One of the most haunting melodies that Catholics of a certain age have in their memories and in their hearts is the music and the words of the Stabat Mater:
At the Cross her station keeping,
Stood the mournful Mother weeping,
Close to Jesus to the last.
These words place Mary, and us, at the foot of the Cross. These words and this melody places us in the action of Good Friday and the sufferings of Jesus and his Mother Mary.
O how sad and sore distressed,
Was that Mother highly blessed,
Of the sole-begotten One.
Good Friday is our opportunity to join Mary at the foot of the Cross. Good Friday, and the service of the passion and death of the Lord, is our opportunity to join all human kind as we stand at the Cross, close to Jesus to the last.
Through her heart, His sorrow sharing,
All his bitter anguish bearing,
Now at length the sword has passed.
Today we are fortunate to gather at the foot of the Cross, to participate in the reading of the Passion, to venerate the wood of the Cross. The opportunity to recall the events of this most somber day. Take the time to stand at the Cross of Jesus. To stand with our crucified Lord, joining Mary His beloved Mother, St. John the beloved disciple and Dismas the Good Thief. Look upon this Cross, our Cross, which hangs above that spot where daily the un-bloody sacrifice of the Calvary is re-enacted, and have your moment of adoration and petition with the Crucified Lord.
Christ above in torment hangs,
She beneath beholds the pangs,
Of her dying, glorious son.
As you gaze upon the Cross, let the words of St. John Neumann echo in your heart and in our Church today, “Passion of Christ, comfort me.”
In his first Encyclical, The Gospel of Joy, Pope Francis wrote: “How beautiful it is to stand beneath the crucifix, simply to be under the Lord’s gaze, so full of love, what a blessing.” Standing beneath the Cross is what we will do today. It is what we should do every day. May this Good Friday journey bring us pardon and peace, safety and health.
We adore you O Christ and we bless you,
because by your Holy Cross,
you have redeemed the world!