Stations of the Cross

O merciful Savior, grant that while we follow Thy blessed footsteps along this Way of Sorrow, our hearts may be so touched with true contrition that Thou mayest turn our weeping into gladness by giving us remission of all our sins.  Amen.

O most sorrowful Mother Mary, who first followed in the way of the cross, may the Most Adorable Trinity, through thy most powerful intercession, receive and accept, in reparation for our sins, and the sins of the whole world, the affections of sorrow and love, with which we intend, with Gods help, to perform this holy exercise.  Amen.

§  Before each Station say:

V. We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee.

      R.  Because by thy Holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world.

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§  After each Station say:

Act of Contrition

O God, we love thee with our whole hearts and above all things are heartily sorry that we have offended thee.  May we never offend thee any more.  O, may we love thee without ceasing, and make it our delight to do in all things thy most holy will.

Our Father

Hail, Mary

Gloria Patri

V.   Have mercy upon us, O Lord.

      R.   Have mercy upon us.

+ May the souls of the faithful, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen.

First Station

Jesus is condemned to Death

V.  We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee.

R.  Because by thy Holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world.

Leaving the house of Caiaphas where he has been blasphemed, and the house of Herod where he has been mocked, Jesus is dragged before Pilate, his back torn with scourges, his head crowned with thorns; and he who on the last day will judge the living and the dead, is himself condemned to a shameful death.

It was for us that thou didst suffer, O blessed Jesus; it was for our sins thou wast condemned to die.  Oh, grant that we may detest them from the bottom of our hearts, and by this repentance obtain thy mercy and pardon.

Act of Contrition

O God, we love thee with our whole hearts and above all things are heartily sorry that we have offended thee.  May we never offend thee any more.  O, may we love thee without ceasing, and make it our delight to do in all things thy most holy will.

Our Father

Hail, Mary

Gloria Patri

V.   Have mercy upon us, O Lord.

       R.   Have mercy upon us.

+ May the souls of the faithful, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen.

By the Cross sad vigil keeping,

Stood the Mother, doleful weeping,

Where her son extended hung.

Second Station

Jesus receives the Cross

V.  We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee.

R.  Because by thy Holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world.

A heavy cross is laid upon the bruised shoulders of Jesus.  He receives it with meekness, nay with a secret joy, for it is the instrument with which he is to redeem the world.  What efforts do we make, on the other hand, to escape all suffering as far as we can?

O Jesus, grant us, by virtue of thy cross, to embrace with meekness and cheerful submission the difficulties of our state and to be ever ready to take up our cross and follow thee.

Act of Contrition

O God, we love thee with our whole hearts and above all things are heartily sorry that we have offended thee.  May we never offend thee any more.  O, may we love thee without ceasing, and make it our delight to do in all things thy most holy will.

Our Father

Hail, Mary

Gloria Patri

V.   Have mercy upon us, O Lord.

       R.   Have mercy upon us.

+ May the souls of the faithful, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen.

For her soul of joy bereaved,

Smit with anguish, deeply grieved,

Lo, the piercing sword hath wrung.

Third Station

Jesus falls the first time under the weight of the Cross

V.  We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee.

R.  Because by thy Holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world.

Bowed down under the weight of the Cross, Jesus slowly sets forth on the way to Calvary, amidst the mockeries and insults of the crowd.  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.

O Jesus!  Who for our sins didst bear the heavy burden of the Cross and fall under its weight, may the thought of thy sufferings make us watchful over ourselves, and save us from any grievous fall into sin.

Act of Contrition

O God, we love thee with our whole hearts and above all things are heartily sorry that we have offended thee.  May we never offend thee any more.  O, may we love thee without ceasing, and make it our delight to do in all things thy most holy will.

Our Father

Hail, Mary

Gloria Patri

V.   Have mercy upon us, O Lord.

       R.   Have mercy upon us.

+ May the souls of the faithful, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen.

Oh, how sad and sore distressed

Now was she that Mother blessed

Of the sole-begotten One!

