Stations of the Cross
Opening Prayer
Mary, my Mother, you were
the first to live the Way of the Cross. You felt every pain and every
humiliation. You were unafraid of the ridicule
heaped upon you by the crowds. Your eyes were ever on Jesus and His Pain. Is that the secret of your
miraculous strength? How did your loving
heart bear such a burden and such a weight? As you watched Him stumble and
fall, were you tortured by the memory of all the yesterdays- His birth, His
hidden life and His ministry?
You were so desirous of
everyone loving Him. What a heartache it was to see so many hate Him - hate
with a diabolical fury. Take my hand as I make this Way of the Cross. Inspire me with
those thoughts that will make me realize
how much He loves me. Give me light to apply each station to my daily life and
to remember my neighbor's needs in this Way of the Pain.
Obtain for me the grace
to understand the mystery, the wisdom and the Divine love as I go from scene to
scene. Grant that my heart, like yours, may be pierced through by the sight of
His sorrow and the misery and that I may determine never to offend Him again.
What a price He paid to cover my sins,
to open the gates of heaven for me and to fill my soul with His own Spirit .
Sweet Mother, let us travel this way together and grant that the love in my
poor heart may give you some slight consolation. Amen.
The First Station:
Jesus Is Condemned To Death
We adore thee….
My Jesus,
the world still has You on trial. It keeps asking who You are and why You make
the demands You make. It asks over and over the question, If You are God's Son,
why do You permit the world to be in the state it is in? Why are You so silent?
Though
the arrogance of the world angers me, I must admit that silently, in the depths
of my soul, I too have these questions. Your humility frustrates me and makes
me uncomfortable. Your strength before Pilate as You drank deeply from the
power of the Father, gives me the answer to my question - The Father's Will.
The Father permits many sufferings in my life but it is all for my good. If
only I too could be silent in the face of worldly prudence - steadfast in the
faith when all seems lost - calm when accused unjustly - free from tyranny of
human respect - ready to do the Father's Will no matter how difficult.
Silent
Jesus, give us all the graces we need to stand tall in the face of the ridicule
of the world. Give the poor the strength not to succumb to their privation but
to be ever aware of their dignity as sons of God. Grant that we might not bend
to the crippling disease of worldly glory but be willing to be deprived of all
things rather than lose Your friendship. My Jesus, though we are accused daily
of being fools, let the vision of Quiet Dignity standing before Monstrous
Injustice, give us all the courage to be Your followers. Amen.
The Second Station:
Jesus Carries His Cross
How
could any human impose such a burden upon Your torn and bleeding body, Lord
Jesus? Each movement of the cross drove the thorns deeper into Your Head. How
did You keep the hatred from welling up in Your Heart? How did the injustice of
it all not ruffle your peace? The Father's Will was hard on You - Why do I
complain when it is hard on me?
I see injustice and am frustrated and when my
plans to alleviate it seems futile, I despair. When I see those burdened with
poverty suffer ever more and cross is added to cross my heart is far from
serene. I utterly fail to see the dignity of the cross as it is carried with
love. I would so much rather be without it.
My
worldly concept is that suffering, like food, should be shared equally. How
ridiculous I am, dear Lord. Just as we do not all need the same amount of
material food, neither do we need the same amount of spiritual food and that is
what the cross is in my life, isn't it - spiritual food proportional to my
needs. Amen.
The Third Station:
Jesus Falls the First Time
My Jesus,
it seems to me, that as God, You would have carried Your cross without
faltering, but You did not. You fell beneath it's weight to show me You understand
when I fall. Is it pride that makes me want to shine even in pain? You were not
ashamed to fall- to admit the cross was heavy. There are those in world whom my
pride will not tolerate as I expect everyone to be strong, yet I am weak. I am
ashamed to admit failure in anything.
If the
Father permits failure in my life just as He permitted You to fall, then I must
know there is good in that failure which my mind will never comprehend. I must
not concentrate on the eyes of others as they rest upon me in my falls. Rather,
I must reach up to touch that invisible hand and drink in that invisible
strength ever at my side.
Weak
Jesus, help all men who try so hard to be good but whose nature is constantly
opposed to them walking straight and tall down the narrow road of life. Raise
their heads to see the glory that is to come rather than the misery of the
present moment.
Your
love for me gave You strength to rise from Your fall. Look upon all those whom
the world considers unprofitable servants and give them the courage to be more
concerned as to how they stand before You, rather than their fellowmen. Amen.
