V. We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee.
R.  Because by thy Holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world.

Then Pilate said to Jesus, “Do you not hear how many accusations they make against you?” But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed. He realized that it was out of jealousy that they had handed him over. Pilate said to them, “Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” All of them said, “Let him be crucified!” Then he asked, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!” So when Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took some water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.” Then the people as a whole answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!” So Pilate handed Jesus over to be crucified.

St. Matthew 27:13-14, 18, 22-25, 26b

V. We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee.
R.  Because by thy Holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world.

So they took Jesus; and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity; and as one from whom others hide their faces. He was despised, and we held him of no account. Yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

St. John 19:17, Isaiah 53:3, 12c

V.  We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee.
R.  Because by thy Holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. Therefore he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people.

Isaiah 53:7, Hebrews 2:17

V.  We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee.
R.  Because by thy Holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world.

Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow. What can I say for you, to what compare you, O daughter Jerusalem? To what can I liken you, that I may comfort you, O virgin daughter Zion? When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

Lamentations 1:12, 2:13; St. John 19:26-27

V.  We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee.
R.  Because by thy Holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world.

As they led him away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming from the country, and they laid the cross on him, and made him carry it behind Jesus. Then he said to them all, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”

Luke 23:26, 9:23

V.  We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee.
R.  Because by thy Holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world.

 “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God.

Matthew 25:40, John 1:10-12

V.  We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee.
R.  Because by thy Holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world.

I was not rebellious, I did not turn backwards. I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I did not hide my face from insult and spitting. “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you, desolate.”

Isaiah 50:5b-6, Matthew 23:37-38

V.  We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee.
R.  Because by thy Holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world.

A great number of the people followed him, and among them were women who were beating their breasts and wailing for him. But Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.” As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace. Indeed, the days will come upon you, when your enemies will surround you, and hem you in on every side. They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another.”

Luke 23:27-28, 19:41-44

V.  We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee.
R.  Because by thy Holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world.

But we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling-block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength. My mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; and you have laid me in the dust of the grave.

1st Corinthians 1:23-25, Psalm 22:15

V.  We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee.
R.  Because by thy Holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world.

The soldiers took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. They also took his tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see who will get it.” Why are your robes red, and your garments like theirs who tread the wine press? “I have trodden the wine press alone, and from the peoples no one was with me; I looked, but there was no helper; I stared, but there was no one to sustain me.”

John 19:23-24, Isaiah 63:2-3a, 5a

V.  We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee.
R.  Because by thy Holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world.

They crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” One of the criminals said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? All who see me laugh me to scorn; they curl their lips and wag their heads, saying, “He trusted in the Lord; let him deliver him; let him rescue him if he delights in him.” And there is none to help.

Luke 23:33-34a, 42-43; Psalm 22:1a, 7-8, 11b

V.  We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee.
R.  Because by thy Holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world.

From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split. Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” Having said this, he breathed his last. “I am poured out like water; all my bones are out of joint; my heart within my breast is melting wax.  My mouth is dried out like a potsherd; my mouth sticks to the roof of my mouth; and you have laid me in the dust of the grave.”

Matthew 27:45-46, Luke 23:46, Psalm 22:14-15

V.  We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee.
R.  Because by thy Holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world. 

Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out. After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission; so he came and removed his body. Blessed are you our God, who have this day humiliated the enemies of your people. O daughter, you are blessed by the Most High God above all other women on earth; and blessed be the Lord God. Your praise will never depart from the hearts of those who remember the power of God.

John 19:32-34; Judith 13:17b-18a, 19

V.  We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee.
R.  Because by thy Holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world.

Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. He then rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and went away. Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

Matthew 28:59-60, Romans 6:3-4