Belle Coeur Prayer Service for Good Friday
Opening Reflection / Welcome
Sibyl: Today we gather in the shadow of the cross.
We remember the suffering and death of Jesus, the one who proclaimed God's reign of justice, compassion, and peace.
When fear scattered many of the disciples, the women remained.
Mary of Nazareth, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James,
Salome, Mary of Clopas, and others whose names we do not know.
They did not run from suffering.
They stayed.
They witnessed.
They loved to the end.
Today we stand with them.
We remain at the cross of Christ present in our world—
in the suffering, the brokenhearted, the abandoned,
and in all who long for justice and healing.
I Never Said That (with lyrics)- Josh M
https://youtu.be/AH3DZXQoaMU?si=H5PtmSpwsToFtCbx
Mary Ann: Opening Prayer
God of faithful love,
On this solemn day we remember Jesus,
who walked the path of suffering out of love for the world.
When darkness fell and hope seemed lost,
the women remained near the cross,
bearing witness to courage, compassion, and unwavering love.
Give us their strength.
Help us remain present to the suffering of our world
and faithful to the work of justice and peace.
May we walk the way of the cross
trusting that love is stronger than death. Amen
A passage from Edwina Gately on the Women of Holy week
Mary Theresa: Mary of Cleopas: My name is Mary. No, not the one you're thinking of, not the mother of Jesus. And no, not that one, either.
Not Mary Magdalene. There's so many of us, Mary's and Miriam's around. It is easy to get confused. I am Mary.
The one who's married to Cleopas. I was there at the crucifixion, holding up Jesus' mother Mary, as a sword pierced her soul. Brutal inch, by brutal inch.
Kim: Mary Magdala : From that moment on, I, Mary Magdala followed Jesus , Me, and a number of other women, like Susanna and Joanna, and a handful of other Mary’s So, I was there when they killed him. We women clinging together in horror as the unthinkable happened before our eyes. We watched where they buried him, hastily, because the sun had begun to dip below the horizon, announcing the start of the Sabbath day.
We sat together that day, barely moving or speaking. The moment had rendered us senseless. Then, as the sun dipped again, marking the end of the Sabbath, I sprang to life.
We had to do something. We'd agreed between us that we would return to anoint his body for burial.
Elaine: Mary the Mother of Jesus. “The last of the lessons, the most brutal of all, I learned on a dark, gloomy hillside outside Jerusalem. By then, I had gotten used to letting him go. I was used to him traveling around Galilee, and even into the Decapolis. I was used to him teaching large crowds, and calling them his mother and brothers and sisters. I was even used to the thought of him going to Jerusalem, when the leaders were paying for his blood.
I thought I had gotten used to letting him go.
But I had one final lesson to learn. The hardest one of all. I had to stand and watch while he died.
It's coming handy, this lesson, over the past 40 days since he rose again. In our joy, we wanted to wrap him in love, to keep him with us safely within reach, and never let him go again. Mary, the one from Magdala, had seen him first.
She came to me later. Tears in her eyes, telling me how he had called her by name, and how she had known in that moment that it was him. But she'd said, he'd told her not to cling on to him.
I don't understand. She sobbed, her head on my lap. I just want him to know how much I love him.
I stroked her hair, pondering all the lessons I'd learned over the years. And then tried to explain. That loving him means allowing him to be who he is.
That love so often seeks to possess and to limit. But his love, real love is freeing, not possessing. Permitting, not limiting, that loving him doesn't give us rights over him.
Loving him doesn't let us say who he is, or what he came to be. Then one by one, the others came. And one by one, I tried to teach them my hard learned lesson.
I'd had years to learn it. But they had to learn it in a few days. It's just as well I did, really.
Gospel Acclamation: Spirit of the Living God by Michael Crawford
https://youtu.be/xoJN0owUoWA?si=YZey8Reho2S2r6LT
Juanita: A reading according to the Gospel of John 19: 25-27
Near the cross of Jesus stood those who loved him and would not abandon him:
his mother,
his mother’s sister,
Mary the wife of Clopas,
and Mary of Magdala.
While many had fled in fear, these women remained—
witnesses to suffering, faithful in love,
standing in solidarity with Jesus even in the shadow of death.
When Jesus saw his mother standing there,
and beside her the disciple whom he loved,
he said to his mother,
“Woman, behold your child.”
Then he said to the disciple,
“Behold your mother.”
And from that hour the disciple welcomed her into their home.
The Salvation of the Good News. R: Praise be Jesus the Christ
The Women Who Stayed
Reader 3: Homily Reflection on the Gospel
The Gospels tell us that when Jesus was arrested and condemned, fear spread among his followers.
Many who had walked with him in the bright days of his ministry disappeared into the shadows.
Crucifixion was meant to terrify.
It was Rome’s way of warning the world what happens to those who challenge power.
And yet, the Gospel remembers something remarkable.
Near the cross stood women.
Mary, the mother of Jesus.
Mary of Magdala.
Mary, the wife of Clopas.
They did not run away.
New Testament scholar Helen Bond reminds us that the Gospel writers carefully preserved this memory:
the women followers of Jesus remained present as witnesses to his death.
Where others could not bear to stay, they stood.
Theologian Elizabeth Johnson reflects that in the darkest hour of Jesus’ life, these women embodied a different kind of discipleship—not authority or status, but faithful presence.
