Updated April, 2025
Last year for Good Friday, we planned a service that followed a modified “stations [or way] of the cross.” Each station was framed by the traditional ancient text Adoramus te. We sang it in English in the version translated by Theodore Baker, made famous in The Seven Last Words of Christ by Theodore Dubois (see box; music can be found in The Hymnal for Worship and Celebration 597 as well as in Celebration Hymnal 230). Readings and prayers as noted are from “Prayers on the Way of the Cross” from the book Prayers by Michel Quoist (Sheed and Ward, Inc., 1963; used by permission www.rowmanlittlefield.com/sheed/). Each station was accompanied by at least one black-and-white slide with the station title; many of these were taken from a CD of religious clip art. Members of our eight-member vocal chorale also served as readers. All of the Scripture, commentary, and song texts were included in the bulletin. —MO
Adoramus Te Christ, We Do All Adore Thee
Christ, we do all adore thee, and we do praise thee forever. For on the holy cross thou hast the world from sin redeemed. Christ, we do all adore thee, and we do praise thee forever.
Christ, we do all adore thee.
The Way of the Cross
Scripture: Isaiah 52:13-15
Reading: The way of the cross is also the way to life; this a real Christian should never forget. (from Prayers)
Sung Prayer: “Christ, We Do All Adore Thee” [ensemble]
1. Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane
Hymn: “Go to Dark Gethsemane” Montgomery (st. 1)
Prayer [See suggestions in The Worship Sourcebook, section M.1.4 (Faith Alive Christian Resources)]
2. Jesus Betrayed by Judas
Scripture: John 18:1-11
3. Jesus Condemned by the Sanhedrin
Scripture: John 18:12-14
Hymn: “Go to Dark Gethsemane” Montgomery (st. 2)
4. Jesus Denied by Peter
Scripture: John 18:15-23
Poem: “Judas, Peter” because we are all betrayers, taking silver and eating body and blood and asking (guilty) is it I and hearing him say yes it would be simple for us all to rush out and hang ourselves but if we find grace to cry and wait after the voice of morning has crowed in our ears clearly enough to break our hearts he will be there to ask us each again do you love me?
—Luci Shaw, Polishing the Petoskey Stone, © 2003, Regent College Publishing, Vancouver. Used by permision of the author.
5. Jesus Condemned by the People
Scripture: Isaiah 53:1-8
Hymn: “Ah, Holy Jesus” Heermann (st. 1-2)
6. Jesus Crowned with Thorns and Clothed in Purple
Sung Prayer: “Christ, We Do All Adore Thee” [ensemble]
7. Jesus Carries the Cross
Reading Lord, here is your Cross! Your Cross! As if it were your cross!
You had no cross and you came to get ours, and all through your life, and along the way to Calvary, you took upon you, one by one, the sins of the world.
You have to go forward, And bend, And suffer. The Cross must be carried.
Lord, you walk on silently; is it true, then, that there is a time for speaking and a time for silence?
Is it true that there is a time for struggling and another for the silent bearing of our sins and the sins of the world?
Lord, I would rather fight the Cross; to bear it is hard. The more I progress, and the more I see the evil in the world, the heavier is the Cross on my shoulders.
Lord, help me to understand that the most generous deed is nothing unless it is also silently redemptive. And since you want for me this long way of the Cross, At the dawning of each day, help me to set forth. (from Prayers)
8. Jesus Assisted by Simon of Cyrene
Hymn: “Christ, We Do All Adore Thee” [ensemble; children of the congregation sang the first and last lines with the ensemble]
9. Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem Scripture: Luke 23:27-28
Reading They weep. They sob. It’s easy to understand if you see what men have done to him. And they are helpless, they cannot interfere, So they weep, they weep in pity.
Lord, you have seen them, you have heard them. But you said: “Weep first for your sins.”
To pity your sufferings and the sufferings of the world I manage very well, Lord. But to weep for my own sins, that’s another matter. I’d as lief bemoan those of others. It’s easier.
I’m well up on that; the whole world passes every day before my tribunal.
I’ve found plenty of guilt: in politics, economics, slums, alcohol, movies, industry. I see it in many people: in laissez-faire Christians, in priests who don’t understand a thing, and in many others, Lord, many others.
Lord, teach me that I am a sinner. (from Prayers)
Response: “Kyrie” SNC 54 [led by the ensemble, with the congregation echoing]
10. Jesus Is Crucified
Scripture: John 19:17-24
Message: “Jesus’ Final Moments Were for You”
Hymn: “Rock of Ages,” arr. James Ward (RW 70:25; listen online at www.reformedworship.org) TH 500
11. Jesus Speaks to the Thief
Reading: “In-Group” No one ran up and shook Christ’s hand.
The only others with that kind of inclination
Had theirs nailed down too
—Lionel Kearns, The Penguin Book of Canadian Verse (Penguin Books, 1958, 1967)
Song: "Thief" by Mac Powell (New Spring Publishing, INc., 1995) [ensemble]
12. Jesus Speaks to His Mother
Scripture: John 17:25-27
13. Jesus Dies on the Cross
Hymns: "Go to Dark Gethsemene" (st. 3) "Ah, Holy Jesus" (st. 3-4)
14. Jesus Is Buried
Scripture: Isaish 53:9-12; Hebrews 4:14-15
Response: "Christ, We Do All Adore Thee" [sung by all]
Closing Prayer
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