`The First of the Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross`, by Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen (Click/Expand or Bypass)
Click ^ again to contract
| 1 Lord, who throughout these forty days for us didst fast and pray, teach us with Thee to mourn our sins and close by Thee to stay. |
4 And through these days of penitence, and through Thy passion-tide, forevermore in life and death, O Lord, with us abide. |
| 2 As Thou with Satan didst contend, and didst the vict’ry win, O give us strength in Thee to fight, in Thee to conquer sin. |
5 Abide with us, that so, this life of doubts and joy and pain, an Easter of unending joy we may at last attain. |
| 3 As Thou didst hunger and didst thirst, so teach us, gracious Lord, to die to self, and so to live by Thy most holy word. |
Amen. |
`The Second of the Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross`, by Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen (Click/Expand or Bypass)
Click ^ again to contract
| 1 Forty days and forty nights Thou wast fasting in the wild; forty days and forty nights tempted, and yet undefiled. |
4 So shall we have peace divine: holier gladness ours shall be; round us, too, shall angels shine, such as ministered to Thee. |
| 2 Should not we Thy sorrow share and from worldly joys abstain, fasting with unceasing prayer, strong with Thee to suffer pain? |
5 Keep, O keep us, Savior dear, ever constant by Thy side; that with Thee we may appear at the’eternal Eastertide. |
| 3 Then if Satan on us press, Jesus, Savior, hear our call! Victor in the wilderness, grant we may not faint or fall! |
Amen. |
`The Third of the Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross`, by Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen (Click/Expand or Bypass)
Click ^ again to contract
| 1 Take up your cross, the Savior said, if you would My disciple be; take up your cross with willing heart, and humbly follow after Me. |
3 Take up your cross, heed not the shame, and let your foolish pride be still; the Lord for you accepted death upon a cross, on Calvary’s hill. |
| 2 Take up your cross, let not its weight fill your weak spirit with alarm; Christ’s strength shall bear your spirit up and brace your heart and nerve your arm. |
4 Take up your cross, then, in Christ’s strength, and calmly every danger brave: it guides you to abundant life and leads to victory o’er the grave. |
`The Fourth of the Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross`, by Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen (Click/Expand or Bypass)
Click ^ again to contract
Click the ▶ Button to sing the prayer (key for Women), or play the song in a New Window ⧉
Click the ▶ Button to sing the prayer (key for Men), or play the song in a New Window ⧉
| Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, 1090-1153. Translated by Sir Henry Williams Baker, 1821-1877. |
Passion Chorale (1601), Hans Leo Hassler 1564-1612 Harmonization by J.S. Bach, 1685-1750. |
|---|---|
| 1. O sacred Head surrounded By crown of piercing thorn! O bleeding Head, so wounded, Reviled and put to scorn! Death’s pallid hue comes o’er Thee, The glow of life decays, Yet angel hosts adore Thee, And tremble as they gaze. |
2. I see Thy strength and vigor All fading in the strife, And death with cruel rigor, Bereaving Thee of life; O agony and dying! O love to sinners free! Jesus, all grace supplying, O turn Thy face on me. |
| 3. In this, Thy bitter passion, Good Shepherd, think of me With Thy most sweet compassion, Unworthy though I be: Beneath Thy cross abiding For ever would I rest, In Thy dear love confiding, And with Thy presence blest. |
|
`The Fifth of the Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross`, by Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen (Click/Expand or Bypass)
Click ^ again to contract
Click the ▶ Button to sing the prayer (key for Women), or play the song in a New Window ⧉
Click the ▶ Button to sing the prayer (key for Men), or play the song in a New Window ⧉
| Fr. Frederick William Faber (1849) | John Bacchus Dykes St. Cross (1861) |
|---|---|
| 1. Oh! come and mourn with me awhile; See, Mary calls us to her side; Oh! come and let us mourn with her; Jesus, our Love, is crucified! |
2. Have we no tears to shed for Him, While soldiers scoff and Jews deride? Ah, look how patiently He hangs: Jesus, our Love, is crucified! |
| 3. Sev’n times He spoke, sev’n words of love, And all three hours His silence cried For mercy on the souls of men: Jesus our Love, is crucified! |
4 Come, take thy stand beneath the Cross, And let the Blood from out that Side Fall gently on thee drop by drop; Jesus our Love, is crucified! Amen. |
`The Sixth of the Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross`, by Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen (Click/Expand or Bypass)
Click ^ again to contract
Click the ▶ Button to sing the prayer (key for Women), or play the song in a New Window ⧉
Click the ▶ Button to sing the prayer (key for Men), or play the song in a New Window ⧉
| Anonymous | The Sodalist’s Hymnal (1887) |
|---|---|
| 1. Thy life, O Lord, is ebbing fast, Thine eyes are growing dim at last; How near to death Thou art! I hear Thou heave one heavy sigh: It is the last, the loudest cry That broke Thy Sacred Heart, That broke Thy Sacred Heart. |
2. The scene, the dreadful scene is o’er– The wicked men can do no more, Thy head is on Thy breast; The thorns, the nails Thou dost not fear, The cruel scoff, the bitter jeer– Thy Heart is now at rest, Thy Heart is now at rest. |
| 3. Thy voice, that made the demons flee, That waked the dead and calmed the sea, Itself in death is hushed; But O, we have this comfort sweet, Our foes lie prostrate at Thy feet, The serpent’s head is crushed, The serpent’s head is crushed. |
4. Thy corpse is hanging on the tree, While mocking crowds in impious glee The murd’rous act applaud; But quiv’ring earth and darkened skies, The crumbling rocks, the dead that rise, Proclaim Thee to be God, Proclaim Thee to be God. |
| 5. Yes, Jesus, bruised and marked with blood, And fastened to the dripping wood, To me Thou art the same, As throned on Thabor’s shining mount, Or in the heav’ns, of bliss the Fount, In glory and in shame, In glory and in shame. |
6. O, may Thy last, Thy piercing cry, The Blood that pleaded loud on high, For me be not in vain! O, make me treat the world as dross, And glory only in the Cross, On which Thou wouldst be slain, On which Thou wouldst be slain! Amen. |
`The Seventh of the Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross`, by Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen (Click/Expand or Bypass)
Click ^ again to contract
Click the ▶ Button to sing the prayer in A, or play the song in a New Window ⧉
Click the ▶ Button to sing the prayer in G, or play the song in a New Window ⧉
| Anonymous | The Sodalist’s Hymnal, Philadelphia, E.F. MacGonigle, 1887 P. 30 |
|---|---|
| 1) What are those wounds so deep, so red, From which, dear Lord, Thy Blood was shed, In priceless streams and sweet? And who could do so base a sin, As make those cruel gashes in Thy hands and side and feet? |
4) When bitter mem’ries of the past, Their chilling shadows o’er me cast, And hope gives way to fears, Thy wounded Feet I’ll clasp and kiss, And there, like Mary, taste the bliss Of penitential tears. |
| 2) They are the pledges of Thy love, Which spent itself in death to prove How dear we are to Thee; They are the tokens of our guilt— Those wounds we made, Thy Blood we spilt, And nailed Thee to the tree. |
5) When lightnings flash and thunders roll, And terror strikes my inmost soul At heaven’s angry form, I’ll fly, O Jesus, to Thy Side, And seek within Its wound so wide, A shelter from the storm. |
| 3) Though sad bereavements tear my heart, Though sin and sorrow leave their smart, And keen remorse I feel, I’ll touch, dear Lord, Thy bleeding Palm, Thy holy Hands distill a balm, My deepest wounds to heal. |
Amen. |