Fourth Station

Jesus Meets His Blessed Mother

V.  We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee.

R.  Because by thy Holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world.

Still burdened with his Cross, and wounded yet more by his fall, Jesus proceeds on his way.  He is met by his Mother.  What a meeting must that have been!  What a sword of anguish must have pierced that Mothers bosom!  What must have been the compassion of that Son for his holy Mother!

O Jesus!  By the compassion which thou didst feel for thy Mother, have compassion on us and give us a share in her intercession.  O Mary, most afflicted Mother!  Intercede for us, that through the sufferings of thy Son we may be delivered from the wrath to come.

Act of Contrition

O God, we love thee with our whole hearts and above all things are heartily sorry that we have offended thee.  May we never offend thee any more.  O, may we love thee without ceasing, and make it our delight to do in all things thy most holy will.

Our Father

Hail, Mary

Gloria Patri

V.   Have mercy upon us, O Lord.

       R.   Have mercy upon us.

+ May the souls of the faithful, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen.

Woe-begone with hearts prostration,

Mother, meek, the bitter Passion

Saw she of her glorious Son.

Fifth Station

The Cross is laid on Simon of Cyrene

V.  We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee.

R.  Because by thy Holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world.

As the strength of Jesus fails, and he is unable to proceed, the executioners seize and compel Simon of Cyrene to carry his Cross.  The virtue of that Cross changes his heart, the compulsory task becomes a privilege and joy.

O Lord Jesus!  May it be our privilege also to bear thy Cross; may we glory in nothing else; by it may the world be crucified unto us and we unto the world; may we never shrink from suffering, but rather rejoice if we be counted worthy to suffer for thy Names sake.

Act of Contrition

O God, we love thee with our whole hearts and above all things are heartily sorry that we have offended thee.  May we never offend thee any more.  O, may we love thee without ceasing, and make it our delight to do in all things thy most holy will.

Our Father

Hail, Mary

Gloria Patri

V.   Have mercy upon us, O Lord.

       R.   Have mercy upon us.

+ May the souls of the faithful, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen.

Who on Christs fond Mother looking,

Such extreme affliction brooking,

Born of woman, would not weep?

Sixth Station

St. Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus

V.  We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee.

R.  Because by thy Holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world.

As Jesus proceeds on the way, covered with the sweat of death, a woman moved with compassion makes her way through the crowd and wipes his face with her veil.  As a reward for her piety, the impression of his sacred countenance is miraculously imprinted upon the veil.

O Jesus!  May the contemplation of thy suffering move us with the deepest compassion, make us to hate our sins, and kindle in our hearts more fervent love of thee.  May thy image be graven on our minds, until we are transformed into thy likeness.

Act of Contrition

O God, we love thee with our whole hearts and above all things are heartily sorry that we have offended thee.  May we never offend thee any more.  O, may we love thee without ceasing, and make it our delight to do in all things thy most holy will.

Our Father

Hail, Mary

Gloria Patri

V.   Have mercy upon us, O Lord.

       R.   Have mercy upon us.

+ May the souls of the faithful, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen.

Who on Christs fond Mother thinking,

With her Son in sorrow sinking,

Would not share her sorrows deep?

Seventh Station

Jesus Falls the Second Time

V.  We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee.

R.  Because by thy Holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world.

The pain of his wounds and the loss of blood increasing at every step of his way, again his strength fails him and Jesus falls to the ground a second time.  Our pride has caused his fall, it is our insolent haughtiness which crushes him to the earth.

O Jesus!  Falling again under the burden of our sins, and of thy sufferings for our sins, how often have we grieved thee by our repeated falls into sin!  Oh, may we rather die than offend thee again!

Act of Contrition

O God, we love thee with our whole hearts and above all things are heartily sorry that we have offended thee.  May we never offend thee any more.  O, may we love thee without ceasing, and make it our delight to do in all things thy most holy will.

