Devotions of the Holy Rood

Leader: In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

I: The Tree of Life

All: WE ADORE Thee, most holy Lord Jesus Christ, here and in all Thy churches that are in the whole world, and we bless Thee; because by Thy Holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the World. Amen.

Leader: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.All: As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

First Lesson: Genesis 2:7-10

Reader: Here endeth the lesson.

Psalm: Psalm 1

Refrain

Leader: Lord, I surrender my will to you.

All: Crucify my will and give me Christ.

Leader: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.All: As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Second Lesson: Revelation 22:1-5

Reader: Here endeth the lesson.

Reflection

Leader: The Tree of our salvation is present from the foundation of the world. The image of the Tree of Life is not a historical accident of ancient Rome, but a fact of Creation, placed in the world when God began to make it. Placed opposite the tree of our death, a signpost to the renewal of our life after our espousal of death. And it is present again in the New Creation as the sanctification of our wounds.

Silence

Collect

Leader: Let us pray. God and creator of all, who laid the foundations of the world and prepared the means of grace for us from the beginning, grant that we may eat the fruit of that Holy Tree and be healed by its leaves, and so have eternal life in your presence, through him who is for us the Tree of Life, your Son our Savior, Jesus Christ.

All: Amen.

All: Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy Name.Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.Give us this day our daily bread,And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us,And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.Amen.

Sing, my tongue, the glorious battle;

Sing the ending of the fray.

Now above the Cross, the trophy,

Sounds the loud, triumphant lay:

Tell how Christ, the world’s redeemer,

As a victim won the day

(Venantius Fortunatus)

II: The Wood of the Altar

All: WE ADORE Thee, most holy Lord Jesus Christ, here and in all Thy churches that are in the whole world, and we bless Thee; because by Thy Holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the World. Amen.

Leader: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.All: As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

First Lesson: Genesis 22:6, 9-14

Reader: Here endeth the lesson.

Psalm: Psalm 74

Refrain

Leader: Lord, I surrender my will to you.

All: Crucify my will and give me Christ.

Leader: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost,All: As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Second Lesson: St. Mark 15:16-20           

Reader: Here endeth the lesson.

Reflection

Leader: Just as Christ is both priest and sacrifice, He is represented by Abraham’s “Only son, whom thou lovest,” bearing the wood for the sacrifice up the mountain, and the young goat with his head wreathed in thorns and offered on the wood of the altar. The Cross of Christ comes in many forms and may not be easy to discern. But it always accompanies surrender and the faith that “God would raise him from the dead.”

Silence.

Collect

Leader: Let us pray. God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who tested our fathers and refined them in the fire, grant us grace and strength to walk in faith and fear, withstanding all kinds of trials, until we are gathered back to thee, through your Son, our strength, Jesus Christ.

All: Amen.

All: Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed by thy Name.Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.Give us this day our daily bread,And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.Amen.

Tell how, when at length the fullnessof th'appointed time was come,He, the Word, was born of woman,left for us His Father's home,blazed the path of true obedience,shone as light amidst the gloom.

(Venantius Fortunatus)

III: Aaron’s Budding Rod

All: WE ADORE Thee, most holy Lord Jesus Christ, here and in all Thy churches that are in the whole world, and we bless Thee; because by Thy Holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the World. Amen.

Leader: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.All: As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

First Lesson: Numbers 17:1-10

Reader: Here endeth the Lesson

Psalm: Isaiah 35:1-10.

Refrain

Leader: Lord, I surrender my will to you.

All: Crucify my will and give me Christ.

Leader: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.All: As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Second Lesson: St. John 15:1-6           

Reader: Here endeth the lesson.

Reflection

Leader: The Rod of Aaron and the Flowering Cross are tied more than accidentally. They both point to the work of God as the author of life, to the fact that “unless a seed fall into the ground and die it cannot bear fruit.” Or what Chrysostom says so beautifully, that Christ has “trampled death by death.” But we would be wrong to only say that God can bring life out of death. No, he insists on it. He prefers the barren womb, He seeks out the wilderness, and as a rule He raises the dead. Christ does not say “some who mourn will be comforted.” The Christian life is life from the dead.

Silence.

Collect

Leader: Let us pray. God of the living, who raised our Lord from the grave to be the first fruit of the Resurrection, grant us grace to bear the Light of Christ to a world of darkness, and to bring the hope of the Resurrection to a world of death. Grant this we pray through Jesus Christ, our Lord, the Firstborn of the grave.

All: Amen.

All: Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy Name.Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.Give us this day our daily bread,And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.Amen.

Thus, with thirty years accomplished,He went forth from Nazareth, destined, dedicated, willing,did His work, and met His death;like a lamb He humbly yieldedon the cross His dying breath.

(Venantius Fortunatus)

IV: The Bronze Serpent

All: WE ADORE Thee, most holy Lord Jesus Christ, here and in all Thy churches that are in the whole world, and we bless Thee; because by Thy Holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the World. Amen.

