In the "Celebration of the Lord's Passion" at 3.00pm at St Mary's Cathedral on Good Friday, 21st March 2008, Bishop Hugh Lindsay, and the Cathedral priests, gathered together with a large Cathedral congregation to commemorate the events of Good Friday.
Bishop Hugh Lindsay and the Cathedral priests lie prostrate
for a few minutes on the ground before the altar at the start
of the Celebration
The service started in silence, with the ministers lying prostate before the bare altar, and all the congregation kneeling.
The first reading from scripture was from the prophet Isaiah "He was pierced through for our faults", and the second reading from St Paul's letter to the Hebrews "He became the source of eternal salvation".
The Passion was read from St John's Gospel, with the congegation joining in.
In his homily Bishop Hugh Lindsay spoke about the balance we need today between the utter cruelty of Our Lord’s suffering and death, and our resulting salvation from every evil. He added: "When lying prostrate on the ground before the altar at the start of this celebration, I always recall Our Lord prostrate in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. Today, I also recalled that Bishop Kevin lay in that very place less than four years ago, offering his life to God as our Bishop, never expecting that it would be taken back so soon."
The Cross above the High Altar at St Mary's Cathedral.
Bishop Hugh Lindsay ended with inviting us to draw close to Jesus: "On Good Friday of all days we long to be close to Our Lord Jesus Christ in His sufferings; that is where we should be, following in His footsteps. The reality was different even on Good Friday itself. Apart from His mother and her friends, no others were faithful all through. Even the beloved apostle John fled from the garden and made himself scarce for a little while. Make him your consolation as you continue the struggle to be faithful and to accept the pains which come with it. Above all, beg our suffering Saviour to help us to do everything that He wants us to do, especially today when we try to spend this day at the foot of His cross, in spirit with Him."
Following the homily there were ten intercessions- ancient prayers which have been used on this day since early centuries.Then the cross was carried in procession and venerated by the Bishop, priests, and then by each person in the congregation
The Cross is venerated
.