The seventh: “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit!” (Luke 23:46)

With my own, I give into your gracious hands
all believers' spirits. My death gives them life;
my body's burial lifts them to your bosom;
my descent to hell is their ascent to heaven.
As I commit my spirit to your hand,
I give them peace, for which I long have striven
in heart's pain and torment, bloodied on the cross,
till at last I reach my suffering's end.

My love does not desire suffering,
yet I will even die, so that mortality itself
becomes immortal. My death conquers death.
I bring resurrection with me into the earth. 
Earth and Death, you think you've swallowed Life:
no! Even dying cannot extinguish Life.

Click here to read this sonnet in the original German.
Note: the document linked here contains the entire series of 7 sonnets.

The sixth: “It is finished.” (John 19:30)

The enemy is slain, Hell robbed of its might.
The serpent's head is crushed, scripture and law fulfilled,
the accusal of the conscience and God's anger stilled.
This heroic strike has stunned Hell's kingdom
and now poor souls may enter heaven.
In vain the hellish dragon bellows at the faithful,
wrapped splendidly in my victorious flag.
Hell, Devil, Sin and Death can't harm the firm believer.

The whole Salvation-work is now complete:
I, the sacrificial lamb, slaughtered once for all.
This I alone have well and truly done.
Whoever asks more sacrifice despises my completeness.
Now I have finished everything and you are free.
Trust not in your merit; you are indebted to me.

Click here to read this sonnet in the original German.
Note: the document linked here contains the entire series of 7 sonnets.

The fifth: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34)

My God, how brutal your abandonment!
All your fury-horde now overwhelms me.
Ah! you withdraw from me your God-light and your grace.
I am a worm, most miserable of all. 
My sweet refreshment? Harsh and bitter bile.
But it will be my comfort and sweet pleasure
if through my own I can dispel all others' pain.
In greatest anguish, my heart always flows with love.

I'd rather see myself than them forsaken,
and when I suffer much, and even more,
it does not trouble me, if they will gain from it.
If my abandonment can be a source of comfort
for them, then let me be abandoned.
My blood shall flow and they shall be revived.

Click here to read this sonnet in the original German.
Note: the document linked here contains the entire series of 7 sonnets.

The fourth: “I thirst” (John 19:28)

I thirst to make you drunk with joy,
so you,  in good spirits, may rejoice eternally.
My blood, so thirsty to prepare your peace,
breaks out like sweat in crimson drops of dew.
It thirsts with the weak and languishing,
yearns to become for them at last
a drink that frees them from the soul's thirst—
a thirst, not for wine, but for the heart's refreshing.

I could strike the rock if I so chose;
I, the Fount of Life, could create  fresh springs,
make a brooklet run into my mouth.
I am left parched so you will be forever filled.
See, all this I willingly endure for you.
Replenish me with your repentant tears.

Click here to read this sonnet in the original German.
Note: the document linked here contains the entire series of 7 sonnets.

The Third: “Woman, behold, your son!” (John 19:26)

Ah, mother, my pain wounds you as if it were your own!
Forgive me: I seek your salvation more than your happiness.
I must do it; so it is written of me.
My grace and your sin plunge me in misery.
But do not think yourself forsaken—see,
while I am dying, my word provides for you.
Though now I am accursed on the cross,
I turn John's heart toward you, yours toward him.

And you, my dearest friend, care for my mother,
the one in whose body I took on the flesh
in which I die for your salvation.
Love will not succumb to the power of pain.
Her grief is one more branch on this tree
on which, through death, I bring you life.

Click here to read this sonnet in the original German.  
(Note: the document linked here contains the entire series of  7 sonnets.)

The Second:

“Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43)

I who am the Truth, the Way, the Life
that lead to paradise, I tell you with all grace:
though now you see us both hang here,
today, together with me, you will soar.
He who is Life can offer life.
Now you sense no power in me, divine or human,
yet, worm-like, I gain heavenly splendour.
My deepest lowliness lifts heavenward.

One who would be God's child and my true servant
must not just love my cross but also bear it,
and through the torrents enter heaven.
I delight in those, like you on the cross,
who trust me despite appearances.
To save you, I let myself be stricken.

Click here to read this sonnet in the original German. 
(Note: the document linked here contains the entire series of  7 sonnets.)

For the season of Lent, we offer our translations of Greiffenberg’s series based on the Seven Last Words of Christ. These “words,” or brief sayings, gathered from the four gospel accounts, are Christ’s last utterances on the cross. For centuries, Christians have used them in Lenten devotions. Many composers have set this group of texts to music.

The first: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34)

Forgive, O Father, what they do to me.
The deed is wicked; yet my spilt blood is good
for the wicked, even for those who spilled it.
I offer it for those so keen to wound me:
life, in my blood, destroys the murderers' death.
My blood, a fiery passion for the world,
is also a wondrous flood that wipes out sin,
wringing forgiveness out of every drop.

If only they repent their evil, it will be atoned.
My grace rejoices in repentance and humility.
I want the power of my blood to serve all people:
none should forgo salvation, fearing their unworthiness.
Who is more unworthy than those who wound me?
Yet if they trust me, I will make them whole.

Click here to read this sonnet in the original German.