Good Friday Retreat 2025

Devotion to the Five Wounds Of Christ

THE devotion to the Five Wounds is a traditional form of prayer that focuses on the physical sufferings of Christ—his pierced hands, feet, and side. It developed in the Middle Ages as a way of meditating on the Passion, attending to the body of Jesus as it was wounded and offered on the Cross.
    This form of prayer invites slow, attentive reflection. It does not aim to explain suffering, but to remain with it—to stay close to Christ in his pain, and to hold before God the woundedness of the world, and of ourselves.
    Each section of this meditation includes a passage of Scripture, a short reflection, and further verses for prayer. 

These readings and meditations were first delivered at St Michael and All Saints, Edinburgh, on Good Friday 2025 by the Revd Oliver Brewer-Lennon and Faith Sutherland.

Image for Reflection

The painting shown below may be used as a focus for prayer and meditation while engaging with these reflections.

Francisco de Zurbarán, The Crucifixion (1627), oil on canvas, 290.3 × 165.5 cm. Robert A. Waller Memorial Fund, 1954.15. The Art Institute of Chicago.