Good Friday Response (2)

My enemies lie in wait for me without a cause.
Holy Father, have mercy and deliver me.

I was led as a lamb to the slaughter, caught by my enemies like a bird in a snare without a cause.
Holy Father, have mercy and deliver me.

Evil people opened their mouths against me, they gnashed their teeth, seeking to devour me. They hissed and shouted and shook their heads, bringing false witness against me without a cause.
Holy Father, have mercy and deliver me.

They condemned and nailed me to the cross with nails of iron. Judas sold me for thirty pieces of silver. They pierced my side with a spear, and there flowed out water with innocent blood without a cause.
Holy Father, have mercy and deliver me.

They surrounded me, even when I was buried in the tomb. They put a seal on the stone without a cause.
Holy Father, have mercy and deliver me.

Look, merciful Father, and help the wretched, for whom I suffer such bitter punishments without a cause.
Holy Father, have mercy and deliver me.

Source: Gallican Sacramentary, 842. Freely modified from Devotions from Ancient and Medieval Sources (Western), ed. Rev. Charles Plummer, 1916.