Holy Week
About
The material that St Beuno’s Outreach offers for this Holy Week takes inspiration from two complementary sources. The first is an article entitled ‘The Long Silence’ by Fr James Hanvey SJ (Thinking Faith, April 2021). The second is a little book called Finding Your Hidden Treasure: The Way of Silent Prayer (Darton, Longman and Todd, 2010) by Fr Benignus O’Rourke OSA (1929–2019).
Fr James writes of ‘the long silence of the Father from Gethsemane to Easter morning’. He observes that we may be tempted to interpret this silence as ‘an absence or a space to fill … but instead we should explore, embrace, and allow ourselves to be changed by it.’ In this, he encourages us to enter into ‘a silence which is not an absence, but the fullness of presence.’
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Fr Ben O’Rourke, in a chapter called ‘Knitting Before the Face of God’ (pp.30–31), also talks about this quality of silence. He tells the story of an elderly woman, who, for the first time, experiences silent prayer as she knits. Here at home, in her peaceful room, she senses that ‘this silence was not simply an absence of noise, but that the silence had substance ... a density, a richness … at the heart of the silence there was Him who is all stillness, all peace, all poise.’
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As the woman knits, she seems to find what St Augustine realises is ‘the mystery of God who hides himself within us ... [for] silence reveals God to us as nothing else can.’ (p. 19) Something similar is said about the God who dwells silently within us by the fourteenth-century mystic Meister Eckhart: You need not seek him here or there; he is no further than the door of your heart. (p. 27)
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As we ourselves try to explore and embrace the silence within us this Holy Week, perhaps the gentle, reassuring guidance of an unknown author quoted by Fr Ben O’Rourke might be our guide. See extract from ‘The Womb of Silence’ below.
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To aid our reflections this Lent we are reproducing, with permission content from St Bueno's outreach.
If you would like to know more about them or access their guided prayer resources, 'prego', you can contact them via their website
Let the past be silent.
Let there be no vain regrets,
no brooding on past failures,
no bitterness,
no judgement of oneself or of others.
Let all be silent.
Be still and know.
Be still and look.
Let the eyes of the mind be closed
that you may hear what otherwise you would not hear,
that you may know what otherwise you would not know.
And if in the silence God does not answer,
God is still there.
God’s silence is the silence of love.
The Womb of Silence
MONDAY
The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I did not turn backward. 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. The Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame; he who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who are my adversaries? Let them confront me.
Isaiah 50: 5–8
TUESDAY
Now Jesus stood before the governor; and the governor asked him, ‘Are you the King of the Jews?’ Jesus said, ‘You say so.’ But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he did not answer. Then Pilate said to him, ‘Do you not hear how many accusations they make against you?’ But Jesus gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.
Matthew 27:11–14
WEDNESDAY
Now while Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper,a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment, and she poured it on his head as he sat at the table. But when the disciples saw it, they were angry and said, ‘Why this waste? For this ointment could have been sold for a large sum, and the money given to the poor.’ But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, ‘Why do you trouble the woman? She has performed a good service for me. For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. By pouring this ointment on my body she has prepared me for burial. Truly I tell you, wherever this good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.’
Matthew 26: 6–14
HOLY THURSDAY
Tantum ergo Sacramentum
Veneremur cernui:
Et antiquum documentum
Novo cedat ritui:
Præstet fides supplementum
Sensuum defectui.
Genitori, Genitoque
Laus et iubilatio,
Salus, honor, virtus quoque
Sit et benedictio:
Procedenti ab utroque
Compar sit laudatio. Amen.
Come, adore this wondrous presence
bow to Christ, the source of grace.
Here is kept the ancient promise
of God’s earthly dwelling place.
Sight is blind before God’s glory,
faith alone may see his face.
Glory be to God the Father,
praise to his co-equal Son,
adoration to the Spirit,
bond of love, in Godhead one.
Blest be God, by all creation
joyously while ages run.
tr. James Quinn SJ (1919–2010)
GOOD FRIDAY
In you, O Lord, I take refuge.
Let me never be put to shame.
In your justice, set me free.
Into your hands I commend my spirit.
