OPENING PRAYER
Priest: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
All: Amen.
All: O Jesus our Lord God and Savior, we now contemplate your sacred passion. Help us to understand that the sufferings of our life are the continuation of your passion. We ask for strength for our souls to go through our passion, in the spirit with which you went through yours. Amen.
All: Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory be...
Jesus, Lord, condemned, defiled,
May we too be meek and mild
As we tred your holy Way.
May we feel no bitter hatred,
When we too are persecuted,
Left alone to walk with You.
STATION I
Jesus is condemned to death
Priest: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.
All (genuflect): Because by your Holy Cross, you have redeemed the world.
Priest: Leaving the house of Caiaphas, where he had been blasphemed, and the house of Herod, where he had 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 disgraceful death.
Kneel
All: O Jesus, it was for us that you did suffer. It was for our sins that you were condemned to die. Grant that we may detest our sins from the bottom of our hearts, and obtain your mercy and pardon by repentance with the help of your grace. Amen.
Stand
Now the Cross as Jesus bore it,
Has become for us who share it,
The jeweled Cross of Victory.
STATION II
Jesus is laden with the cross
Priest: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.
All (genuflect): Because by your Holy Cross, you have redeemed the world.
Priest: A heavy cross is laid upon the bruised shoulders of Jesus. He receives it with meekness and with a sense of commitment, for it is the instrument with which he is to redeem the world and to accomplish the mission for which his heavenly Father has sent him.
Kneel
All: O Jesus, grant us, by virtue of your cross, to embrace with meekness and cheerful submission the difficulties of our life, and to be ever ready to take up our cross and follow you. Amen.
Stand
Weakened, prodded, cursed, and fallen,
His whole Body bruised and swollen,
Jesus tripped and lay in pain.
STATION III
Jesus falls beneath His cross, the first time
Priest: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.
All (genuflect): Because by your Holy Cross, you have redeemed the world.
Priest: 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 lacerated with blows and wounds; His strength fails him. He falls to the ground under his cross.
Kneel
All: O Jesus, who for our sins did bear the heavy burden of the cross and did fall under its weight, may the thoughts of your suffering make us watchful over ourselves and save us from any grievous fall into sin. Amen.
Stand
Jesus met his grieving Mother,
She who made the Lord our Brother;
Now the sword her heart has pierced.
STATION IV
Jesus meets his Blessed Mother
Priest: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.
All (genuflect): Because by your Holy Cross, you have redeemed the world.
Priest: Still burdened with his cross, and wounded yet more by his fall, Jesus proceeds on His way. He is met by his loving mother. What a meeting that must have been! What a sword of anguish must have pierced his mother’s heart! What must have been the compassion of the Son for his holy mother!
Kneel
All: O Jesus, by the compassion which you did feel for your 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 your Son, we may be delivered from eternal death. Amen.
Stand
Simon stopped in hesitation,
Not foreseeing his proud station,
Called to bear the Cross of Christ.
STATION V
Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus to carry the cross
Priest: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.
All (genuflect): Because by your Holy Cross, you have redeemed the world.
Priest: 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 grace of that cross changes the Cyrenean’s heart and from the compulsory task, it becomes a privilege and joy.
Kneel
All: O Jesus, may it be our privilege to bear our cross. May we glory in nothing else; by the cross, may the world be crucified unto us, and we unto the world. May we never shrink from suffering but rather rejoice if we should be counted worthy to suffer for your name’s sake. Amen.
Stand
Brave but trembling came the woman,
None but she would flaunt the Roman,
Moved by love beyond her fear.
STATION VI
Veronica wipes the face of Jesus
Priest: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.
All (genuflect): Because by your Holy Cross, you have redeemed the world.
Priest: As Jesus proceeds along the way covered with the sweat of blood, a woman, moved with compassion, makes her way through the crowd, and wipes his face with a handkerchief. As a reward for her piety, the impression of his sacred countenance is miraculously imprinted upon the handkerchief.
Kneel
All: O Jesus, may the contemplation of your sufferings move us with deep compassion. Make us hate our sins and kindle in our hearts, more fervent love for You. May your image be graven on our minds and hearts until we are transformed into Your likeness. Amen.
Stand
Prostrate on the dust He crumbled,
Flogged in Body He resembled
All our brothers poor and scorned.
STATION VII
Jesus falls beneath His cross, the second time
Priest: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.
All (genuflect): Because by your Holy Cross, you have redeemed the world.
Priest: The pain of his wounds; and the loss of blood increasing at every step of his way, weakens him; and Jesus falls to the ground for the second time.
Kneel
All: O Jesus, who did fall a second time beneath the load of our sins and of your suffering for our sins, how often have we grieved you by our repeated falls into sin! With your help, may we turn away from sin and be faithful to your Gospel. Amen.
Stand
May our sympathy for Jesus
Turn to those who here now need us,
May we see Christ bruised in them.
