“Through the cross the faithful receive strength from weakness, glory from dishonor, life from death.” (St. Leo the Great)

It’s the hour of utmost agony.  It’s the hour we lay claim,
His soul had grown so troubled—this hour for which He came.
It’s the hour of such sadness; the hour of greatest loss.
This hour they beat our Savior; and hung Him on a cross.

He died not for the righteous.  He died not for holy ones.
His death was for the sinful, for lost daughters and sons.
His cross brings strength from weakness. From death it brings new life.
From dishonor it brings glory. His cross leads us through strife.

May we marvel at the glory which arrived through such grave loss.
May we marvel in the power which comes to us through the cross.
You are the Lamb of God.  In Your cross lies our eternal worth.
As the cross now shines in heaven, may it forever shine on earth.

We lift You up, Lord Jesus, in reverence and in awe,
That lifted high above the earth, all things may to You be drawn.

[Based on the Office of Readings; The cross of Christ is the source of all blessings, the cause of all graces; Good Friday and the Triumph of the Cross; by St. Leo the Great: Sermon]