The Our Father, Hail Mary and Apostles Creed are said silently after the Sign of the Cross
 
Psalm 69 – Ant. The zeal of thy house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee, are fallen upon me. [1^st candle]

Psalm 70 – Ant. Let them that devise evils against me be turned back, and let them blush for shame. [2^nd candle]

Psalm 71 – Ant. Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the sinner. [3^rd candle]

Our Father is said silently

1^st Lesson – Lamentations 1:1-5

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, be converted to the Lord thy God.

R. He prayed to his Father on Mount Olivet: Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from me: the spirit, indeed, is willing, but the flesh is weak.

V. Watch and pray, that ye may not enter into temptation. The spirit, indeed, is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Lesson 2 – Lamentations 1:6-9

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, be converted to the Lord thy God.

R. My soul is sorrowful even to death: stay here, and watch with me: now ye shall see a multitude, that will surround me: Ye will take to flight, and I shall go to be sacrificed for you.

V. Behold the hour is at hand, when the Son of Man shall be delivered into the hands of sinners. Ye will take to flight, and I shall go to be sacrificed for you.

Lesson 3 – Lamentations 1:10-14

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, be converted to the Lord thy God.

R. Lo! We have seen him as one not having beauty nor comeliness; there is no sightlines in him: he hath borne our sins, and he grieves for us: and he was wounded for our iniquities: By his wounds we have been healed.

V. Surely he hath borne our infirmities, and carried our sorrows. By his wounds we have been healed.

Lo! We have seen him as one not having beauty nor comeliness.

Psalm 72 – Ant. The Lord hath delivered the poor from the mighty; and the needy that had no helper. [4^th candle]

Psalm 73 – Ant. The ungodly have thought and spoken wickedness: they have spoken iniquity on high. [5^th candle]

Psalm 74 – Ant. Arise, O Lord, and judge my cause. [6^th candle]

Our Father is said silently

Lesson 4 – Treatise of Saint Augustine, Bishop, upon the Psalms

Hear my prayer, O God, and despise not my petition: attend to me and hear me. These are the words of a man in trouble, solicitude, and affliction. He prays in his great sufferings, desiring to be freed form some evil. Let us now see what evil he lies under: and when he has told it to us, let us acknowledge ourselves in it: that by partaking of the affliction, we may join in his prayer. I am become sorrowful in my exercise, says he, and I am troubled. Where is he become sorrowful? Where is he troubled? He says, In my exercise, He speaks of the wicked men whom he suffers, and calls such suffering of wicked me his exercise. Think not that the wicked are in the world for nothing, and that God works no good with them. Every wicked man lives, either to amend his life, or to exercise the good man.

R. My friend hath betrayed me by the sign of a kiss: Whom I shall kiss, that is he; hold him fast: this was the wicked sign given by him, who committed murder by a kiss. The unhappy wretch returned the price of Blood, and, in the end, hanged himself.

V. It had been well for that man, had he never been born. The unhappy wretch returned the price of Blood, and, in the end, hanged himself.


Lesson 4 – Treatise of Saint Augustine, Bishop, upon the Psalms

Would to God, then, they that now exercise us were converted and exercised with us; but let us not hate them, though they continue to exercise us; for we know no whether they will persevere to the end in their wickedness. And many times, when you imagine that you hate your enemy, it is your brother you hate, though you are ignorant of it. The holy Scriptures plainly show us that the devil and his angels are doomed to eternal fire. It is only their amendment we may despair of, with whom we wage an invisible war; for which the apostle arms us, saying: Our conflict is not with flesh and blood, that is not with the men you see before your eyes, but with the princes, and powers, and rulers of the world of darkness. And lest by his saying, of the world, you might thing perhaps, that the devils are rulers heaven and earth: by the world, he meant the impious and the wicked: by the world, he meant that which the Gospel speaks of: And the world knew him not.

R: Judas, the impious trader, betrayed his Lord with a kiss: He, as an innocent Lamb, refused not the kiss to Judas: Who, for a few pence, delivered Christ up to the Jews.

