Service for Holy Thursday – 28th March 2024

Holy Thursday Liturgy

19.30 hrs

 

Entrance Hymn   271 (Hyfrydol) Alleluya, sing to Jesus

 

Priest: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Lord be with you.

     All:      and also with you

 

The priest then welcomes the people of God and introduces the Liturgy of the day.

 

Assistant: Have mercy on us, O God in your great goodness.

Kyrie Eleison.

All:          Kyrie Eleison

Assistant: Against you only have we sinned

Christ Eleison.

All:         Christe Eleison

Assistant: Purge us from our sins and we shall be clean

Kyrie Eleison

All:         Kyrie Eleison

 

All:         Holy God,

               Holy and strong,

               Holy and immortal,

               Have mercy upon us.

Priest:    Almighty God, who forgives all those who truly repent, have mercy upon you; pardon and deliver you from all your sins, strengthen you in all goodness, and bring to everlasting life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Gloria

1. Glory in the highest   Jesus Christ is risen

to the God of heaven                   God the Father’s  Son

Peace to all your people              With the Holy Spirit

through the earth be given.        You are Lord a lone.

Mighty God and Father,               Lamb once killed for sinners,

Thanks and praise we bring        all our guilt to bear;

Singing alleluia                              Show us now your mercy

To our heavenly king.                  now receive our prayer.

 

3.Christ the world’s true Saviour,

High and holy one

Seated now and reigning

from your Father’s throne:

Lord and God we praise you!

Highest heaven adores:

In the Father’s glory,

all the praise be yours.

 

Collect:  Let us pray  (remain standing)

God our Father, you have invited us to share in the supper which your Son gave to his Church to proclaim his death until he comes: may he nourish us by his presence, and unite us in his love; who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

 

 First Reading  (please sit)                                                 Exodus 12, 1-4, 11-14

 

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: This month shall mark for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you. Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth of this month they are to take a lamb for each family, a lamb for each household. If a household is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join its closest neighbour in obtaining one; the lamb shall be divided in proportion to the number of people who eat of it. This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it hurriedly. It is the passover of the Lord. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human beings and animals; on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance.

Reader: Hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

All:        Thanks be to God

Psalm Psalm 116; 9-end (VERSES BELOW)

 

9    I believed that I should perish for I was sorely troubled; and I said in my alarm, ‘Everyone is a liar.’

10  How shall I repay the Lord for all the benefits he has given to me?

11  I will lift up the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord.

12  I will fulfil my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people.

13  Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants.

14  O Lord, I am your servant, your servant, the child of your handmaid; you have freed me from my bonds.

15   I will offer to you a sacrifice of thanksgiving and call upon the name of the Lord.

16  I will fulfil my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people,

17  In the courts of the house of the Lord, in the midst of you, O Jerusalem.

 

 

Second reading                                                               1 Cor 11, 23-26

For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

 

Reader: Hear what the Spirit is saying to God’s people

 

All: Thanks be to God

 

Gospel Hymn    270 (Bangor) According to thy gracious word

 

 

Gospel Reading

 

Minister: Praise to you O Christ, King of eternal glory.

I give to you and new commandment, says the Lord:

Love one another as I have loved you.

All:           Praise to you O Lord, King of eternal glory

Minister: The Lord be with you

All:           and also with you

 

Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to St. John   (John 13, 1-17, 31b-35)

Glory to you, O Lord

 

Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.” For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.” After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him.  If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once.  Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’  I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

 

(At the end of the gospel)

This is the Gospel of the Lord.

All:  Praise to you, O Christ.

Sermon  (Please sit)   Fr. Marcus Ronchetti

 

Creed  (please stand as we declare our historic faith in the Trinitarian God)

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father: through him all things were made.

For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven, was incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.

 

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father, who with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.

 

We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

 

The Peace: (please stand)

Priest:  Jesus says, Peace I leave with you;  my peace I give to you. Do not let your hearts

be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

The Peace of the Lord be always with you.

All:       and also with you

 

Offertory Hymn    273 (Unde et Memores) And now, O Father, mindful of the love

 

The Great Thanksgiving Prayer (please remain standing for this)

Priest:  The Lord be with you

All:        and also with you

Priest:  Lift up your hearts

All:        We lift them to the Lord

Priest:  Let us give thanks to the Lord our God

 

The priest then continues with the prayer to which we all listen with prayerful hearts until

‘for evermore praising you and singing’…

 

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might. Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest. Blessed, blessed , is he who comes, who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest.

 

The prayer continues until the Acclamation:

Jesus Christ is Lord

All:          Lord, by your cross and resurrection you have set us free. You are the Saviour of the world.

At the end of the Thanksgiving prayer Amen.

 

The Lord’s Prayer:  (to be prayed in your own language)

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. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

 

Priest:  Every time we eat this bread and drink this cup

All:       we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

 

Sung:  Jesus, Lamb of God, have mercy on us.

            Jesus bearer of our sins, have mercy on us.

            Jesus Redeemer of the world, grant us peace.

 

Invitation to Holy Communion

Priest:  Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world; happy are

those who are called to his supper.

All:       Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word, and I shall be healed

 

All baptized Christians may come forward to receive the body and blood of Christ.

 

Communion Hymn:   514 (Come Christ’s Beloved) Come, Christ’s beloved feed on his body true

 

Post Communion Prayer: Let us pray (stand)

Lord Jesus Christ,

we thank you that in this wonderful sacrament

you have given us the memorial of your passion:

grant us so to reverence the sacred mysteries

of your body and blood

that we may know within ourselves

and show forth in our lives

the fruit of your redemption,

for you are alive and reign, now and for ever.

All   Amen.

 

Hymn    302 (Song 1) O Thou, who at thy Eucharist didst pray

 

(during the last verse of this hymn we will process outside to the’ Garden of Repose’ the Sacrament will be placed on the garden altar. The Sacrament ‘reserved’ will be used for the Good Friday ‘Mass of the Pre-sanctified’)

 

Priest:  O Saviour of the world, who in Gethsemane accepted the bitter cup of submission to the Father’s will; look mercifully on our weak and wayward lives, and arm us with such strength and courage that we may follow the path of uprightness and integrity, and evermore walk the way of costly obedience; for the honour of your Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ.  Amen.

 

Hymn before the Sacrament 268 (Grafton) (Part II Tantum ergo) (verses 5 and 6 ( PRINTED IN THE SHEET – (Unaccompanied

 

Tantum ergo (Therefore so great)

 

Therefore we, before him bending,

This great sacrament revere:

Types and shadows have their ending,

For the newer rite is here;

Faith, our outward sense befriending,

Makes the inward vision clear

Glory let us give and blessing

To the Father and the Son,

Honour, might and praise addressing,

While eternal ages run;

Ever too his love confessing,

Who, from both, with both is one. Amen

 

 

Please remain, standing, sitting or kneeling before the Sacrament. Jesus said ‘Could you not watch with me for one hour?’ SILENCE should be kept as you leave from the Liturgy respecting those who wish to pray.  

 

We will sing some Taize music as we ‘remain’ for the holy hour.

 

Good Friday Liturgy:  14.00hrs

Easter Vigil: 20.00 hrs

Easter Sunday:  10.00 hrs Easter Liturgy