Let us rise in early morning.
Reconciliation’s plan devising,
Fellow-sharer of the Father’s Throne,
Thee, O Christ, we, very early rising,
Tender lover of our spirits, own!
He who was also the carpenter’s glorious son set up his cross above death’s all-consuming jaws, and led the human race into the dwelling place of life. We give glory to you, Lord, who raised up your cross to span the jaws of death like a bridge by which souls might pass from the region of the dead to the land of the living.
There is one God, who by his word and wisdom created all things and set them in order. His Word is our Lord Jesus Christ, who in this last age became human among us to unite the end and the beginning, that is, humanity and God. Humankind was to receive the Spirit of God and so attain to the glory of the Father.
By the observance of these forty days, we have wanted to devote ourselves to this, namely, that we should know something about the Cross in this season of our Lord’s Passion. Consequently, we must try very hard also to be found companions of Christ’s Resurrection, moving from death to life while we are in this body.
Last night did Christ the Sun rise from the dark,
The mystic harvest of the fields of God,
And now the little wandering tribes of bees
Are brawling in the scarlet flowers abroad.
The sword of flame no longer guards the gate of Eden,
For a strange bond came upon it: the wood of the Cross.
The sting of Death and the victory of Hades were nailed to it.
But you appeared, my Savior, crying to those in Hades:
Holy Week is the world’s sacred Winter:
The earth is a widow, the skies are sere,
There’s a sound of scourging and nailing in the vinegary wind;
And the darkness chokes the Son of Man.
This ultimate day affirms that death is no more, the last enemy is overcome, the gate of heaven is open. By simply experiencing the processions of death and life with others, we come to the last mystery—that the tomb is empty,
Today a grave holds him
who holds creation in the palm of his hand.
A stone covers him
who covers with glory the heavens.
All creation was transformed by fear
when it saw you, O Christ,
hanging on the cross.
The sun grew dark
and the foundations of the earth shook.
All things suffered
with you who created all.