Ukrainian Icon of the Passion of Christ

(In a darkened room, light a candle or candles, safely before a cross or icon of Christ)

 Opening Chants

 Oculi nostri ad Dominum Jesum, oculi nostri ad Dominum nostrum / Our eyes are on the Lord Jesus, our eyes are on the Lord our God

 Christe, lux mundi, qui sequitur te, habebit lumen vitae, lumen vitae / O Christ, light of the word, whoever follows you will have the light of life.

When the night becomes dark, Your love, O Lord, is a fire; Your love, O Lord, is a fire.

Opening Prayer:

O God, who willed that your only–begotten Son
should take on our human nature,
and show us in his humanity a perfect image of your divinity,
grant, we beseech you,
that by venerating his sacred image
we may be united with him
in the mysteries of his Passion and Death,
and so come to contemplate him in glory
in the joy of the resurrection.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, forever and ever.

Scripture (2 Cor 4:4-7,16-18 )

The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Responsorial Chant

 Within our darkest night,
You kindle the fire that never dies away,
That never dies away.

Meditation (Angelus of Pope Francis; March 10, 2024)

https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/angelus/2024/documents/20240310-angelus.html 

 Veneration of the Cross or Icon

Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi, quia per crucem tuam redemisti mundum /

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, for by your cross you have redeemed the world.

Intercessions

That the Church, as she continues on the Great Fast of Forty Days,
may direct the gaze of all believers
to the Crucified and Risen One,
the proclamation and pledge of our glory,
to the Lord we pray, Christ, hear us. R. Christ, graciously hear us.

That the leaders of nations
may turn aside from every project of destruction and war, above all in Ukraine and Israel-Palestine,
and, in the light of Christ,
seek to build up instead “the civilization of love,”
to the Lord we pray, Christ, hear us. R. Christ, graciously hear us.

That all who know weariness, humiliation, or suffering,

especially refugees and innocent civilians in Ukraine and Israel-Palestine,
may lift their eyes to Christ;
and that those despised by the powerful of this world
may recognize in him one like themselves,
to the Lord we pray, Christ, hear us. R. Christ, graciously hear us.

That the sick and the dying
may see on the Face of Christ all glory, all sorrow, and all love,
in the greatest peace,
to the Lord we pray, Christ, hear us. R. Christ, graciously hear us.

That we may keep Jesus ever present before our eyes
and discover the secrets of his Heart,
to the Lord we pray, Christ, hear us. R. Christ, graciously hear us.

Chant: O Lord, Hear My Prayer

Concluding Prayer

O Lord Jesus Christ,
beauty of the heavenly Father and light of souls,
we beseech you with confidence that,
as we advance in the darkness of this world,
your splendor may shine upon us
and that, in the light of your Countenance,
we may one day merit to contemplate the eternal light
in which you live and reign with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
forever and ever. Amen.