STATION VIII
Jesus consoles the women of Jerusalem
Priest: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.
All (genuflect): Because by your Holy Cross, you have redeemed the world.
Priest: At the sight of the sufferings of Jesus, some holy women in the crowd were so touched with sympathy that they openly bewailed and lamented for him. Jesus, knowing the things that would befall Jerusalem because of its rejection of him, turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, weep for yourselves and for your children”.
Kneel
All: O Jesus, we mourn and will always mourn for you and for ourselves, for your sufferings and for our sins which caused them. Teach us to mourn, so that we may repent and be saved from the dreadful end to those who reject or neglect you, their God and their all. Amen.
Stand
Jesus fell again in weakness,
Stumbling as we do, to lead us
Through our sorrow and our pain.
STATION IX
Jesus falls beneath His cross the third time
Priest: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.
All (genuflect): Because by your Holy Cross, you have redeemed the world.
Priest: Jesus has almost arrived 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.
Kneel
All: O Jesus, we entreat you by the merit of this your third and most painful fall, to pardon our frequent relapses and our long continuance in sin. May the thought of your sufferings make us hate our sins more and more. Amen.
Stand
Stripped and jeered by his own nation,
Jesus stood in desolation,
Giving all He had to give.
STATION X
Jesus is stripped of His garments
Priest: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.
All (genuflect): Because by your Holy Cross, you have redeemed the world.
Priest: Jesus arrives at Golgotha and they prepare to crucify him. They strip him of his garments and mock him.
Kneel
All: O Jesus, strip us of all false esteem, conceit, and pride. Make us humble like you in this life, so that we will share your glory with you in the life to come. Amen.
Stand
Pierced the hands that blessed and cured us,
Pierced the feet that walked to free us,
Walked the hill of Calvary.
STATION XI
Jesus is nailed to the cross
Priest: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.
All (genuflect): Because by your Holy Cross, you have redeemed the world.
Priest: The cross is laid upon the ground and Jesus is stretched upon his bed of death. With divine dignity and forgiveness, he lets himself be nailed to the cross. The blows are struck! The blood gushes forth!
Kneel
All: O Jesus, nailed to the cross, fasten our hearts to the cross, so that we may be united with you until we commend our souls to you. Amen.
Stand
Life eternal, death defiant,
Bowed his head – the world was silent,
Through his death came life anew.
STATION XII
Jesus dies on the cross
Priest: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.
All (genuflect): Because by your Holy Cross, you have redeemed the world.
Priest: For three hours, Jesus has hung upon his pierced hands. His blood has run in streams down his body, and onto the ground. In the midst of excruciating suffering, He has pardoned his murderers, given heaven to the repentant thief, and committed his blessed mother to his beloved disciple’s care. His mission of love has been accomplished. He bows His head and commends his Spirit to God.
Kneel
All: O Jesus, we devoutly embrace your saving cross, on which you died so that we may have eternal life. We hail your cross, and lovingly accept our own. Amen,
Stand
Stunned and stricken, Mary, Mother
In your arms was placed our Brother,
“Full of grace” now filled with grief.
STATION XIII
Jesus is taken down from the cross
Priest: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.
All (genuflect): Because by your Holy Cross, you have redeemed the world.
Priest: The multitudes have left the hill of Calvary. There is no one except the beloved disciple of Jesus, the holy women, and Mary, the holy mother of Jesus. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus take down the body of Jesus from the cross and place him in the arms of his afflicted mother.
Kneel
All: O Mary, mother of Jesus, your grief was so great, being a helpless witness to the savage way your Son was put to death. By the death and resurrection of Jesus, we have become your children. Help us by your intercession to be like your Son. Amen.
Stand
Jesus, Lord, your gift accepted,
In three days You resurrected,
You did first what we shall do.
STATION XIV
Jesus is laid in the tomb.
Priest: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.
All (genuflect): Because by your Holy Cross, you have redeemed the world.
Priest: The disciples take the body of Jesus, the dearly beloved Son of Mary, from her and place it in the tomb. The tomb is closed and in it the lifeless body remains until the hour of the glorious resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ..
Kneel
All: O Jesus, your suffering is over. You have triumphed, though in the eyes of the world, you may seem to have failed. Sin, death, and hell have been conquered. I am Yours. Be the King of my heart. I surrender myself to your holy will. May your kingdom come. Amen.
Stand
Jesus, Risen, be our lover
In your Food and in our brother.
Lead us home to heaven with You.
CONCLUDING PRAYER
All: Heavenly Father, we have contemplated your Son, Jesus, on his way of the cross. We accept our way of the cross. We know it will lead us to, where it led him, our resurrection with him. We thank you for the joy of this vision of faith. Amen.
Priest: For the intention of the Holy Father, Pope Francis.
All: Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory be...
Priest: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
All: Amen.