Our Father

Hail, Mary

Gloria Patri

V.   Have mercy upon us, O Lord.

       R.   Have mercy upon us.

+ May the souls of the faithful, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen.

For his Peoples sins rejected,

She her Jesus unprotected

Saw with thorns, with scourges rent.

Eighth Station

The Women of Jerusalem Mourn for Our Lord

V.  We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee.

R.  Because by thy Holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world.

At the sight of the sufferings of Jesus, some holy women in the crowd were so touched with sympathy that they openly bewail and lament him.  Jesus, knowing the things that were to come to pass, said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.

O Lord Jesus, we mourn and will mourn both for thee and for ourselves, for thy sufferings and for our sins which caused them.  Oh, teach us so to mourn that we may be comforted, and escape those judgments prepared for all who reject thee.

Act of Contrition

O God, we love thee with our whole hearts and above all things are heartily sorry that we have offended thee.  May we never offend thee any more.  O, may we love thee without ceasing, and make it our delight to do in all things thy most holy will.

Our Father

Hail, Mary

Gloria Patri

V.   Have mercy upon us, O Lord.

       R.   Have mercy upon us.

+ May the souls of the faithful, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen.

Saw her Son from judgment taken,

Her beloved in death forsaken,

Till his Spirit forth he sent.

Ninth Station

Jesus Falls the Third Time Under the Cross

V.  We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee.

R.  Because by thy Holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world.

Jesus has now arrived almost at the summit of Calvary, but before he reaches the spot where he is to be crucified, his strength again fails him and he falls the third time, to be again dragged up and goaded onward by the brutal soldiery.

O Lord Jesus, we entreat thee, by the merits of this thy third most painful fall, to pardon our frequent relapses and our long continuance in sin; and may the thought of these thy sufferings make us hate our sins more and more.

Act of Contrition

O God, we love thee with our whole hearts and above all things are heartily sorry that we have offended thee.  May we never offend thee any more.  O, may we love thee without ceasing, and make it our delight to do in all things thy most holy will.

Our Father

Hail, Mary

Gloria Patri

V.   Have mercy upon us, O Lord.

       R.   Have mercy upon us.

+ May the souls of the faithful, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen.

Fount of love and holy sorrow,

Mother, may my spirit borrow

Somewhat of thy woe profound.

Tenth Station

Jesus is Stripped of His Garments

V.  We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee.

R.  Because by thy Holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world.

Arrived at last at the place of sacrifice, they prepare to crucify him.  His garments are torn from his bleeding Body, and he, the Holy of holies, stands exposed to the vulgar gaze of the rude and scoffing multitude.

O Lord Jesus, thou didst endure this shame for our most shameful deeds.  Strip us, we beseech thee, of all false shame, conceit and pride, and make us so to humble ourselves voluntarily in this life, that we may escape everlasting shame in the world to come.

Act of Contrition

O God, we love thee with our whole hearts and above all things are heartily sorry that we have offended thee.  May we never offend thee any more.  O, may we love thee without ceasing, and make it our delight to do in all things thy most holy will.

Our Father

Hail, Mary

Gloria Patri

V.   Have mercy upon us, O Lord.

       R.   Have mercy upon us.

+ May the souls of the faithful, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen.

Unto Christ with pure emotion

May I raise my hearts devotion,

Love to read in every wound.

Eleventh Station

Jesus is Nailed to the Cross

V.  We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee.

R.  Because by thy Holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world.

The Cross is laid upon the ground and Jesus is stretched upon his bed of death.  At one and the same time he offers his bruised limbs to his heavenly Father in behalf of sinful men, and to his fierce executioners to be nailed by them to the shameful wood.  The blows are struck!  The Precious Blood streams forth!

O Jesus!  Nailed to the Cross, fasten our hearts there also, that they may be united to thee until death shall strike us with its fatal blow, and with our last breath we shall have yielded up our souls to thee.

Act of Contrition

O God, we love thee with our whole hearts and above all things are heartily sorry that we have offended thee.  May we never offend thee any more.  O, may we love thee without ceasing, and make it our delight to do in all things thy most holy will.

