Lord, open my lips.
 - And my mouth shall proclaim your praise.

Psalm 95 is the traditional Invitatory Psalm. Psalm 24, 67, or 100 may be substituted.

Antiphon: Come, let us worship Christ, who for our sake suffered death and was buried.

Psalm 95

Psalm 24

Psalm 67

Psalm 100

God, come to my assistance.
 - Lord, make haste to help me.
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.

HYMN

Antiphon 1: Though sinless, the Lord has been put to death. The world is in mourning for an only son.

Hear my voice, O God, as I complain,
guard my life from dread of the foe.
Hide me from the band of the wicked,
from the throng of those who do evil.

They sharpen their tongues like swords;
they aim bitter words like arrows
to shoot at the innocent from ambush,
shooting suddenly and recklessly.

They scheme their evil course;
they conspire to lay secret snares.
They say: "Who will see us?
Who can search out our crimes?"

He will search who searches the mind
and knows the depths of the heart.
God has shot them with his arrow
and dealt them sudden wounds.
Their own tongue has brought them to ruin
and all who see them mock.

Then will all men fear;
they will tell what God has done.
They will understand God's deeds.
The just will rejoice in the Lord
and fly to him for refuge.
All the upright hearts will glory. Glory...

Psalm Prayer: Father, you gave your Son victory over those who plotted evil against him; when he cried to you in his agony, you delivered him from the fear of his enemies. May those who suffer with him in this life find refuge and success in you.

Antiphon 1 Though sinless, the Lord has been put to death. The world is in mourning for an only son.

Antiphon 2 From the jaws of hell, Lord, rescue my soul.

Canticle  -   Isaiah 38:10-14,17-20
The Song of Hezekiah

Once I said,
"In the noontime of life I must depart!
To the gates of the nether world I shall be consigned
for the rest of my years."  

I said, "I shall see the Lord no more
in the land of the living.
No longer shall I behold my fellow men
among those who dwell in the world."  

My dwelling, like a shepherd's tent,
is struck down and borne away from me;
You have folded up my life, like a weaver
who severs the last thread.

Day and night you give me over to torment;  
I cry out until the dawn.
Like a lion he breaks all my bones;
day and night you give me over to torment.  

Like a swallow I utter shrill cries;
I moan like a dove.
My eyes grow weak, gazing heavenward:
O Lord, I am in straits; be my surety!

You have preserved my life
from the pit of destruction,
When you cast behind your back
all my sins.  

For it is not the nether world that gives you thanks,
nor death that praises you;
Neither do those who go down into the pit
await your kindness.  

The living, the living give you thanks,
as I do today.
Fathers declare to their sons,
O God, your faithfulness.  

The Lord is our savior;
we shall sing to stringed instruments
In the house of the Lord
all the days of our life. Glory...

Antiphon 2 Extol the greatness of our God.

Antiphon 3 I was dead, but now I live forever, and I hold the keys of death and of hell.

Praise God in his holy place,
praise him in his mighty heavens.
Praise him for his powerful deeds,
praise his surpassing greatness.

O praise him with sound of trumpet,
praise him with lute and harp.
Praise him with timbrel and dance,
praise him with strings and pipes.

O praise him with resounding cymbals,
praise him with clashing of cymbals.
Let everything that lives and that breathes
give praise to the Lord.Glory...

Psalm Prayer: Lord God, maker of heaven and earth and of all created things, you make your just ones holy and you justify sinners who confess your name. Hear us as we humbly pray to you: give us eternal joy with your saints.

Antiphon 3 I was dead, but now I live forever, and I hold the keys of death and of hell.


READING                Hosea 6:1-2
   Thus says the Lord:
In their affliction, they shall look for me:
  "Come, let us return to the LORD,
For it is he who has rent, but he will heal us;
  he has struck us, but he will bind our wounds.
He will revive us after two days;
  on the third day he will raise us up,
  to live in his presence.


In place of the responsory, the following is said:
For our sake Christ was obedient, accepting even death, death on a cross. Therefore God raised him on high and gave him the name above all other names.


BENEDICTUS (Canticle of Zechariah)
Antiphon:
Save us, O Savior of the world. On the cross you redeemed us by the shedding of your blood; we cry out for your help, O God.


INTERCESSIONS
Our Redeemer suffered and was buried for us in order to rise again. With sincere love we adore him, and aware of our needs we cry out:
                         Lord, have mercy on us.

Christ our Savior, your sorrowing Mother stood by you at your death and burial,
 - in our sorrows may we share your suffering.

Christ our Lord, like the seed buried in the ground, you brought forth for us the harvest of grace,
 - may we die to sin and live for God.

Christ, the Good Shepherd, in death you lay hidden from the world.
 - Teach us to love a life hidden with you in the Father.

Christ, the new Adam, you entered the kingdom of death to release all the just since the beginning of the world,
 - may all who lie dead in sin hear your voice and rise to life.

Christ, Son of the living God, through baptism we were buried with you,
 - risen also with you in baptism, may we walk in newness of life.


Our Father...


COLLECT
All-powerful and ever-living God,
your only Son went down among the dead
and rose again in glory.
In your goodness
raise up your faithful people,
buried with him in baptism,
to be one with him
in the eternal life of heaven,
where he lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit, one God,
for ever and ever.


May the Lord bless us, protect us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life. Amen.