It is empty.  It has all been stripped away.  Shadows cling where light once prevailed.

All of our Prayer Book collects follow a standard pattern: address toward and naming of God, supplication- 'grant that...'  'give us grace that...', and a naming of the Trinity.  Of the 200 plus collects, only Good Friday diverts from this pattern.

"Almighty God, we pray you graciously to behold this your family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed, and given into the hands of sinners, and to suffer death upon the cross." 

Today, amid darkness, emptiness and stripping, we simply ask God to behold us, to see us, to be mindful of us.

Todd Donatelli