Stations of the Cross

Attend this long-time devotion remembering Christ's suffering and death as we pause, pray, and reflect at each of the 14 stations. 
 

OPENING PRAYER

Dear Jesus, as we begin our meditation on
Your sufferings during the Way of the
Cross, we ask that you expand our hearts
to enter deeply into the merits of Your most
sorrowful passion which brought the
Father's Divine Mercy into the world for the
salvation of souls. Amen.

Station I

Jesus is Condemned to Death

Meditation: Recall how Jesus was scourged and crowned with thorns, and how He was then unjustly condemned by Pilate to die on the Cross.

Prayer: Adorable Jesus, it was not Pilate; it was my owns sins that condemned You to death.  I pray You, by the merits of Your sorrowful journey to Calvary, to assist my soul on its journey to eternity.

Station II

Jesus Accepts His Cross

Meditation: Recall how the heavy Cross was laid upon Jesus’ bruised shoulders.  He accepts it meekly, and courageously because by that Cross He wills to redeem the world.
Prayer: O Jesus, by the merit of Your Cross, grant me the grace to accept meekly and cheerfully the difficulties in my life, that, by so doing, I may always be ready to take up my cross and follow You.

Station III

Jesus Falls for the First Time

Meditation: Laboring under the weight of the Cross, Jesus slowly sets forth on the way to Calvary.  His Agony in the garden has exhausted His Body; He is sore with blows and wounds; His strength fails Him; He falls to the ground under the Cross.

Prayer: It was for my sins, my Jesus, that You bore the heavy burden of Your Cross and fell under its weight. Let my remembrance of these sufferings make me careful, lest I fall into mortal sin.

Station IV

Jesus Meets His Afflicted Mother

Meditation: Recall the meeting between Son and Mother on the way to Calvary. How oppressive that experience must have been for both of them!  What a sword of anguish must have pierced Mary’s maternal heart!

Prayer: My Jesus, by the compassion which You felt for Your Mother, have compassion on me, and permit me to share in her intercession with You.  O Mary, afflicted Mother, intercede for me with your Son, that by His sufferings I may be saved from the wrath which is to come.

Station V

Simon of Cyrene Helps Jesus Carry the Cross

Meditation: Recall how, as Jesus’ strength continued to fail, He became unable to go on; and how the soldiers then seized Simon of Cyrene and forced him to help Jesus carry His Cross.

Prayer: O Lord Jesus, let me also bear Your Cross; let me glory in nothing else.  Let the temptations of this world be crucified to me, and I to them.  Let me not shrink from suffering; let me rather rejoice to be counted worthy of suffering for Your Name’s sake.

Station VI

Veronica Offers Her Veil to Jesus

Meditation: Recall how Veronica, seeing Jesus so afflicted, His face soiled with sweat and blood, offered Him her veil.  Jesus took the veil, wiped His face, and left imprinted on the cloth the image of His Divine Countenance.

Prayer: O Jesus, may the remembrance of Your suffering move me to hatred for my sins; may it stir up in me a more fervent love for You. Let the image of Your Countenance be impressed upon my mind until I am made over in Your likeness.

Station VII

Jesus Falls for the Second Time

Meditation: Recall how Jesus’ struggle to go on increased His pain and cost Him a constantly greater loss of blood until His strength failed a second time, and He fell upon the ground again.

Prayer: O Jesus, lying prostrate again under the burden of my sins, how often have I offended You in the past? Let me for the future rather die than ever offend You again.

Station VIII

Jesus Speaks to the Women of Jerusalem

Meditation: Recall how some holy women of Jerusalem, upon seeing Jesus stumbling along and bathed in His own blood, wept with compassion. To them, Jesus said: “Do not weep for Me; weep for yourself and  your children.”

Prayer: O Lord Jesus, I grieve for Your sufferings, too, and for my sins which caused You to suffer.  Let me mourn that I may be comforted. Let me escape the awful judgment that awaits those who reject or neglect You in this earthly life.

Station IX

Jesus Falls for the Third Time

Meditation: Jesus, arriving exhausted at the foot of Calvary, falls for the third time. His weakness was extreme and the cruelty of His executioners was excessive; they tried to hasten His steps when He hardly had the strength to move.

Prayer: O Lord Jesus, I pray You, by the merits of this third painful fall, to forgive my frequent falls into sin and my slowness to rise and return again to You. Let the remembrance of Your sufferings make me hate my sins more and more.

Station X

Jesus is Stripped of His Garments

Meditation: Recall now how Jesus arrived at the place of His Crucifixion. The soldiers tore His clothes from His bleeding Body, leaving Him exposed to the cold, rude stare of the scoffing crowd.

Prayer: Innocent Jesus, by Your torment in being stripped of Your clothing, help me to put off every inordinate attachment to the things of earth, so that I may give all my love to You, who are worthy of all my love.

Station XI