They stood in solidarity with the suffering Christ.
They stayed when love demanded courage.
Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister writes that the women at the cross show us that real love does not abandon the beloved in suffering.
It remains.
It waits.
It keeps vigil.
At the cross, when the world seemed to fall apart, the women became the steady heart of the community of Jesus.
They witnessed his suffering.
They carried the memory of his death.
And soon they would become the first witnesses of resurrection.
Their courage reminds us that discipleship is not measured by power or recognition.
It is measured by love that stays.
And so today we remember the women who stood at the cross—
women whose faithfulness held vigil with Jesus
when the world turned away.
May their courage teach us how to remain present
at the crosses of our own world.
Presider: The Universal Prayers of God’s People
Loving God, who troubles the waters - increase your holiness within us - so that we may receive the needed storms with more grace. Make our baptism and the covenant ever more true, our trust in You ever deeper, and our love, for each other and for all, ever more felt, within and among us. ALL: We rejoice, we Remember
We rejoice, we remember, all who for the first time, are keeping watch at the waters of baptism.
Gracious God, once again open the Basin-Cross,
the Waters of Baptism.
Make ready the Hearts of these newly baptized.
Bring them down into a death of their small self
with The Christos.
Anoint them in a like resurrection. Seal them in
the covenant, and gather us together at the table
of grace.
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Reader 5 Second Prayer:
We Rejoice. We Remember - The Jewish People,
our mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers
in faith:
Baruch Atah, Adoshem, Blessed are You, O God.
You make us one with those who first received
Your promise. Be the healer of our age-old
wounds.
Continue through us, Jew and Christian,
Your work of creating our world and finding
everything good.
ALL: We rejoice, we remember.
We remember our sisters and brothers: Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist, Shinto, B’hai, pagan, Indigenous, and all peoples of all faiths, and no faith, throughout the world: God of diversity, God of unity, Your truth is myriad, Your wisdom wider than our mind. Make whole what we have divided. Awaken us to the varied colors and expressions of Your presence. Refashion us as one, diverse people, seeking You, our God.
ALL: We rejoice, we remember
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Reader 7: Fourth Prayer:
We Rejoice. We Remember - All Women and Men
who are called to Spiritual Leadership:
First and foremost -
Each and every Mother and Father
and all who do the work of being a Parent
Heads of all Congregations,
Leaders of Religious Communities,
Pastors, Vicars, Presbyters, Deacons,
Spiritual Directors and All who exercise Spiritual Leadership.
O Sophia, Holy Spirit -
Give Your wisdom to All who form and guide us.
Increase their discernment and courage.
Make them faithful to Your treasure -
and by their gifts, increase Our Holiness.
ALL: We rejoice, we remember.
Reader 8: Fifth Prayer:
We Rejoice. We Remember - All
who are called to the work of Charity and Mercy:
those who care for the sick and dying,
those who teach, those who give counsel, those who give
support to far off lands, those who support their community
out of their means, and those who do the hidden work of
prayer and fasting.
God of Feast, God of Famine, be the strength
of those who labor for you. Give them perseverance. Be their
cross, their treasure and rich fulfillment.
ALL: We rejoice, we remember
Reader 9: Sixth Prayer:
We Rejoice. We Remember - All
who are called to work for Peace and Justice:
those who offer sanctuary to the refugee,
those who shelter the homeless,
those who labor for human rights,
those who inspire through poetry and the arts
those who work to end hunger.
Word of Fire and Thunder, You inspire Prophets
to speak boldly, even risking their lives.
Grant to Our Prophets the same conviction.
Sustain them with Your Courage and Equanimity.
And by Your Grace, and through their efforts,
heal us from war, hunger, division, despair,
and every injustice.
ALL: We rejoice, we remember.
Reader 10: Seventh Prayer:
We Rejoice. We Remember - All who are called to labor in restoring Air and Water and Earth - and every creature, particle and cell of Creation.
O Breath of Our Oneness - breathing from before time, You know the wounds in sea and air and earth.
To those who labor in healing Your One Creation give them a patient, steady and un-failing heart.
May their love for All Creation inspire us to seek to bind, to loose, and to restore every creature, particle and cell - for each and all are the fullness of Your Living Breath.
ALL: We rejoice, we remember.
Reader 11: 8th Prayer:
Finally, We Remember all in need;
All who are grieving, all who are alone,
the seriously ill, the dying - the aged,
all who live on our streets.
All who are marginalized in our Church
All who are marginalized in our Culture
All who are marginalized in our World.
O Fierce Mystery and Holy Compassion,
You know the agony of those alone,
in pain and removed from our sight.
Give us Your eyes so that we may see.
Give us Your heart so that We may respond.
ALL: We rejoice. We remember.
Juanita: Blessing– Good Friday
May the God of steadfast love
bless you as you leave this sacred moment.
May the courage of the women who stayed at the cross
remain in your hearts.
May you carry Christ’s compassion
into a wounded world.
And may the quiet of this holy day
hold you in hope
until the light of resurrection dawns. Amen.
Closing Song / Prayer
Were You There (When They Crucified My Lord)
https://youtu.be/V1sbTlGljGo?si=XjHlDpWV_nx5xzCX
Go in reverent silence after the last song holding each of our Sisters in prayer.
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