［信訊舊文重溫］ 聖週：禮儀及靈修的高峰（四）上主受難的聖週星期五

［信訊舊文重溫］

聖週：禮儀及靈修的高峰

全文原載於：澳門堂聯《信訊雙週刊》第148期2010年3月27日 

（四）上主受難的聖週星期五

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我母校澳門聖若瑟大學有慶曾邀得著名禮儀學家安鵬浩神父客座，教授禮儀神學一課。我曾在2009/10學年習修該課；並在（二零一零年）三月十日參與由天主教香港教區禮儀委員會主辦，由國際知名的禮儀學家安鵬浩神父所主講的禮儀講座。在即日徵得講者安神父同意後，曾在澳門堂聯《信訊雙週刊》編譯講座主要內客。今天重溫舊文，希望能與大家一同重溫聖週各禮儀行動中更深入的意思，從而度一個更豐碩的聖週。

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上主受難的聖週星期五

A. 上主受難的禮儀

1. 在聖週星期五的上主受難紀念，並不以感恩祭的形式舉行，這是由於古老的守齋傳統。

2. 禮儀基本上是由聖道禮以及朝拜十架和領聖體禮所組成。禮儀的中心部分是據若望所載的福音中的受難始末。透過這份宣告，基督受苦聖死的事件以某種形式活現於會眾眼前。

3. 禮儀約在下午三時開始，是基督死於十架上的時間。禮儀的時間企圖與基督死亡的時間相一致。我們不僅是在處理一件年度慶祝事件，而是一個發生在此時此刻（here-and-now）的事實。


B. 聖道禮

1. 直到第八世紀，在羅馬的聖週星期五的聖道禮由以下部分構成：主禮在祭台下伏下以及靜默祈禱、兩段讀經並各自伴有答唱詠、宣讀基督受難始末，以及信友禱文。梵二的禮儀非常相近的跟隨這形式。

2. 在聖週星期五的宣讀受難始末是在教會中的古老傳統。在第四世紀一位來自法國南部的朝聖者，名叫厄格利亞，描寫了耶路撒冷的主教在哥爾哥達教堂中如何在一個慟哭的會眾中宣讀我們的主的受難始末。宣讀受難始末乃整個禮儀的中心。

在他聖週星期五的其中一篇講道中，聖奧斯定寫實地解釋：「隨著我們憶起基督的苦難，我們看著祂，尤如我們親眼看著祂，被釘在十架之上」。我們可以說，在那個星期五由聖母和那位愛徒在十架下所見證的那件事件，隨著我們閱讀著受難始末，為我們來說成了一件活生生的事實。基督臨在於祂的話中，而伴隨著祂的是祂受難和死亡的事件。

3. 信友禱文總結了聖道禮。形式則跟隨羅馬教會的古老模式，即：司鐸唱出導言或邀請，然後全體跪下為意向作靜默祈禱，然後司鐸代表全體信友唱出禱詞。

a. 在聖週星期五，藉著其結構的莊嚴和意向的寬度，信友禱詞跟當下時刻的重要性相互配合。就信友禱文來說，聖週星期五是合適的時候為教會以至整個世界的重要而迫切的需要來祈禱。猶如聖女大德蘭所說：當世界正在水深火熱之中的時候，我們不能夠只為芝蔴綠豆般的瑣碎事而祈禱。

b. 人類口舌的偏頗，在讀畢受難始末後更見明顯，我們藉以向聖父呈現祂聖子和我們以及世界所作的一切，我們滿懷信心的向祂獻上我們的意向，相信祂因著聖子的緣故而不會拒絕我們。


C. 朝拜聖木


1. 朝拜聖木的禮儀就好像是宣講基督苦難聖死的延續。在第四世紀時候，被皇后海倫娜所發現在耶路撒冷的聖木，會在聖週星期五被朝拜。厄格利亞講述主教和群眾在真正的十架前鞠躬並親吻它。在第七世紀，這項禮被引進到羅馬，而真正十架的一部分被保存於聖十字架大殿。值得一提的是朝拜的對象不是基督懸於其上的十架，而是十架聖木。

教宗方濟各於2015年聖週星期五在聖伯多祿大殿中主持朝拜聖木禮儀

2. 在第九世紀，伴隨著朝拜聖木，《基督譴責》和《三聖》也被引入到羅馬。

編譯按：所謂《三聖》，與誦唸慈悲串經時結束的一句十分相似：「至聖天主、至聖強有力者、至聖長存者，求祢垂憐我們」。在《基督譴責》的拉丁原文中，首三節都有加上這一小段經文作結。遺憾的是中文本並沒有跟隨。

a. 《基督譴責》為朝拜十架聖木加上一份更人性的觸動。它使我們更根本地感受到基督苦難中人性的一面。在祂的苦難之中，想必基督從不譴責、從不抱怨。祂被領到十架並被釘於其上，猶如一隻被領到屠房的溫純羔羊一樣。

b. 那麼，《基督譴責》該是一首詩體作品，並非為代表基督去表達抱怨，而是為我們表達愧疚。《基督譴責》，大抵是當看見基督被釘於十架之上時，因著悲痛而來的一份來自良心的自我譴責。所以，要解釋這首《基督譴責》，我們就要將之反過來閱讀：「我的救主，祢為我作了甚麼？祢有虧負過我麼？祢引導我們出離埃及，引領我們離開奴役到達自由，但我卻領祢──我的救主──到十架之上」。

c. 另一方面，《三聖》：「至聖天主、至聖強有力者、至聖長存者」是在確認基督的神性。它藉著宣告受苦的基督就是天主，來平衡由《基督譴責》所描述的基督被釘的人性層面。儘管在祂空虛了自己的時刻，祂仍然是天主子。我們的信仰告訴我們，在十架上的，是為我們給出了祂人性生命的（神）天主。


