Hadewijch of Brabant, Poet and Mystic, thirteenth century

The Collect:

Rite I:
Triune God of Love, overwhelming and all-encompassing: Visit us in our solitude and in our companionship, and draw us ever more deeply into union with thee, who art ever present and ever mysterious; that we, like thy servant Hadewijch, might know thee ever more fully, even as we have been fully known. Amen.

Rite II:
Triune God of Love, overwhelming and all-encompassing: Visit us in our solitude and in our companionship, and draw us ever more deeply into union with you, who are ever present and ever mysterious; that we, like your servant Hadewijch, might know you ever more fully, even as we have been fully known. Amen.

First Lesson: Isaiah 52:13–53:12

¹³   See, my servant shall prosper;
         he shall be exalted and lifted up,
         and shall be very high.
¹⁴   Just as there were many who were astonished at him
         —so marred was his appearance, beyond human semblance,
         and his form beyond that of mortals—
¹⁵   so he shall startle many nations;
         kings shall shut their mouths because of him;
     for that which had not been told them they shall see,
         and that which they had not heard they shall contemplate.
¹    Who has believed what we have heard?
         And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
²    For he grew up before him like a young plant,
         and like a root out of dry ground;
     he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
         nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
³    He was despised and rejected by others;
         a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity;
     and as one from whom others hide their faces
         he was despised, and we held him of no account.

⁴    Surely he has borne our infirmities
         and carried our diseases;
     yet we accounted him stricken,
         struck down by God, and afflicted.
⁵    But he was wounded for our transgressions,
         crushed for our iniquities;
     upon him was the punishment that made us whole,
         and by his bruises we are healed.
⁶    All we like sheep have gone astray;
         we have all turned to our own way,
     and the Lord has laid on him
         the iniquity of us all.

⁷    He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
         yet he did not open his mouth;
     like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
         and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
         so he did not open his mouth.
⁸    By a perversion of justice he was taken away.
         Who could have imagined his future?
     For he was cut off from the land of the living,
         stricken for the transgression of my people.
⁹    They made his grave with the wicked
         and his tomb with the rich,
     although he had done no violence,
         and there was no deceit in his mouth.

¹⁰   Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him with pain.
     When you make his life an offering for sin,
         he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days;
     through him the will of the Lord shall prosper.
¹¹       Out of his anguish he shall see light;
     he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge.
         The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous,
         and he shall bear their iniquities.
¹²   Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great,
         and he shall divide the spoil with the strong;
     because he poured out himself to death,
         and was numbered with the transgressors;
     yet he bore the sin of many,
         and made intercession for the transgressors.

Psalm: Psalm 119:129–136

¹²⁹ Your decrees are wonderful; *
          therefore I obey them with all my heart.
¹³⁰ When your word goes forth it gives light; *
          it gives understanding to the simple.
¹³¹ I open my mouth and pant; *
          I long for your commandments.
¹³² Turn to me in mercy, *
          as you always do to those who love your Name.
¹³³ Steady my footsteps in your word; *
          let no iniquity have dominion over me.
¹³⁴ Rescue me from those who oppress me, *
          and I will keep your commandments.
¹³⁵ Let your countenance shine upon your servant *
          and teach me your statutes.
¹³⁶ My eyes shed streams of tears, *
          because people do not keep your law.

Gospel: John 19:31–37

³¹ Since it was the day of Preparation, the Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross during the sabbath, especially because that sabbath was a day of great solemnity. So they asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken and the bodies removed. ³² Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him. ³³ But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. ³⁴ Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out. ³⁵ (He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth.) ³⁶ These things occurred so that the scripture might be fulfilled, ‘None of his bones shall be broken.’ ³⁷ And again another passage of scripture says, ‘They will look on the one whom they have pierced.’

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