantus firmus is played on a 4’ stop on the pedals.
If we might associate Percy Whitlock, 1903-1946, with ‘lighter’ music and certainly a more distinct harmonic voice, then in Song 13 he too is also drawing on the legacy of the past. Again, Bachian form and language are to the fore in this singing prelude on Orlando Gibbons’ 16th Century melody. Whitlock was fortunate to attract the attention of Oxford University Press and his Six Hymn Preludes were published 1923, 10 years after Smyth’s, but when he was only 20.
THE POEMS AND THEIR WRITERS
Malcolm Guite is an English singer-songwriter, Anglican priest, and academic. Born in Nigeria in 1957 to British expatriate parents, Guite earned degrees from Cambridge and Durham universities. He was a Bye-Fellow and chaplain of Girton College, Cambridge and associate chaplain of St Edward King and Martyr in Cambridge.
He is author of five books of poetry, including two chapbooks and three full-length collections, as well as several books on Christian faith and theology.
Robert Lee Frost, 1874-1963, was an American poet. His work was initially published in England before it was published in the United States. Known for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloquial speech, Frost frequently wrote about settings from rural life in New England in the early 20th century, using them to examine complex social and philosophical themes. His poem ‘Fire and Ice’ discusses the end of the world, likening the elemental force of fire with the emotion of desire, and ice with hate. Published in December 1920 in Harper's Magazine and again in 1923 in his Pulitzer Prize-winning book ‘New Hampshire’.
Ann Lewin is an accomplished poet who is much in demand as a retreat leader. She was a secondary school teacher (RE and English) for 27 years, and later Welfare Advisor for International Students at the University of Southampton. She has also worked tutoring ordinands at Sarum College.
Images from the natural world and from scripture permeate her writing; wit, warmth and economy of expression characterise her style.
William Hubert ‘Bill’ Vanstone, 1923-1999, author of the hymn ‘Morning glory, starlit sky’. He was described in his obituary as ‘the most intellectually brilliant of the many able men who were ordained after the Second World War; a 20th-century John Keble who committed himself without compromise to a pastoral ministry as well as writing a number of small spiritual books, hymns and verses.’
Simon Headley is Principal Organist and Interim Choral Director at All Saints with Holy Trinity, having previously been Organist and Assistant Director of Music at Leicester Cathedral.
During his time at the cathedral his primary role was as organist for the statutory services in which capacity he played for two visits of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to Leicester including the Royal Maundy in 2017. He has played live on BBC 1, Radio 4 and for all of the services connected with the Reinterment of Richard III which were watched by an audience of over 350 million people worldwide. As a recitalist and accompanist he has played in many Cathedrals including Durham, Canterbury and York and continues to play for the Leicester Church Music Consort on their cathedral residential visits, with a forthcoming visit to Wells Cathedral.
Since leaving his full-time Cathedral post in September 2018, Simon uses his architectural background in his work in a new post as Historic Churches Support Officer for the Diocese but continues to enjoy various engagements as a musician.
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MUSIC
Music is an integral part of the life of our church in worship, concerts and community events. In worship we have a strong and vibrant choral tradition spanning the ages, drawing from the best of contemporary and contemplative repetoire alongside the deep riches of the Anglican choral tradition. There is no audition to join the choirs and some people sing weekly others join in for festive occasions. We have an adult choir and a youth choir. A handbell and tower bell group meet weekly and music groups often take part in our services. If you are interested in joining one of the musical groups or choirs please email [email protected] .
EASTER SERVICES
Holy Saturday
The Easter Vigil 7.45pm
We meet outside on the Parish Green down in the Rectory Wildlife garden where gathered around the fire we shall hear the story of salvation before lighting the new Paschal Candle and processing in to church for the first Alleluias and Communion of Easter.
Easter Sunday
Morning Prayer 9.00am
A quiet service to start the day with shared reflection on the bible reading
Holy Communion 10.45am
An All Age celebration of Easter including blessing the Easter Garden and East Eggs for our younger church members!
Choral Evensong 4.00pm
The choir lead a festive setting of this traditional service