Most Merciful God Meets Merciless Man: Good Friday
Read as a part of the Good Friday Vespers-- The Apokathelosis:
You Who clothed Yourself with light as a garment, Joseph with Nicodemus, brought down from the Cross, and seeing You dead, naked, and unburied, felt deeply a sympathetic lament, and in grieving said: "Woe to me, sweetest Jesus! Whom, but a short while ago, when the sun beheld You hanging on the Cross, enshrouded itself in darkenss, and the earth quaked in fear, and the veil of the Temple was rent assunder. But Lo, I now see, that You willingly underwent death for my sake. How then shall I array You for burrial, my God? Or how shall I touch your sacred Body? Or what dirges shall I chant for Your funeral, O Merciful One? I magnify Your Passion; I praise in hymn Your Burial, with Your Resurrection, crying aloud: Lord, glory to You."O Christ, the Life, You were laid in the tomb, and ranks of Angels were amazed, glorifying Your condescension Posted by jeremy stock at April 25, 2003 11:34 AM