The Fourth Station:
Jesus Meets His Afflicted
Mother
My Jesus,
it was a great sorrow to realize Your pain caused Mary so much grief. As
Redeemer, You wanted her to share in Your pain for mankind. When You glanced at
each other in unutterable suffering, what gave you both the courage to carry on
without the least alleviation - without anger at such injustice?
It seems
as if you desired to suffer every possible pain to give me an example of how to
suffer when my time comes. What a humiliation for You when Your mother saw you
in such a pitiable state - weak - helpless - at the mercy of sinful men -
holiness exposed to evil in all hideousness.
Did every
moment of that short encounter seem like an eternity? As I see so much
suffering in the world, there are times I think it is all hopeless. There is an
element of lethargy in my prayers for mankind that says "I'll pray, but
what good will it do? The sick grow sicker and the hungry starve. " I
think of that glance between You and Mary - the glance that said, "Let us
give this misery to the Father for the salvation of souls. The Father's power
takes our pain and frustration and renews souls, saves them for a new life - a
life of eternal joy, eternal happiness. It is worth it all." Give
perseverance to the sick so they can carry the cross of frustration and agony
with love and resignation for the salvation of others. Amen.
The Fifth Station:
Simon Helps Jesus Carry His
Cross
My Jesus,
Your tormentors enlisted a Simon of Cyrene to help You carry Your cross. Your
humility is beyond my comprehension. Your power upheld the whole universe and
yet You permit one of Your creatures to help You carry a cross. I imagine Simon
was reluctant to take part in Your shame. He had no idea that all who watched
and jeered at him would pass into oblivion while his name would go down in
history and eternity as the one who helped his God in need. Is it not so with
me, dear Jesus? Even when I reluctantly carry my cross as Simon did, it
benefits my soul.
If I
keep my eyes on You and watch how You suffered, I will be able to bear my cross
with greater fortitude. Were you trying to tell all those who suffer from
prejudice to have courage? Was Simon a symbol of all those who are hated
because of race, color and creed?
Simon
wondered as he took those beams upon his shoulders, why he was chosen for such
a heavy burden and now he knows. Help me Jesus, to trust your loving Providence
The Sixth Station:
Veronica Wipes the Face of
Jesus
My Jesus, where were all the hundreds of peoples
whose bodies and souls were healed by you? Where were they when You needed
someone to give You the least sign of comfort? Ingratitude must have borne down
upon Your heart and made the cross nearly impossible to carry. There are times
I too feel all my efforts for Your Kingdom are futile and end in nothingness.
Did your eyes roam through the crowd for the comfort of just one individual -
one sign of pity - one sign of grief?
My heart
thrills with a sad joy when I think of one woman, breaking away from fear and
human respect and offering You her thin veil to wipe Your bleeding Face. Your
loving heart, ever watching for the least sign of love, imprinted the Image of
your torn Face upon it! How can You forget Yourself so completely and reward
such a small act of kindness?
I must
admit, I have been among those who were afraid to know You rather than like
Veronica. She did not care if the whole world knew she loved You. Heartbroken
Jesus, give me that quality of the soul so necessary to witness to spread Your
Word - to tell all people of Your love for them. Send many into Your Vineyard
so the people of all nations may receive the Good News. Imprint Your Divine
Image upon my soul and let the thin veil of my human nature bear a perfect
resemblance to your loving Spirit. Amen
The Seventh Station:
Jesus Falls A Second Time
My Jesus,
one of the beautiful qualities the people admired in You was Your strength in
time of ridicule - Your ability to rise above the occasion. But now, You fall a
second time - apparently conquered by the pain of the Cross. People who judged
You by appearances made a terrible mistake. What looked like weakness was
unparalleled strength! I often judge by
appearances and how wrong I am most of the time. The world judges entirely by
this fraudulent method of discerning. It looks down upon those who apparently
have given their best and are now in need. It judges the poor as failures, the
sick as useless and the aged as a burden. How wrong that kind of judgment is in
the light of your second fall! Your greatest moment was Your weakest one. Your
greatest triumph was in failure. Your greatest act of love was in desolation.
Your greatest show of power was in that utter lack of strength that threw You
to the ground. Weak and powerful Jesus,
give me the grace to see beyond what is visible and be more aware of Your
Wisdom in the midst of weakness. Give the aged, sick, handicapped, retarded,
deaf and blind the fruit of joy so they may ever be aware of the Father's gift
and the vast difference between what the world sees and what the Father sees
that they may glory in their weakness so the power of God may be manifest. Amen
The
Eighth Station:
Jesus Speaks to the Holy Women
My Jesus,
I am amazed at Your compassion for others in Your time of need. When I suffer,
I have a tendency to think only of myself but You forgot Yourself completely.
