The Exaltation of the Holy Cross
Prayer for the Morning
Behold the wood of the cross,
on which has hung our salvation: come, let us adore!
Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia!
HYMN
R/Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim,
Till all the world adore his sacred Name.
Led on their way by this triumphant sign,
The hosts of God in conquering ranks combine. R/
O Lord, once lifted on the glorious tree,
As thou hast promised, draw the world to thee. R/
So shall our song of triumph ever be:
Praise to the Crucified for victory. R/
PSALM 92:2-7, 9
May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. (Gal 6:14)
The cross, instrument of torture and death, raised aloft as a sign of glory, continues to confound the wisdom of this world. God’s work of salvation stands human expectations on their head: humility is exaltation, wounds are healing, death is life.
It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
to make music to your name, O Most High,
to proclaim your love in the morning
and your truth in the watches of the night,
on the ten-stringed lyre and the lute,
with the murmuring sound of the harp.
Your deeds, O Lord, have made me glad;
for the work of your hands I shout with joy.
O Lord, how great are your works!
How deep are your designs!
The foolish man cannot know this
and the fool cannot understand.
But you, Lord, are eternally on high.
Glory to the Father….
Word of God (1 Corinthians 1:20-25)
Where is the wise one? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made the wisdom of the world foolish? For since in the wisdom of God the world did not come to know God through wisdom, it was the will of God through the foolishness of the proclamation to save those who have faith. For Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
Christ humbled himself,/ becoming obedient to death,/ even death on a cross.
(cf. Phil 2:8)
CANTICLE OF ZECHARIAH
Because of this, God greatly exalted him/ and bestowed on him the name/ that is above every name. (Phil 2:9)
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;
he has come to his people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty savior,
born of the house of his servant David.
Through his holy prophets he promised of old
that he would save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all who hate us.
He promised to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant.
This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
free to worship him without fear,
holy and righteous in his sight
all the days of our life.
You, my child, shall be called the prophet
of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
to give his people knowledge of salvation
by the forgiveness of their sins.
In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness
and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
Glory to the Father…
INTERCESSIONS
To Christ our Lord most high, we pray:
R/We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, because, by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world!
You emptied yourself and took the condition of a slave to set us free: R/
You became obedient even unto death to deliver us from the fruits of disobedience: R/
You arose from the dead to raise us out of the shadow of death into endless light: R/
(Personal intentions)
Our Father….
Lord Jesus Christ, by your death on the cross, you triumphed over sin and death. Raise our fallen world to the glory no human wisdom can expect, who live and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
