For several years I've posted a weekly Lenten series on a selected topic. This year, on the Fridays of Lent, I'll be featuring songs we sing to honor the Cross of Jesus. (Here are links to the first, second, third, fourth and fifth posts in this series.) The very fact that we sing of the Cross on which Jesus died is a testimony to our faith and belief that in his suffering we find our healing and our life... Tonight's selection is includes lyrics attributed to Bernard of Clairvaux, an 11th century saint. This hymn trains our vision on the suffering of Christ on the Cross and calls us to reflect on the reality that he was crucified, bearing the burden of our sins: mine, yours and those of all of humanity... This recording gives us Heather Sorenson's contemporary arrangement of Joel Shoemake's and Barry French's moving rendition of a very old hymn.
With grief and shame weighed down,
Now scornfully surrounded
With thorns, Thine only crown;
How pale Thou art with anguish,
With sore abuse and scorn!
How does that visage languish
Which once was bright as morn!
What Thou, my Lord, hast suffered
Was all for sinners’ gain:
For mine was the transgression,
But Thine the deadly pain;
Lo, here I fall, my Savior!
’Tis I deserve Thy place;
Look on me with Thy favor,
And help me with Thy grace.
O Sacred Head, O Hands and Feet,
O Love Incarnate, broken for me,
O Sacred Head, O Hands and Feet,
Who bought my pardon, Who set me free