When You saw the holy women weeping over Your torments, You consoled them and
taught them to look deeper into Your Passion. You wanted them to understand
that the real evil to cry over was the rejection You suffered from the Chosen people - a people set apart from every other nation,
who refused to accept God's Son.
The Act of Redemption would go on and no one would ever be
able to take away Your dignity as Son of God, but the evil, greed, jealousy and
ambition in the hearts of those who should have recognized You was the issue to
grieve over. To be so close to God made man and miss Him completely was the
real crime.
My Jesus, I fear I do the same when I strain gnats and then
swallow camels - when I take out the splinter in my brother's eye and forget
the beam in my own. It is such a gift - this gift of faith. It is such a
sublime grace to possess Your own Spirit. Why haven't I advanced in holiness of
life? I miss the many disguises you take upon Yourself and see only people,
circumstances and human events, not the loving hand of the Father guiding all
things. Help all those who are discouraged, sick, lonely and old to recognize
Your Presence in their midst. Amen
The Ninth Station:
Jesus Falls the Third Time
My Jesus,
even with the help of Simon You fell a third time. Were You telling me that
there may be times in my life that I will fall again and again despite the help
of friends and loved ones? There are times when the crosses You permit in my
life are more than I can bear. It is as if all the sufferings of a life time
are suddenly compressed into the present moment and it is more than I can
stand.
Though it grieves my heart to see You so weak and helpless,
it is a comfort to my soul to know that you understand my sufferings from Your
own experience. Your love for me made You want to experience every kind of pain
just so I could have someone to look to for example and courage.
When I cry out from the depths of my soul, "This
suffering is more than I can bear," do You whisper, "Yes, I
understand"? When I am discouraged after many falls, do you say in my
innermost being, "Keep going, I know how hard it is to rise"?
There are many people who are sorely tried in body and soul
with alcohol and drug weaknesses who try and try and fall again and again.
Through the humiliation of this third fall, give them the courage and
perseverance to take up their cross and follow you. Amen
The Tenth
Station:
Jesus is Stripped of His Garments
It seems that every step to Calvary
brought You fresh humiliation, my Jesus. How Your sensitive nature recoiled at
being stripped before a crowd of people. You desired to leave this life as You
entered it - completely detached from all the comforts of this world. You want
me to know without a doubt that you loved me with an unselfish love. Your love
for me caused You nothing but pain and sorrow. You gave everything and received
nothing in return. Why do I find it so hard to be detached? In your loving mind, dear Jesus, did You look
up to the Father as You stood there on that windy hill, shivering from cold and
shame and trembling from fear, and ask Him to have mercy on those who would
violate their purity and make love a mockery? Did you ask forgiveness for those
whose greed would make them lie, cheat and steal for a few pieces of cold
silver?
Forgive us all, dear Jesus. Look upon the world with pity,
for mankind has lost its way and the principles of this world make lust a fun
game and luxury a necessity. Detachment has become merely another hardship of
the poor and obedience the fault of the weak. Have mercy on us and grant the
people of this day the courage to see and know themselves and the light to
change. Amen
The Eleventh
Station:
Jesus is Nailed to the Cross
It is hard to imagine a God being nailed to a cross by His
own creatures. It is even more difficult for my mind to understand a love that
permitted such a thing to happen! As those men drove heavy nails into Your
hands and feet, dear Jesus, did You offer the pain as reparation for some
particular human weakness and sin? Was the nail in Your right hand for those
who spend their lives in dissipation and boredom? Was the nail in Your left hand in reparation
for all consecrated souls who live lukewarm lives? Were You stretching out Your
arms to show us how much You love us? As the feet that walked the hot, dusty
roads were nailed fast, did they cramp up in a deadly grip of pain to make
reparation for all those who so nimbly run the broad road of sin and
self-indulgence?
It seems, dear Jesus, Your love has held You bound hand and
foot as Your heart pleads for a return of love. You seem to shout from the top
of the hill "I love you - come to me - see, I am held fast - I cannot hurt
you - only you can hurt Me." How very hard is the heart that can see such
love and turn away. Is it not true I too have turned away when I did not accept
the Father's Will with love? Teach me to keep my arms ever open to love, to
forgive and to render service - willing to be hurt rather than hurt, satisfied
to love and not be loved in return. Amen
The Twelfth
Station:
Jesus Dies on the Cross
God is dead! No wonder the earth quaked, the sun hid
itself, the dead rose and Mary stood by in horror. Your human body gave up it's
soul in death but Your Divinity, dear Jesus, continued to manifest its power.