D. 領聖體禮


我們在聖週星期五所領受的聖體具有特別的重要性。這聖體強調出我們與那身體在十架上被刺穿、為我們的緣故而被「擘開」的祂的身體。我們與基督的共融，在其與祂光榮復活的分享以前，實是與祂的受苦和死亡的分享。

（待續）

安鵬浩神父（Rev. Anscar J. Chupungco O.S.B.），本篤會士，菲律賓保祿六世禮儀學院主任，菲律賓天主教主教團禮儀委員會執行秘書。他曾任教於宗座羅馬聖安瑟莫禮儀學院超過20年，亦曾出任宗座聖禮部顧問。他已於2013年1月9日安息主懷。






English Original:
[Both text and audio can be downloaded from the website of the Hong Kong Catholic Diocesan Liturgy Commission]

LITURGY AND SPIRITUALITY OF HOLY WEEK

Anscar J. Chupungco, OSB

GOOD FRIDAY OF THE LORD'S PASSION

A. The Celebration of the Lord's Passion

1. The celebration of the Lord's passion on Good Friday is not done in the form of a Eucharistic celebration because of the ancient tradition of fasting.

2. The celebration takes basically the form of a liturgy of the word with the veneration of the cross and Holy Communion.  The central part of the celebration is the proclamation of the passion as recorded in the Gospel of John.  Through this the events of Christ's suffering and death are recalled and in some way made present to the assembly.

3. The celebration takes place at about three o'clock in the afternoon, the time when Christ died on the cross.  The hour of the celebration attempts to coincide with the hour of Christ's death.  We are dealing not only with an anniversary but also with the reality of the here-and-now.

B. The Liturgy of the Word

1. Toward the eighth century the liturgy of the word on Good Friday in Rome consisted of the following elements: prostration of the celebrant before the altar and silent prayer, two scriptural readings each followed by a responsorial psalm, the proclamation of the passion of Christ, and general intercessions.  The liturgy of Vatican II follows this format very closely.

2. The proclamation of the passion narrative on Good Friday is an ancient tradition in the Church.  In the fourth century a pilgrim from southern France, by the name of Egeria, describes how the bishop of Jerusalem read the passion of our Lord in the church of Golgotha amidst the loud wailing and weeping of the assembly.  The reading of the passion is the heart of the entire liturgy.

   With realism St. Augustine explains in one of his Good Friday homilies: "As we recall the passion of Christ, we see him, as it were with our eyes, nailed on the cross".  We may say that the event on that Friday witnessed by our Lady and the beloved disciple as they stood at the foot of the cross becomes a living reality for us, as we read the passion narrative.  Christ is present in his word, and with him also the event of his passion and death.

3. The general intercessions conclude the liturgy of the word.  The format follows the ancient usage of the Church of Rome, namely: the priest sings the introduction or invitation, then all kneel in silent prayer of petition, and the priest sings the prayer in behalf of all.

   a. On Good Friday the general intercessions match the importance of the moment by the solemnity of their structure and the breadth of the intentions.  The Good Friday general intercessions are the propitious moment to pray for the important and pressing needs of the Church and the whole world.  As St. Teresa of Avila would say: when the world is on fire, we cannot pray for little things.

   b. In the inaccuracy of our human tongue we could say that after the reading of the passion narrative, whereby we present to the Father what his Son has done for us and for the world, we make our petitions with confidence that he will not refuse them on account of the merits of his Son.


C. The Veneration of the Cross

1. The veneration of the cross is like a sequel to the proclamation of Christ's passion and death. In the fourth century in Jerusalem the wood of the cross, discovered by Empress Helena, was venerated on Good Friday.  Egeria recounts that the bishop and people bowed before the true cross and kissed it.  In the seventh century the practice was introduced in Rome, where a relic of the true cross was kept in the Basilica of the Holy Cross.  It should be noted that the object of veneration was not the image of Christ on the cross, but the wood of the cross.

2. The Reproaches and the Trisagion were introduced in Rome in the ninth century to accompany the veneration of the cross.

   a. The Reproaches add to the veneration of the cross a human touch.  They make us profoundly aware of the human side of the passion of Christ.  During his passion Christ never uttered a word of reproach, never a word of bitterness.  He was led to the cross and crucified like a meek lamb being led to the slaughterhouse.

   b. The Reproaches then should be regarded as a poetic form that expresses not any bitterness from the part of Christ but our own confession of guilt.  The Reproaches are the self-reproach of a conscience stricken by grief at the sight of Christ nailed on the cross.  We may read it in a reverse manner: "My Savior, what have you done for me?  How have you offended me?  You led me out of Egypt, from slavery to freedom, but I led you, my Savior, to the cross".

   c. On the other hand, the Trisagion (thrice holy): "Holy is God, holy and strong, holy immortal one" is an affirmation of Christ's divinity.  It balances the human aspect of the crucifixion of Christ, as depicted by the words of the Reproaches, by proclaiming that the suffering Christ is God.  Even in his moment of utter humiliation Christ never ceased to be the Son of God.  Our faith tells us that on the cross it was God who offered his human life for us.

D. Holy Communion

   The Holy Communion we receive on Good Friday has a particular significance.  It stresses our union with him whose body was pierced, "broken" for us, on the cross.  Our union with Christ is a sharing in his suffering and death, before it is a sharing in his glorious resurrection.