Holy Week–Good Friday
Good Friday–Christina Rosetti
Am I a stone, and not a sheep,
That I can stand, O Christ, beneath Thy cross,
To number drop by drop Thy blood’s slow loss,
And yet not weep?
Not so those women loved
Who with exceeding grief lamented Thee;
Not so fallen Peter weeping bitterly;
Not so the thief was moved;
Not so the Sun and Moon
Which hid their faces in a starless sky,
A horror of great darkness at broad noon–
I, only I.
Yet give not o’er,
But seek Thy sheep, true Shepherd of the flock;
Greater than Moses, turn and look once more
And smite a rock.
One of the best! Thanks, Kristine. Those last lines are an absolute masterpiece.
Comment by Steve Evans — March 20, 2008 @ 10:18 pm
Amen.
Comment by Ray — March 20, 2008 @ 10:35 pm
Good Friday is not a Mormon term. We don’t use it.
Comment by mj — March 20, 2008 @ 11:33 pm
The Church might not use it officially; there is neither command nor counsel that Mormons not use it individually. “We” may use it or not, according to the dictates of our own consciences.
May “we” remember the reason many sincere and thoughtful Christians around the world remember and celebrate Good Friday, whether or not we celebrate it as they do, and honor the thought and feeling that underlie the glorious event that they (and hopefully we) honor - whether we choose to use the term “Good Friday” or not.
In that spirit, may “we” all have a wonderful and good Friday, whatever we do on that day.
Comment by Ray — March 20, 2008 @ 11:58 pm
mj, you’re mistaken. We do use it. You might not, but that’s your prerogative. Don’t be a poop.
Comment by Steve Evans — March 21, 2008 @ 12:16 am
I love Christina Rosetti!
That makes me want to put her poem “In Progress” in a random comment over on Feminist Mormon Housewives and not tell them why. LOL.
Comment by Paradox — March 21, 2008 @ 12:26 am
Thanks Kristine - I’ve loved all your Holy Week posts.
Comment by Rebecca — March 21, 2008 @ 2:37 am
mj,
Speak for yourself.
Comment by RonanJH — March 21, 2008 @ 3:25 am
I love Christina Rosetti’s poems. Straight to my heart every time.
Comment by Jami — March 21, 2008 @ 10:09 am
Kristine: Thank you for the Holy Week (I do use the term) poems. They have been a wonderful way to mark a sacred occassion. I have saved many in my files for future use and reflection.
Comment by Martin Willey — March 21, 2008 @ 10:32 am
I realize it seems counterintuitive to a lot of people, Mormons included, to call the day Good Friday. We’re not really sure where that name came from; there seem to be three main theories as to why it is called “Good” Friday in English-speaking lands:
1. Some argue that good is archaic for holy.
2. Others argue that good is an archaism for God (as in the expression good-bye, “God be with you”).
3. Still others understand the expression theologically, for the result of the atonement that was effected on that day.
But hey, if you don’t like Good Friday, you could follow the convention used in other languages:
From Wikipedia:
The Dutch name Goede Vrijdag translates as “Good Friday”. Other languages refer to this day in different ways (most often as Holy Friday).
In the Holy Land, Good Friday is known as “Great Friday.” In German it is “Karfreitag”, an Old German word meaning “Friday of lamentation”, although this meaning is not obvious to speakers of modern German. In Armenia it is called “High Friday (???? ??????)”. In Russia it is called “Passion Friday” (????????? ????? / ????????? ???????). In Ethiopia it is called Friday of the Crucifixion (arib siqilat)
Great Friday: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece (?????? ????????? / Megáli Paraskeví), Hungary, Macedonia, Malta (Il-?img?a l-Kbira), Poland (Wielki Pi?tek), Lithuania, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and in the Eastern Orthodox Church generally; Sri Lanka (Maha Sikurada); Indonesia (Jumat Agung)
Holy Friday: Latin America, Spain (Viernes Santo), France (Vendredi Saint), Italy (venerdì santo), Portugal, Brazil (Sexta-Feira Santa), Philippines (Mahal na Araw or Biyernes Santo), Vietnam (Th? sáu Tu?n Thánh), Japan
Long Friday: Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Faroe Islands, Iceland
Day of Christ’s Suffering: Chinese-speaking areas
Sad Friday: Arabic-speaking locals
Good Friday (English language) but Aoine Chéasta Passion Friday (Irish Language): Ireland
In some more secular communities Good Friday has been erroneously referred to as “Easter Friday”. However, the following Friday (after Easter) is the correct day to be named Easter Friday.
Comment by Kevin Barney — March 21, 2008 @ 11:47 am
I’ve just been doing research on the term “Good Friday!”
As we meet on Fridays here in the “Kingdom” and I was the main Sacrament speaker today, I gave my talk on the notions of Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, and Good Friday. I had about 15 people come up and tell me how much they appreciated the talk! I think we do use the term as individuals, but if you look the term up in the Encyclopedia of Mormonism or do a search for it on the church website, you’ll pretty much find nothin’.
Comment by meems — March 21, 2008 @ 12:25 pm
Hugh B. Brown gave a radio address entitled “History’s Most Eventful Week” in which he used the term Holy Week.
Comment by Justin — March 21, 2008 @ 12:46 pm
Has this ever been set to music?
Comment by Struwelpeter — March 21, 2008 @ 1:22 pm
Thanks, Kristine, for this most edifying series.
Comment by Cathy — March 21, 2008 @ 1:54 pm
I don’t read enough poetry anymore, so I especially appreciate this series. Thanks, Kristine.
Comment by Kevinf — March 21, 2008 @ 2:04 pm
Amen.
Comment by Tracy M — March 21, 2008 @ 7:09 pm
I also am struck by the last lines — thank you for this Rosetti “stone.”
.
This echoes a passage that well describes my own experience:
26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. — Ezk 36
.
I realized sometime later that only a stony heart can (and must) be broken: a fleshy heart yields and stretches.
Comment by manaen — March 23, 2008 @ 7:04 pm
In answer to 14:
Mervyn Burtch, a Welsh composer composed a setting in 1975.
Comment by Bill — March 25, 2008 @ 8:51 am