V. It would have been better for him, had he not been born. Who, for a few pence, delivered Christ up to the Jews.

Lesson 5 – Treatise of Saint Augustine, Bishop, upon the Psalms

For I have seen injustice and strife in the city. See the glory of the cross! That cross, which was an object of derision to his enemies, is not placed on the foreheads of kings. The effect is a proof of his power: he conquered the world not by the sword, but by the wood. The wood of the cross was thought a subject of scorn by his enemies, who, as they stood before it, shook their heads and said: If he be the Son of God, let him come down from the cross. He stretched forth his hands to an unbelieving and seditious people. For if he is just that lives by faith, he is unjust that has not faith. By injustice then here you must understand infidelity. Our Lord, therefore, saw injustice and strife in the city, and stretched forth his hands to an unbelieving and seditious people: and yet he waited for them, saying: Father, forgive them, for the know not what they do.

R. One of my disciples will this day betray me: woe to him, by whom I shall be betrayed! It had been better for him, if he had not been born.

V. He that dips his hand with me in the dish, he it is that is about to betray me into the hands of sinners. It had been better for him, if he had not been born. One of my disciples will this day betray me: woe to him, by whom I shall be betrayed!

Psalm 75 – Ant. I said to the wicked: Speak not iniquity against God. [7^th candle]

Psalm 76 – Ant. The earth trembled and was still, when God arose in judgment. [8^th candle]

Psalm 77 – Ant. In the day of my tribulation, I sought God with my hands raised up in prayer. [9^thcandle]

Our Father is said silently

Lesson 7 -  1 Corinthians 11:17-22

R. I was like an innocent lamb; I was led to be sacrificed, and I knew it not: my enemies conspired against me, saying: Come, let us put wood into his bread, and root him out of the land of the living.

V. All my enemies devised evil things against me: they uttered a wicked speech against me, saying:
Come, let us put wood into his bread, and root him out of the land of the living.

Lesson 8 -  1 Corinthians 11:23-26

R. Could ye not watch one hour with me, ye that exhorted each other to die for me? Or see you not how Judas sleepeth not, but maketh speed to deliver me up to the Jews?

V. Why sleep ye? Arise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. Or see you not how Judas sleepeth not, but maketh speed to deliver me up to the Jews?

Lesson 9 - 1 Corinthians 11:27-34

R. The ancients of the peoples consulted together, How they might, by craft, apprehend Jesus, and kill him: they went forth with swords and clubs, as to a thief.

V. The priests and Pharisees held a council. How they might, by craft, apprehend Jesus, and kill him: they went forth with swords and clubs, as to a thief.

The ancients of the peoples consulted together

Psalm 51 – Ant. Be thou justified, O Lord, in thy words, and overcome, when thou art judged. [10^thcandle]

Psalm 90 – Ant. The Lord was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and he opened not his mouth. [11^thcandle]

Psalm 36 – Ant. My heart is broken within me; all my bones have trembled. [12^th candle]

Canticle of Moses (Exodus 15:1-18) – Ant. Thou hast encouraged us by thy power, and by thy holy refreshment, O Lord! [13^th candle]

Psalm 147 – Ant. He was offered because it was his own will, and he himself bore our sins. [14^thcandle]

Canticle of Zachary (Luke 1:68-79) – Ant. But the traitor gave them a sign, saying: He whom I shall kiss, this is he; hold fast. [All six candles on the altar are extinguished while Canticle is chanted…at the end of the Canticle the 15^th candle is placed on the altar while the antiphon is chanted.]

The following words are chanted while candle is on altar:
Christ became, for our sake, obedient unto death.

Our Father is said silently 

[15^th candle is taken behind the altar (or into sacristy)]

Psalm 51 is recited with a suppressed voice, by alternate choirs.

Prayer: Look down, O Lord, we beseech thee, upon this thy family, for which our Lord Jesus Christ hesitated not to be delievered into the hands of wicked men, and to undergo the punishment of the cross: (the rest in silence) Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.
 
After prayer noise is made (slamming of sacristy door, doors of church, choir books on pew, etc.). Noise is made until the 15^th candle is placed back on the candle rack.

All leave in silence.