All creation rebelled as the Word made Flesh departed from this world. Man
alone was too proud to see and too stubborn to acknowledge truth.
Redemption was accomplished! Man would never have an excuse
to forget how much You loved him. The thief on Your right saw something he
could not explain - he saw a man on a tree and knew He was God. His need made
him see his own guilt and Your innocence. The Promise of eternal life made the
remaining hours of his torture. endurable. A common thief responded to Your love with
deep Faith, Hope, and Love. He saw more than his eyes envisioned - he felt a
Presence he could not explain and would not argue with. He was in need and
accepted the way God designed to help him.
Forgive our pride, dear Jesus as we spend hours
speculating, days arguing and often a lifetime in rejecting Your death, which
is a sublime mystery. Have pity on those whose intelligence leads them to pride
because they never feel the need to reach out to the Man of Sorrows for
consolation. Amen
The Thirteenth Station:
The Thirteenth Station:
Jesus is Taken Down From
the Cross
My Jesus,
it was with deep grief that Mary finally took You into her arms and saw all the
wounds sin had inflicted upon You. Mary Magdalene looked upon Your dead Body
with horror. Nicodemus, the man so full of human respect, who came to You by
night, suddenly received the courage to help Joseph take you down from the
Cross. You are once more surrounded by only a few followers. When loneliness
and failure cross my path, let me think of this lonely moment and this total
failure - failure in the eyes of men. How wrong they were - how mistaken their
concept of success! The greatest act of love was given in desolation and the
most successful mission accomplished and finished when all seemed lost. Is this
not true in my life, dear Jesus? I judge my failures harshly. I demand
perfection instead of holiness. My idea of success is for all to end well -
according to my liking.
Give to all men the grace to see that doing Your Will is
more important than success. If failure is permitted for my greater good then
teach me how to use it to my advantage. Let me say as You once said, that to do
the Will of the Father is my food. Let not the standards of this world take
possession of me or destroy the good You have set for me - to be Holy and to
accomplish the Father's Will with great love. Let me accept praise or blame,
success or failure with equal serenity. Amen
The Fourteenth Station:
Jesus is Laid in the Sepulchre
My Jesus,
You were laid to rest in a stranger's tomb. You were born with nothing of this
world's goods and You died detached from everything. When You came into the
world, men slept and angels sang and now as You leave it, Creation is silent
and only a few weep. Both events were clothed in obscurity. The majority of men
live in such a way. Most of us live and die knowing and known by only a few.
Were You trying to tell us, dear Jesus, how very important our lives are just
because we are accomplishing the Father's Will? Will we ever learn the lesson
of humility that makes us content with who we are, where we are and what we
are?
Will our Faith ever be strong enough to see power in
weakness and good in the sufferings of our lives? Will our Hope be trusting
enough to rely on Your Providence even when we have nowhere to lay our head?
Will our Love ever be strong enough not to take scandal in the cross? My Jesus,
hide my soul in Your heart as You lie in the Sepulcher alone. Let my heart be
as a fire to keep you warm. Let my desire to know and love You be like a torch
to light up the darkness. Let my soul sing softly a hymn of repentant love as
the hours pass and Your Resurrection is at hand. Let me rejoice, dear Jesus,
with all the Angels in a hymn of praise and thanksgiving for so great a love-
so great a God- so great a day! Amen
Closing Prayer
My Jesus, I have traveled Your Way of the
cross. It seems so real and I feel so ashamed. I complain of my sufferings and
find obedience to the Father's Will difficult. My Mind bogged down by the
poverty, sickness, starvation, greed and hatred in the world. There are many innocent
people who suffer so unjustly. There are those born with physical and mental
defects. Do we understand that You
continue to carry Your cross in the minds and bodies of each human being? Help me to see the Father's Will
in every incident of my daily life. This
is what You did - you saw the Father's Will in Your persecutors, Your enemies
and your pain. You saw a beauty in the Cross and embraced it as a desired
treasure. My worldly mind is dulled by injustice and suffering and I lose sight of the glory that is to come. Help
me to trust the Father and to realize that there is something great behind the
most insignificant suffering. There is Someone lifting my cross to fit my
shoulders - there is Divine Wisdom in all the petty annoyances that irk my soul
every day. Teach me the lessons
contained in my Cross, the wisdom of its
necessity, the beauty of its variety and the fortitude that accompanies even the smallest
cross. Mary, My Mother, obtain for me the grace to be Jesus to my neighbor and
to see my neighbor in Jesus.
We make this …..Amen.
