Prayers to pray for Holy Week & Good Friday

Prayers to pray for Holy Week &  Good Friday

from Christ Church Quaker Farms   (Borrowed from various sources)

Good Friday Prayer   O Jesus, Who by reason of Thy burning love for us hast willed to be crucified  and to shed Thy Most Precious Blood for the redemption and salvation of our souls, look down upon us here gathered together  in remembrance of Thy most sorrowful Passion and Death, fully trusting in Thy mercy; cleanse us from sin by Thy grace, sanctify our toil, give unto us and unto all those who are dear to us our daily bread, sweeten our sufferings, bless our families, and to the nations so sorely afflicted, grant Thy peace, which is the only true peace, so that by obeying Thy commandments we may come at last to the glory of heaven.  Amen.

The At The Foot Of The Cross Prayer    I will go to the altar of God.   To God who gives joy to my youth. Judge me, O God, and take up my cause against the nation that is not holy. Free me from the unjust and deceitful man. For You, O God, are my strength, why have You cast me off? And why do I walk in sorrow, while the enemy troubles me? Send forth Your light and Your truth, they have led me, and brought me to Your holy hill, and to Your dwelling.    I will go to the altar of God,
to God who gives joy to my youth. To You, O God, my God, I will give praise upon the harp,
why are you sad, O my soul? And why do you trouble me? Hope in God, for I will still praise Him,
the salvation of my countenance and my God.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end.   Amen.

I will go to the altar of God. To God who gives joy to my youth. Our help is in the name of the Lord.
Who has made heaven and earth. May almighty God have mercy upon you, forgive you your sins,
and bring you to life everlasting. I confess to almighty God  that I have sinned exceedingly in thought, word, and deed; through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault. Therefore, I beg You to and forgive  me of  my  sins, and bring me to the life everlasting.

May the almighty and merciful Lord grant us pardon, absolution, and remission of our sins.
You will turn again, O God, and quicken us. And Your people shall rejoice in You. Show unto us, O Lord, Your mercy. And grant us Your salvation. O Lord, hear my prayer. And let my cry reach up to You.

SCRIPTURES TO READ     Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12   Psalm 22:1-21    Hebrews 10:16-25 or Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9     John 18:1 – 19:40

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Through Prayer, Finding the Good in Good Friday   By Rick Hamlin,

I can remember asking my mom as a kid, "Why is it called Good Friday?"

It completely baffled me. I'd gone to Sunday school long enough to know that Jesus died on the cross on Good Friday. He was arrested, put through a trial, denied by his own, whipped, paraded through Jerusalem and crucified, dying after six hours of agony.

What was so good about that? My mom must have given me an adequate response, that it's a "good" day because if Jesus hadn't died, he couldn't have risen. But I don't think I bought it. Not then. Not now.

As a believing Christian, I find Good Friday one of the toughest days of the year. I have celebrated it in various ways, none too happily. I have sung in choirs through a three-hour service. I have prayed my way through the Stations of the Cross. I have sat in a pew in a church near my office, meditating over the last words of Christ. And I have skipped the whole thing, far preferring the alleluias and flowers and jelly beans and chocolate eggs of Easter.

But I have to admit in my struggles with faith, the shadowy Good Friday moments count as much as those blissfully sunny Easter days (and here in the Northeast, when is Easter ever warm and sunny?). When I pray, it's the hard stuff that gets me really focused.

A 42-year-old friend dies of cancer. "Why, God, why?" I ask, storming the heavens. A hard-working dad loses the job he was sure he was meant for. "What was that all about?" I wonder. A faraway country gets pummeled by a devastating earthquake. "Have mercy, Lord," I pray.

This seems to be the paradox of belief. As often as I try for a prevailing attitude of gratitude and joy, I learn more through the tough stuff. No, I wouldn't ask for misfortune and wouldn't wish it on anyone, but just as mistakes are supposed to be the better teacher, aren't trials the ultimate crucible of faith? It can take a wake-up call of incipient disaster to give me a piercing clarity about all my blessings.

That's how I manage to find my way to the good in Good Friday. Through prayer. Closing out the noise of the world, I ask for God's help, looking for a measure of peace. Better yet, I can join with others who have much greater concerns than my own and pray for them.

PRAYER FOR FREEDOM IN CHRIST.  Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but
first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

PRAY FOR GUIDANCE   Heavenly Father, in you we live and move and have our being: We humbly pray you so to guide and govern us by your Holy Spirit, that in all the cares and occupations of our life we may not forget you, but may remember that we are ever walking in your sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

PRAYER OF ST. FRANCIS   Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace;
Where there is hatred, let me sow love; Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith; Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light; And where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,Grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console; To be understood, as to understand;
To be loved, as to love; For it is in giving that we receive,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
And it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life. Amen.

PRAYER FOR THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for the honor of your Name. Amen.

PRAY FOR CHRIST CHURCH QUAKER FARMS Almighty and everliving God, ruler of all things in heaven and earth, hear our prayers for this parish family. Strengthen the faithful, arouse the careless, and restore the penitent. Grant us all things necessary for our common life, and bring us all to be of one heart and mind within your holy Church ;through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.