Our Father

Hail, Mary

Gloria Patri

V.   Have mercy upon us, O Lord.

       R.   Have mercy upon us.

+ May the souls of the faithful, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen.

Those five wounds of Jesus smitten,

Mother!  In my heart be written,

Deep as in thine own they be.

Twelfth Station

Jesus Dies Upon the Cross

V.  We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee.

R.  Because by thy Holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world.

For three hours has Jesus hung upon his pierced hands; his blood has run down in streams; and in the midst of excruciating sufferings, he has pardoned his murderers, promised the bliss of Paradise to the good thief, and committed his blessed Mother and Beloved Disciple to each others care.  All is now finished; and meekly bowing down his head, he gives up the ghost.

O Jesus!  We devoutly embrace that honored cross where thou didst love us even unto death.  In that death we place all our confidence.  Henceforth let us live only for thee; and in dying for thee let us die loving thee.

Act of Contrition

O God, we love thee with our whole hearts and above all things are heartily sorry that we have offended thee.  May we never offend thee any more.  O, may we love thee without ceasing, and make it our delight to do in all things thy most holy will.

Our Father

Hail, Mary

Gloria Patri

V.   Have mercy upon us, O Lord.

       R.   Have mercy upon us.

+ May the souls of the faithful, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen.

Thou, my Saviors Cross who bearest,

Thou, thy Sons rebuke who sharest,

Let me share them both with thee.

Thirteenth Station

Jesus is Taken Down from the Cross

V.  We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee.

R.  Because by thy Holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world.

The multitude have left the heights of Calvary and none remain save the Beloved Disciple and the holy women, who at the foot of the Cross are striving to stem the grief of Christs most loving Mother.  Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus take the body of her divine Son from the Cross, and deposit it in her arms.

O Mary, blessed Mother of my God, thou bearest in thine arms thine only Son. Now dead, who often rested his head in sleep upon thy breast.  Pray for us, that as thou holdest him lifeless in death, he may bear us up in the hour of our death in his everlasting arms.

Act of Contrition

O God, we love thee with our whole hearts and above all things are heartily sorry that we have offended thee.  May we never offend thee any more.  O, may we love thee without ceasing, and make it our delight to do in all things thy most holy will.

Our Father

Hail, Mary

Gloria Patri

V.   Have mercy upon us, O Lord.

       R.   Have mercy upon us.

+ May the souls of the faithful, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen.

Mine with thee be that sad station,

There to watch the great salvation

Wrought upon the atoning tree.

Fourteenth Station

Jesus is Laid in the Sepulchre

V.  We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee.

R.  Because by thy Holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world.

The body of her dearly beloved Son is taken from his Mother, and laid by the disciples in the tomb.  The tomb is closed, and there the lifeless body remains until the hour of its glorious resurrection.

We too, O God, will descend into the grave whenever it shall please thee, as it shall please thee, and wheresoever it shall please thee.  Suffer our sinful bodies to return to their parent dust; but do thou, in thy great mercy, receive our immortal souls, and when our bodies have risen again place them likewise in thy kingdom, that we may love and bless thee for ever and ever.  Amen.

Act of Contrition

O God, we love thee with our whole hearts and above all things are heartily sorry that we have offended thee.  May we never offend thee any more.  O, may we love thee without ceasing, and make it our delight to do in all things thy most holy will.

Our Father

Hail, Mary

Gloria Patri

V.   Have mercy upon us, O Lord.

       R.   Have mercy upon us.

+ May the souls of the faithful, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen.

To my parting soul be given

Entrance at the gate of Heaven,

And in Paradise a place.

Antiphon.  Christ became obedient unto death for us, even the death of the Cross.

Let us pray.

Almighty God, we beseech thee graciously to behold this thy family for which our Lord Jesus Christ was contented to be betrayed, and given up into the hands of wicked men, and to suffer death upon the Cross; Who now liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, ever, one God, world without end.  Amen.