A Vigil of Readings and Prayer
Noon – 1 PM
Blessed Lord Jesus, on this day when You gave Your life for the sin of the world and ransomed all the lost children of Adam from captivity to Sin and Death, be with us and bless us by Your Holy Spirit that we may diligently attend to your Word and firmly trust it for our salvation. Open our ears, our minds and our hearts that we may hear anew Your passion to save us and all people by Your death on a cross and firmly believe all the days of our life. Hear us, holy Jesus.
Reading: Lamentations 1-2
Psalm: Psalm 6 (chanted in unison)
Reading: The Passion of Our Lord according to St. Matthew
Hymn: Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted (LSB #451)
Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, have mercy on us.
Lord Jesus, on the night of your betrayal you gave your disciples the gift of Your Body as the Bread of Life and Your Blood as wine to gladden their hearts, establishing the Sacrament of your death and life. Bless all who eat of this holy Supper, that it would redound in faith toward you and fervent love toward one another. At the same table, You stooped to wash your own disciples’ feet as the lowliest of servants, giving us an example of humility in service. May we who partake at your table be so moved to lay down our lives for one another as You have laid down Your life for us. Hear us, holy Jesus.
Lord Jesus, You prayed in anguish seeking another way to fulfill Your mission, yet You were obedient to Your Father’s will, praying that His will would be done. You were betrayed by the kiss of one of Your own and arrested as a common criminal, yet You were guilty of no crime. Pray for us in the hour of our temptation, when the dark night of despair comes upon us, when we are tempted to flee in the face of persecution, when we are betrayed by a friend, when our prayers fail, when we suffer loss for the confession of your Name. Watch over and preserve us in our time of testing and keep us clothed in the baptismal robe of your righteousness. Hear us, holy Jesus. Amen
THE OUR FATHER
1 – 2 PM
Reading: Lamentations 3-4
Psalm: Psalm 51 (chanted in unison)
Reading: The Passion of Our Lord according to St. Mark
Hymn: O Sacred Head, Now Wounded (LSB #450)
Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, Have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, Have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, Have mercy on us.
Lord Jesus, You were tried by the court of Religion and found guilty of blasphemy for confessing that You are the Christ, the Son of God. You came to Your own, but Your own did not receive You. You were despised and rejected by the religious authorities, the promise Stone the builders rejected yet the Cornerstone of Israel and the world’s salvation. Be with all who suffer for the confession of Your Name. Grant us courage to confess the truth, that Your Name would be proclaimed before the nations as the only Name under heaven, given among men, by which we are saved. Hear us, holy Jesus. Amen.
Lord Jesus, You were tried before the court of Government and were found guilty of treason, though Your kingdom is not of this world and all temporal authority is from Your Father. Bless all victims of injustice, those who are falsely accused and wrongly imprisoned, and those who are persecuted. Grant that our courts be forums of justice and truth that we may live peaceable and godly lives. You went to an innocent death even as a guilty man was set free, thereby showing the exchange of our sin for your righteousness. Let Your blood be upon us and upon our children, that we too may be pardoned from our offenses and freed from the condemnation of the Law by Your innocent suffering and death. Hear us, holy Jesus. Amen.
THE OUR FATHER
2 – 3 PM
Reading: Lamentations 5
Psalm: Psalm 62 (chanted in unison)
Reading: The Passion of Our Lord according to St. Luke
Hymn: Sing, My Tongue the Glorious Battle (LSB #454)
Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, have mercy on us.
Lord Jesus, You graciously allowed Your body to be taken from the cross and buried in a borrowed tomb, thereby fulfilling the Scriptures and sanctifying our graves as places of Sabbath rest until the day of resurrection. Having completed the work of the world’s salvation at the close of the sixth day, you rested on the seventh day. Watch over all who now sleep in You, and comfort us who mourn those who have died before us. Grant us confidence in the certain hope of resurrection unto eternal life and a joyous reunion with those who have gone before us. Hear us, holy Jesus. Amen
Gracious Jesus, our Lord and our God, you bore our sin in your own body on the tree so that we, being dead to sin, might live unto righteousness. Have mercy upon us now and at the hour of our death and grant to us, your servants, with all others who devoutly remember your blessed Passion, a holy and peaceful life in this world, a blessed end in faith, and through your grace eternal glory in the life to come, where, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, you live and reign, God forever. Amen
THE OUR FATHER