Leader: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.All: As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

First Lesson: Numbers 21:4-9           

Reader: Here endeth the lesson.

Psalm: Psalm 91

Refrain

Leader: Lord, I surrender my will to you.

All: Crucify my will and give me Christ.

Leader: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost,All: As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Second Lesson: John 3:9-17           

Reader: Here endeth the lesson.

Reflection

Leader: In the Bible, the serpent serves as the symbol of Original Sin, God’s reaction to Israel’s complaint, then, is not arbitrary, but highlights the sin they have committed, and lifting eyes to the symbol of that sin is a call to repentance, as the Mass says “let us call to mind our sins.” But in Christ this is carried further, from a symbol to a reality. St. Paul says that God “made him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might be called the righteousness of God.” In Christ our sin is nailed to the Cross and we receive the promise in the words of St. Peter, “If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive them and to lead us into righteousness.”

Silence

Collect

Leader: Let us pray. Almighty God, who has nailed the accusations against us to the Cross, grant us grace to rightly discern, confess, and repent our sins that, having received your mercy, we may be healed from the sting of death and enter whole into your Kingdom, through Him who became sin that we might be saved, Jesus Christ our Lord.

All: Amen.

All: Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed by thy Name.Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.Give us this day our daily bread,And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.Amen.

Faithful cross, true sign of triumph,be for all the noblest tree;none in foliage, none in blossom,none in fruit your equal be;symbol of the world's redemption,for the weight that hung on thee!

(Venantius Fortunatus)

V: The Cross of Calvary

All: WE ADORE Thee, most holy Lord Jesus Christ, here and in all Thy churches that are in the whole world, and we bless Thee; because by Thy Holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the World. Amen.

Leader: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.All: As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

First lesson: Isaiah 52:1-6

Reader: Here endeth the lesson.

Psalm: Psalm 110

RefrainLeader: Lord, I surrender my will to you.

All: Crucify my will and give me Christ.

Leader: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost,All: As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Second lesson: Philippians 2:5-11           

Reader: Here endeth the lesson.

Reflection

Leader: An English poet in about the ninth century imagined a dream in which the Rood, that is the Cross, spoke to him. The Rood describes its fearful obedience to the will of its Maker, “As rood I was raised; I bore aloft the mighty King, the Lord of Heaven; I dared not stoop…All creation wept, lamented the King’s death; Christ was on Rood.” The poet draws out the tragic irony of the Lord’s own creation being turned to his crucifixion. It is by the will of Christ that the cross remains, and by his will that He is sacrificed upon it. The Cross is Christ’s obedient creature in the story of his willing sacrifice on our behalf.

Silence.

Collect

Leader: Let us pray. Almighty God, maker of all things and lord of mankind, give us grace to show you thanks for all the blessings of creation, and above all for the blessings of life and salvation which you gave through the life, death, and resurrection of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

All: Amen.

All: Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed by thy Name,Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.Give us this day our daily bread,And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.Amen.

Hail, holy cross! Hail, mournful tree!

Our hope with Christ is nail’d on thee.

Grant to the just increase of grace,

And ev’ry sinner’s crime efface.(Venantius Fortunatus)

VI: St. Peter’s Cross

All: WE ADORE Thee, most holy Lord Jesus Christ, here and in all Thy churches that are in the whole world, and we bless Thee; because by Thy Holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the World. Amen.

Leader: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.All: As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

First lesson: Acts 2:22-28, 36-39           

Reader: Here endeth the lesson.

Psalm: Psalm 16

RefrainLeader: Lord, I surrender my will to you.

All: Crucify my will and give me Christ.

Leader: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost,All: As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Second lesson: St. Matthew 10:16-23           

Reader: Here endeth the lesson.

Reflection

Leader: The Song of Zecheriah in the first chapter of the Gospel of St. Luke states that Christ came to set his people free from the hands of their enemies to worship him without fear. But as soon as Christ ascends into Heaven and the Church begins her ministry, St. Stephen is martyred, followed by many stonings, beheadings, and even the crucifixion of St. Peter, the rock of Christ’s Church. This is because the liberty that Christ brings is precisely liberation from fear. In the face of every sin and trial the character of the Church is courage, the courage of Christ standing at trial, peacefully, and the courage of Christ going willingly to the cross, as a sheep before its shearers, and with forgiveness on his lips.

Silence.

Collect

Leader: Let us pray. Almighty God, who founded the Church on the ministry of your Apostles and Martyrs, grant us grace to live in accordance with your kingdom, to worship without fear, and to be courageous in the face of all trials, sorrow, suffering and temptation, and to labor fearlessly for the establishment of your Kingdom. Through He who conquered death and hell by way of the Cross, your Son our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

All: Our father, who art in Heaven, hallowed by thy Name.Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.Give us this day our daily bread,And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.Amen.

A cruel spear let out a flood

Of water mix’d with saving blood,

Which gushing from the Savior’s side,

Drown’d our offences in the tide.