You will redeem me,
O Lord, O faithful God.
Because of all my foes
I have become a reproach,
an object of scorn to my neighbours
and of fear to my friends.
But as for me, I trust in you, O Lord;
I say, ‘You are my God.
There in your hands is my lot,
from the hands of my enemies deliver me
and from those who pursue me.’
‘Let your face shine on your servant.
Save me in your merciful love.’
Be strong, let your heart take courage,
All who hope in the Lord.
Psalm 30 (31)
Poems and Prayers for Lent
May we learn to come alive again on the inside as we place our faith and trust in God. May we have a fresh awakening to His loving presence and begin to find joy creeping back into our hearts again.
The Last Supper by Ranier Maria Rilke
They are assembled, astonished and disturbed
round him, who like a sage resolved his fate,
and now leaves those to whom he most belonged,
leaving and passing by them like a stranger.
The loneliness of old comes over him
which helped mature him for his deepest acts;
now will he once again walk through the olive grove,
and those who love him still will flee before his sight.
To this last supper he has summoned them,
and (like a shot that scatters birds from trees
)their hands draw back from reaching for the loaves
upon his word: they fly across to him;
they flutter, frightened, round the supper table
searching for an escape.
But he is present
everywhere like an all-pervading twilight-hour.
Here they are gathered, wondering and deranged,
Round Him, who wisely doth Himself inclose,
And who now takes Himself away, estranged,
From those who owned Him once, and past them flows.
He feels the ancient loneliness to-day
That taught Him all His deepest acts of love;
Now in the olive groves He soon will rove,
And these who love Him all will flee away.
To the last supper table He hath led.
As birds are frightened from a garden-bed
By shots, so He their hands forth from the bread
Doth frighten by His word: to Him they flee;
Then flutter round the table in their fright
And seek a passage from the hall.
But He Is everywhere, like dusk at fall of night.
Life's Arrival in Time and Space by Virginia M. Kimball.
​Looking, see ... the sun’s arc
over earth ... the Spring’s
equinox ... day’s time in
balance with ... night’s time and
sun standing ... still between
night darkness ... and day’s light!
Passover ... when the Light
Creation ... washes life
over death ... Lamb’s life
sacrificed ... and freedom
escaping ... to Eden
God’s shalom ... forever.
â—‡
Pre-empting ... the northern
Spring solstice ... Incarnate
Yahweh comes ... earth tilting
toward life ... while sun’s rays
life-giving ... with water
sun warming ... and waiting
to plant in ... fertile ground
a sacred ... seed of life
Annunciation.
Lent, by Christina Rossetti
It is good to be last not first,
Pending the present distress;
It is good to hunger and thirst,
So it be for righteousness.
It is good to spend and be spent,
It is good to watch and to pray:
Life and Death make a goodly Lent
So it leads us to Easter Day.
Amen by Leonard Cohen
Tell me again when I’ve been to the river
And I’ve taken the edge off my thirst
Tell me again
We’re alone and I’m listening, Listening so hard that it hurts
Tell me again when I’m clean and I’m sober
Tell me again when I’ve seen through the horror
Tell me again, Tell me over and over
Tell me that you want me then
Amen…
Tell me again when the victims are singing
And the Laws of Remorse are restored
Tell me again That you know what I’m thinking
But vengeance belongs to the Lord
Tell me again when I’m clean and I’m sober
Tell me again When I’ve seen through the horror
Tell me again, tell me over and over
Tell me that you love me then
Amen…
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Tell me again when the day has been ransomed
And the night has no right to begin
Try me again when the angels are panting
And scratching at the door to come in
Tell me again When I’m clean and I’m sober
Tell me again when I’ve seen through the horror
Tell me again, Tell me over and over
Tell me that you need me then
Amen…
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Tell me again when the filth of the butcher
Is washed in the blood of the lamb
Tell me again when the rest of the culture
Has passed through the Eye of the Camp
Tell me again when I’m clean and I’m sober
Tell me again when I’ve seen through the horror
Tell me again Tell me over and over
Tell me that you love me then
Amen, Amen, Amen … Amen.