R. Because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
Following Jesus on the road to Calvary was a great multitude of people and of women who bewailed and lamented him. Jesus turned to them and said: Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. Remember the days are coming when they will say to the mountains, 'Fall on us,' and to the hills, 'Cover us.' If they do this when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry.
V. They who sow in tears.
R. Shall reap in joy.
Let Us Pray
O God, you chose rather to have mercy / than to be angry with those who put their hope in you. / Grant us your grace / that we may truly grieve and make amends for the evil we have done, / and thus obtain the gift of your heavenly consolation. This we ask through Christ our Lord. Amen.
LET ME JOIN WITH YOU IN GRIEF,
TAKE AWAY MY UNBELIEF,
ALL THE DAYS THAT I MAY LIVE.
Ninth Station
Jesus Falls a Third time
V. We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.
R. Because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
My people, what have I done to you, or in what have I grieved you? Answer me, I brought you out of the land of Egypt, and you have led me to the gibbet of the Cross. Forty years I fed you with manna in the desert, and you have beaten me with blows and scourges. What more should I have done for you that I have not done?
V. He was lead as a sheep to the slaughter.
R. He was mute as a lamb before the shearer.
Let Us Pray
Guard us, O God on High, by your ever present mercy and goodness. / Without your help, we cannot overcome the evil that beckons us, because of our weak human nature. / Without you we shall surely fall. / Help us to avoid all that is sinful, / and guide our steps in the way of all that is profitable for our salvation. / This we ask of you through Christ our Lord. Amen.
AT THE CROSS WITH YOU TO STAY,
THERE WITH YOU TO WEEP AND PRAY,
THIS I ASK OF YOU TO GIVE.
Tenth Station
Jesus Is Stripped of His Garments
V. We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.
R. Because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
They came to a place that is called Golgatha, or Calvary, the Place of the Skull. There they gave him wine to drink, mingled with gall. He tasted it, but would not drink. They divided his garments among them by drawing lots, and thus was fulfilled what the prophet had said: They divided my garments among them, and for my vesture they cast lots.
V. They gave me gall for my food.
R. And in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
Let Us Pray
Strip us, Lord Jesus of our former self, with its evil deeds and ways. / And clothe us with the newness of nature. / And cloth us with that newness of nature / which you have created in justice, holiness, and truth. / This we ask of you now living and reigning for ever. Amen.
VIRGIN OF ALL VIRGIN BLEST,
LISTEN TO MY FOND REQUEST:
LET ME SHARE YOUR GRIEF AND PAIN.
Eleventh Station
Jesus Is Nailed to the Cross
V. We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.
R. Because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
Having arrived at the place called Calvary, they crucified him there, and with him two thieves, one on the right, the other on the left, and Jesus in the midst. My people, what have I done to you. I exalted you with great power, and you have hanged me on the gibbet of the Cross.
V. They have pierced my hands and feet.
R. They have numbered all my bones.
Let Us Pray
O God, by the sacred passion of your only begotten Son, / and by the five wounds from which his blood was poured, / you repaired the evil wrought by sin in our human nature. / As we on earth revered the wounds which he received, / we pray that in heaven we may experience the fruit of his most precious blood. / This we ask through Christ our Lord. Amen.
LET ME TO MY LATEST BREATH
IN MY BODY BEAR THE DEATH
OF YOUR RISEN SON, ONCE SLAIN.
Twelfth Station
Jesus Dies on the Cross
V. We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.
R. Because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
When Jesus saw his Mother at the foot of the Cross and, standing near her, the disciple whom he loved, he said to his Mother: woman, behold your son. After that he said to the disciple: Behold your mother. Having tasted the vinegar, Jesus said: It is finished. Then, crying in a loud voice, he said: Father, into your hands I commend my spirit. And, bowing his head, he gave up his spirit.
V. Christ for our sake became obedient unto death.
R. Even to death on the Cross.
Let Us Pray
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, / at the sixth hour you mounted the gibbet of the Cross for the redemption of the world, / and shed your precious blood for the remission of our sins. / We humbly beg that, after our death, / we may enter with joy the gates of paradise. / This we ask of you now living and reigning for ever. Amen.
LET HIS STRIPES AND SCOURGINGS SMITE ME,
AT HIS HOLY CROSS REQUITE ME;
LET HIS BLOOD REFRESH ME THERE.
Thirteenth Station
The Body of Jesus Is Placed in the Arms of His Mother
V. We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.
R. Because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
All you who pass by the way, look, and see if there be any sorrow like my sorrow. My eyes are spent with weeping, my whole being is troubled, and my strength is poured out upon the earth, as I behold the cruel death of my son, for the enemy has prevailed against him. Call me not Naomi (that is, beautiful), but call me Mara (that is, bitter), for the Almighty has afflicted me and has dealt quite bitterly with me.
V. Tears are on her cheeks.
R. And there is none to comfort her.
Let Us Pray
At your passion, Lord Jesus, as Simeon had foretold, / a sword of sorrow pierced the sweet soul of Mary, your glorious Virgin Mother. / As we now reverently recall her bitter anguish and suffering, / grant that we may obtain the blessed fruits of your redemption. / This we ask of you now living and reigning for ever. Amen.
WHEN THE FLAMES OF HELL WOULD END ME,
AT THE JUDGMENT DAY, DEFEND ME,
GENTLE VIRGIN, WITH YOUR PRAYER.
Fourteenth Station
Jesus Is Laid in the Tomb
V. We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.
R. Because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
Joseph of Arimathea, who was also a disciple of Jesus, went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus, and Pilate ordered it to be given to him. Having taken the body down from the Cross, Joseph wrapped it in a clean linen shroud, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in a rock. And he rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb.
V. You will not leave my soul in the netherworld.
R. Nor will you let your holy one see corruption.
Let Us Pray
Lord Jesus Christ, you left us a record of your passion in the holy shroud / wherein Joseph wrapped your sacred body when it was taken down from the Cross. / In your mercy grant that through your death and burial / we may experience the glory of your resurrection. / This we ask of you now living and reigning for ever. Amen.
JESUS, WHEN YOU CALL ME HENCE,
BE YOUR MOTHER MY DEFENSE.
BE YOUR CROSS MY SACRIFICE.
WHILE MY BODY HERE DECAYS,
MAY MY SOUL YOUR GOODNESS PRAISE,
SAFE WITH YOU IN PARADISE.
Let Us Pray
O God, you willed that your only begotten Son should suffer and die on the Cross for us, / in order to rescue us from the power of the enemy. / As we now glory in honoring that same holy Cross, / grant that we may everywhere rejoice in your loving care / and obtain the grace of rising with him. / This we ask of you through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
James Tissot [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
