How Silently?

SILENT night . . .
"But the crowds cried out,
'Crucify him.  Crucify him.'"

Holy night . . .
"Then they spat in his face and
struck him with their fists.
Others slapped him and said,
'Prophesy to us, Christ. Who
hit you?'"

All is calm . . .
"When Pilate saw...that
an uproar was starting, he took
water and washed his hands...
'I am innocent of this man's blood.'
All the people answered,
'Let his blood be on
us and on our children.'"

All is bright . . .
"And darkness came over the
whole land until the ninth hour,
for the sun stopped shining.
And the curtain of the temple
was torn in two."

Round yon virgin, mother and child . . .
"Who is my mother, and who
are my brothers?...From now
on...family divided against each other..."

Holy infant . . .
"And carrying his own cross, he
went out to the place of the
skull."

So tender and mild . . .
"And he cried with a loud voice,
'My God, my God.  Why have you
forsaken me?'"

Sleep . . .
"Foxes have holes and birds of
the air have nests, but the Son
of man has no place to lay his
head."

In heavenly peace . . .
"Do you think I came to bring
peace to the earth?  I did not
come to bring peace, but a
sword."

Sleep in heavenly peace.
"'It is finished.'  With that,
he bowed his head and gave up
his spirit."

"And we beheld his glory, the glory
of the one and only Son."

-- Ruth Senter, excerpt from The Stone That Rolled Away