VARIOUS SHOTS of Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs church in Verdun during the Good Friday service. A priest stands near the communion table holding a large wooden cross with both hands. The congregation, men and women of all ages, line up in the central aisle and come one by one to pray privately or kneel before the cross and touch or kiss it. Some make the sign of the cross. The officiants and choir members leave the choir to do the same. At the rear of the church, a trio of priests begins a slow procession: the first holds a ceramic censer with incense emanating from it; the other two hold the top and bottom of a wooden cross. The congregation is standing at their pews. Half way down the aisle, they stop and raise the cross and then continue their procession. At the front of the church, the cross is raised again, before the trio of priests enter the choir and place the cross in a stand in front of the altar. Shots taken from the rood screen show the organist from behind, the officiants and the choir, and the congregation sitting in the pews. Three priests walk down the central aisle; the congregation stands and watches them as they pass. When they get to the front of the church, two of them lay face down on a mat, while the third kneels behind them. The congregation prays. The priests stand and enter the choir.