30 Mar

2024

Good Friday Evening: The Burial of the Body of Christ

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A procession carries the bier of the Body of Christ through neighboring streets. The procession returns to the church as the Vexilla Regis is sung. The bier is placed before the high altar, where it is ritually washed and buried by the clergy, as the choir sings the psalms and the Lamentations of Jeremiah from the first nocturn of the Office of Matins of Holy Saturday.

At the start of the procession, the wind blew the canopy off the bier of the Body of Christ.
The bier of the Body of Christ is returned to the church. It is placed before the high altar, where it is ritually washed and buried by the clergy, as the choir sings the psalms and the Lamentations of Jeremiah from the first nocturn of the Office of Matins of Holy Saturday.
Fr. Ringley uses a mixture of wine, myrhh, calamus and cassia to ritually purify the body—an ancient Jewish burial custom.
Olive oil is mixed with aloe and balsam, blessed, and used to anount the body.
Three lectors sing the three lessons from the Book of Lamentations.
Psalm 50, the Miserere, is sung. The lights are dimmed and mourners come to reverence the sepulchre.

Published in St. Mary's Holy Week 2024

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