Priest. Let us pray. Deacon. Let us kneel down. Subdeacon. Stand up again.

Almighty and Eternal God, who seekest not the death of sinners, but that they should live; mercifully hear our prayers, and deliver them from their idolatry: and, to the praise and glory of thy name, admit them into thy holy Church. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who livest. R. Amen.

Here the Priest takes down the cross, and uncovering the top of it, says,

Anth. Behold the wood of the cross, on which hung the Salvation of the World.

Then the Clergy, and all the people, on their bended knees, answer:

R. Come let us adore*.

Venite adoremus.

*This Anth. and R. being repeated twice more, till the whole Cross is uncovered, the Priest lays it down in a proper place, and all kneeling thrice on both knees, reverently approach to, and devoutly kiss the feet of the crucifix. During this ceremony, two chanters in the middle of the choir sing alternately, the versicles called the Reproaches, because they are in the name of Christ reproaching the Jewish people with ingratitude, for the manifold blessings and favours he had conferred on them.

V. My people, what V. Popule meus, quid have I done to thee? Or feci tibi? Aut in quo in what have I grieved contristavi te? Responde thee? Answer me. mihi.

* The intention of the Church, in exposing the cross to our veneration on this day, is, that we might the more effectually raise up our hearts to HIM who expired thereon for our redemption. Whenever, therefore, we kneel or prostrate ourselves before a crucifix, it is JESUS CHRIST only whom we adore, and it is in him alone that our respects terminate.

** After singing the foregoing praises of God in Greek and Latin (formerly the two most universal languages, to shew the union between all the Churches), two of the second choir proceed with the Reproaches.

V. Because I was thy guide through the desert for forty years, and fed thee with manna, and brought thee into an excellent land, thou hast prepared a cross for thy Saviour.

Then Agios o Theos, &c. is repeated alternately as

above, after which two of the first choir sing:

V. What more should I have done to thee, and have not done? I have planted thee for my most beautiful vineyard: and thou hast proved very bitter to me, for in my thirst thou givest me vinegar to drink; and piercedst the side of thy Saviour with a spear.

Agios o Theos, &c. is repeated as above.

V. For thy sake I scourged Egypt with her firstborn; and thou hast delivered me up to be scourged. The whole Choir.] My people, what have I done to thee? or in what have I grieved thee? An

swer me.

Two of I. Choir.] V. I led thee out of Egypt, having drowned Pharaoh in the Red Sea; and thou hast delivered me up to the chief priests.

The whole Choir. My people, &c.

Two of II. Choir.] V. I opened the sea before thee; and thou hast opened my side with a spear. The whole Choir. My people, &c.

Two of I. Choir.] V. I went before thee in a pillar of cloud; and thou hast brought me to the court of Pilate.

The whole Choir. My people, &c.

Two of II. Choir.] V. I fed thee with manna in the desert; and thou hast beaten me with buffets and stripes.

The whole Choir. My people, &c.

Two of I. Choir.] V. I gave thee wholesome water to drink out of the rock, and thou hast given me for my drink gall and vinegar.

The whole Choir. My people, &c.

Two of II. Choir.] V. For thy sake I smote the king of Canaan; and thou hast smote my head with

a cane.

The whole Choir. My people, &c.

Two of I. Choir.] V. I gave thee a royal sceptre; and thou hast given me a crown of thorns.

The whole Choir. My people, &c.

Two of II. Choir.] V. By great might I raised thee on high; and thou hast hanged me on the gibbet of the cross.

The whole Choir. My people, &c. and the

ANTHEM. We adore thy cross, O Lord, and we praise and glorify thy holy resurrection, for by the wood of the cross the whole earth is filled with joy. Ps. May God have mercy on us and bless us; may his countenance shine upon us, and may he have mercy on us.

Ant. We adore thee, &c. to Ps.

Then is sung the Versicle, O faithful cross! with the Hymn, in the following manner :

Faithful cross! O noblest tree!

In all our woods there's none like thee: No earthly groves, no shady bow'rs

Produce such leaves, such fruit such flow'rs. *Sweet are the nails, and sweet the wood, "That bears a weight, so sweet so good.

HYMN.

SING, O my tongue, devoutly sing

The glorious laurels of our King:
Sing the triumphant victory

Gain'd on the cross erected high;
Where man's Redeemer yields his breath,
And, dying, conquers hell and death.

O faithful cross, &c. is repeated to*.
With pity our Creator saw
His noblest work transgress his law,
When our first parents rashly ate
The fatal tree's forbidden meat;
He then resolv'd the cross's wood
Should make that tree's sad damage good.
Sweet are the nails, &c. from*.

By this wise method God design'd
From sin and death to save mankind;
Superior art with love combines,
And arts of Satan countermines:
And where the traitor gave the wound,
There healing remedies are found.
O faithful cross, &c. to*.

When the full time decreed above
Was come to shew this work of love,
Th' Eternal Father sends his Son,
The world's Creator from his throne!
Who on our earth, this vale of tears,
Cloth'd with a virgin's flesh appears.

Sweet are the nails, &c. from*.

Thus God made man, an infant lies,
And in the manger weeping cries;
His sacred limbs by Mary bound,
The poorest tatter'd rags surround;
And God's incarnate feet and hands
Are closely bound with swathing hands.
O faithful cross, &c. to*.

Full thirty years were fully spent
In this our mortal banishment;
And then the Son of Man decreed
For the lost sons of men to bleed;
And on the cross a victim laid,
The solemn expiation made.

Sweet are the nails, &c. from*.
Gall was his drink; his flesh they tear
With thorns and nails; a cruel spear
Pierces his side, from whence a flood
Streams forth, of water mix'd with blood;
With what a tide are wash'd again
The sinful earth, the stars the main!
O faithful cross, &c. to*.

Bend tow'ring tree, thy branches bend, Thy native stubbornness suspend: Let not stiff nature use its force, To weaker saps have now recourse; With softest arms receive thy load, And gently bear our dying God.

Sweet are the nails, &c. from*. On thee alone the Lamb was slain That reconcil'd the world again; And when on raging seas was tost The shipwreck'd world and mankind lost, Besprinkled with his sacred gore, Thou safely brought them to the shore O faithful cross, &c. to*.

All glory to the sacred Three, One undivided Deity: