Prayer Before the Cross (Good Friday)

We adore your cross, O Lord, we praise and glorify your holy resurrection, for behold, by the wood of the cross joy has come into all the world. May God have mercy on us and bless us; may he let his face shed its light upon us and have mercy on us. Faithful cross, above all other, one and only noble tree: none in foliage, none in blossom, none in fruit thy peer may be. Sweetest wood and sweetest iron, sweetest weight is hung on thee. Amen.