Praying Lent: Preparing for Good Friday

Abstract

Text from the first three paragraphs of "Praying Lent: Preparing for Good Friday"|Good Friday Opening Prayer: |Remember your mercies, O Lord, and with your eternal protection sanctify your servants, for whom Christ your Son, by the shedding of his Blood, established the Paschal Mystery. Who lives and reigns for ever and ever.|We enter the liturgy on Good Friday in silence. We don't need a "gathering rite." It is as though we have been "gathered" since the night before. The first act of the liturgy is for the Presider and ministers to lay face down before the cross, in silence. As with all liturgical rituals, that invites us to lay prostrate before the cross as well. That takes some preparation. |We can prepare to begin the Good Friday celebration by reflecting upon ourselves laying there - with all the feelings we want to identify and pay attention to. Our feelings may not be consistent or even inspiring. I might feel awe, gratitude, guilt, powerlessness, all at once. In my reflection preparing for Good Friday, I prepare that brief silent moment at the beginning of the service. Perhaps I will want to simply open my hands when the Presider lays face down and say "I know this is all for me; thank you."