(Venantius Fortunatus)

VII: St. Andrew’s Cross

All: WE ADORE Thee, most holy Lord Jesus Christ, here and in all Thy churches that are in the whole world, and we bless Thee; because by Thy Holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the World. Amen.

Leader: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.All: As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

First lesson: Romans 8:18-25           

Reader: Here endeth the lesson.

Psalm: Psalm 44

RefrainLeader: Lord, I surrender my will to you.

All: Crucify my will and give me Christ.

Leader: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost,All: As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Second lesson: St. Matthew 5:10-16

Reader: Here endeth the lesson.

Reflection

Leader: In the Old Testament, a central part of righteous rulership is that the people are blessed. In Psalm 72 the people flourish like grass after rain. In Proverbs 29 they celebrate. The righteous king brings blessings. Our Lord is no exception, but the blessing he brings stands the world on its head: Blessed are you when you are persecuted. The blessing of Christ’s reign is the blessing of poverty, mourning, meekness, and finally of the Cross. The martyrdom of the apostles is not simply a sign of their citizenship, it is the substance of their blessedness.

Silence.

Collect

Leader: Let us pray. Almighty God, whose blessings continually flow out from the Cross, graciously grant us to share in the suffering of Christ, his Church, and his martyrs, and so obtain the great reward of the life with Christ, through our King and Saviour, Jesus Christ.All: Amen.

All: Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy Name.Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.Give us this day our daily bread,And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.Amen.

The mystery we now unfold,Which David’s faithful verse foretold,

Of our Lord’s kingdom while we see,

God ruling nations from a tree.

(Venantius Fortunatus)

VIII: The Chi-Rho

All: WE ADORE Thee, most holy Lord Jesus Christ, here and in all Thy churches that are in the whole world, and we bless Thee; because by Thy Holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the World. Amen.

Leader: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.All: As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

First lesson: Zecheriah 9:9-17

Reader: Here endeth the lesson

Psalm: Psalm 2

RefrainLeader: Lord, I surrender my will to you.

All: Crucify my will and give me Christ.

Leader: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost,All: As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Second lesson: St. John 19:17-22

Reader: Here endeth the lesson.

Reflection

Leader: “In this sign, conquer.” St. Constantine’s vision would irreversibly reshape Europe and, eventually, the world. Whatever our modern hesitations to endorse the first Christian emperor, it is impossible to deny that we are only Christians in the light of the Chi-Rho, and that even the central formulation of Christian doctrine, the Creed, is owed to his effort. And so this symbol, the Chi in the shape of a Cross and the Rho in the shape of a man, stands at a cross-roads in history. But what could be a more profound statement of the Kingdom of God than the Gospel’s continued conquest of the world which has so very far outlasted Christ’s servant the Emperor and his empire?

Silence.

Collect

Leader: let us pray. Almighty God, who has overcome the world, give us faith to be more than conquerors as we live by the light of the Cross of Christ, through Him who died and rose again, conquering sin and the grave, Jesus Christ our Lord.

All: Amen.

All: Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy Name.Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.Give us this day our daily bread,And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.Amen.

O lovely tree, whose branches wore

The royal purple of his gore!

How glorious does thy body shine,

Supporting members so divine!

(Venantius Fortunatus)

IX: The Seal of the Faithful

All: WE ADORE Thee, most holy Lord Jesus Christ, here and in all Thy churches that are in the whole world, and we bless Thee; because by Thy Holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the World. Amen.

Leader: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.All: As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

First lesson: Ezekiel 9:3-11

Reader: Here endeth the lesson.

Psalm: Psalm 119:169-176

RefrainLeader: Lord, I surrender my will to you.

All: Crucify my will and give me Christ.

Leader: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost,All: As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Second lesson: Revelation 7:1-4, 14:1-8, 12

Reader: Here endeth the lesson.

Reflection

Leader: Tertullian wrote, “We Christians wear out our foreheads with the sign of the Cross.” Likewise at Confirmation and on Ash Wednesday and at every Gospel Lesson, we emblazon the Sign of the Cross on the foreheads of the faithful. Christ’s Church is marked out by the symbol of His Suffering. It points to the inward reality that the Church is to share in the life of Christ, the ministry of Christ, the suffering of Christ. As Confirmation confers the Spirit who is to “lead them into all truth,” it guarantees a share in the life of Truth, whom the world killed. It marks Christians as those preaching “Christ, and Him crucified” by making them cross-ified. And if we have been crucified with Christ, we are also raised with him and He lives in us. The symbol of suffering transformed and glorified into the symbol of resurrection from the dead.

Silence.

Collect

Leader: Let us pray. Almighty God, who preserves for himself a faithful people, grant us grace to bear the Sign of the Cross before mankind, witnessing to the world the saving work of Christ, through him who calls and seals us as his own, Jesus Christ, your son, our Lord.

All: Amen.

All: Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy Name.Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.Give us this day our daily bread,And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.Amen.

Blessed Trinity we praises sing

To Thee, from whom all graces spring!

Celestial crowns on those bestow,

Who conquer by the Cross below!

(Venantius Fortunatus)