
At three o’clock on Friday afternoon, I daresay many are dreaming of the end of the school day or the working week. Here in the monastery there will be a short pause when each of us will stop whatever she is doing, turn to the nearest crucifix and utter a brief, wordless prayer of sorrow for sin, praise and thanksgiving. It is our way of marking the hour of Christ’s death and is ushered in without fuss or fanfare. It is a private act none of you would know about unless I had mentioned it.
I have, in fact, mentioned it once before so why do so again? One reason is that I happened to quote Isaiah 49.16 at the end of our Facebook page prayer intentions today. It is a short step from the tattoos of the Old Testament to the wounds of the nails imprinted in Christ’s flesh for all eternity. A second reason is that I often ask myself whether we are almost too busy living in the joy of the Resurrection, ‘celebrating’ even those events that are tinged with human sadness and must, of necessity, include large elements of uncertainty about how God views things, eg funerals. When I die, I don’t want premature canonisation by my friends (family and community are far too aware of my defects to fall into that trap!), I want prayers for the mercy and forgiveness of God. I want Christ’s redemptive death to have full effect in my life, now and hereafter.
Three o’clock on Friday afternoon is a moment we set aside for explicitly remembering what I trust we never forget: we live by the mercy and goodness of God. There is no shortcut to that, no D.I.Y salvation. The Death and Resurrection of Christ are one saving event. To concentrate too narrowly on one aspect is to diminish our appreciation of the wonders God has worked for us. Perhaps you, too, could spare a moment for God at three this afternoon.







I pray the Divine Mercy chaplet most afternoons at 3.00 as it happens, but will remember you most especially in prayer today.
Me too – between 3PM and 4PM. The Hour of Mercy.
I have an alarm on my watch that taps my wrist everyday at 3
An important act.
Thank you as aKwan’s
Although this afternoon having my just had my nearly 2 year old grandson here overnight I might be asleep – he did wake up very early for me, you would have taken a 5am start in your stride 🙂
What other prayers/acts do people do at 3:00 on Friday?
I would need something short/unobtrusive as I will be working…
Without the Lord’s ultimate and eternal sacrifice for us all there would have been no resurrection or redemption of our souls. The Divine Plan is the constant reminder of the perpetual struggle between good and evil, love and hate, birth and death. Jesus brought grace, hope, love and peace to the world for us all forever.
Thankyou for this. I too, try to do this, but not just on afridays. God bless you all for all that you do and for all that you share with us