There will be an additional Mass at 6pm tonight for the repose of the soul of Pope Francis.
A Solemn Requiem Mass will be celebrated at a later date.
O God, whose nature is always to forgive and to show mercy, we humbly implore you for your servant Francis, whom you have called this day to journey to you, and, since he hoped and believed in you, grant that he may be led to our true homeland to delight in its everlasting joys. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee.
Because by thy holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world.
Stations of the Cross on Good Friday.
#oxfordoratory
Christus factus est pro nobis obediens usque ad mortem, mortem autem crucis. Propter quod et Deus exaltavit illum, et dedit illi nomen, quod est super omne nomen.
Christ became obedient for us unto death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him, and bestowed on him the name which is above every name.
The entry of the deacons of the Passion on Good Friday.
#oxfordoratory
Tantum ergo sacramentum
Veneremur cernui:
Et antiquum documentum
Novo cedat ritui:
Præstet fides supplementum
Sensuum defectui.
Down in adoration falling,
Lo! the sacred Host we hail;
Lo! All ancient forms excelling,
Newer rites of grace prevail;
Faith for all defects supplying,
Where the feeble senses fail.
The Blessed Sacrament is placed on the altar of repose.
#oxfordoratory
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:5)
The last candle of the tenebræ hearse is removed after all the other lights have been put out and hidden for the final prayer, as Christ was hidden in the tomb for a time. But Christ rose again, and so the light is brought out and shown to the people to remind us that the light is not conquered in the events of the coming days.
#oxfordoratory
Tenebræ is the name given to the Offices of Matins and Lauds during the Sacred Paschal Triduum. Matins is the office of the night vigil, consisting of three divisions or ‘nocturns’. Each nocturn contains three psalms with their antiphons, followed by a reading punctuated by three responsories. Lauds is the office for the beginning of the new day and contains five psalms and the Benedictus Gospel canticle.
As each psalm is concluded, one more candle of the tenebræ hearse is extinguished until the church is left in darkness. At the end of the Benedictus, all the lights are put out. The final candle, which has been concealed behind the altar without being extinguished, is revealed: a symbol of Christ’s resurrection. Tenebræ concludes with the ‘strepitus’. Originally a knock from the superior to signal the end of the office, the noise recalls the earthquake that accompanied Christ’s death on the cross.
#oxfordoratory
Look, we pray, O Lord, on this your family,
for whom our Lord Jesus Christ
did not hesitate to be delivered into the hands of the wicked
and submit to the agony of the Cross.
Who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.
#oxfordoratory