Christ has died, Christ has Risen, Christ will come again....
"And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself" (John 12:32)
The Stations of the Cross, Background and History
From the earliest of days, followers of Jesus told the story of his passion, death and resurrection. When pilgrims came to see Jerusalem, they were anxious to see the sites where Jesus was. These sites became important holy connections with Jesus. Eventually, following in the footsteps of the Lord, along the way of the cross, became a part of the pilgrimage visit. The stations, as we know them today, came about when it was no longer easy or even possible to visit the holy sites. In the 1500's, villages all over Europe started creating "replicas" of the way of the cross, with small shrines commemorating the places along the route in Jerusalem. Eventually, these shrines became the set of 14 stations we now know and were placed in almost every Catholic Church in the world.
A person making the Stations will go to each station and pray and meditate about that particular event which Jesus went through in His Passion and death.
The Stations of the Cross can be done anywhere, with a group of people or alone. There are many different prayers written by various people throughout the centuries, which are beautiful and profound. There are also hundreds of artistic interpretations of the stations. You will see a sampling as your walk through the stations below.
After each Station it is customary to say the following prayers.
Our Father, Who art in heaven; hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Glory be to the Father and the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Have mercy on us Lord. Have mercy on us Lord
The Stations of the Cross
Station One.... Jesus is Condemned to Death
We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You, because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
Jesus, after having been blasphemed, mocked, and scourged, is dragged before Pilate and unjustly condemned to die with disgrace on the Cross. My loving Jesus, it was my sins, not Pilate, that condemned You to die. Grant that I may detest them with all my heart, and by the merits of this sorrowful journey obtain Your mercy and pardon to assist my soul on its journey towards eternity. My beloved Jesus, I love You above all things. I am truly sorry for having offended You, and I repent with my whole heart. May I never offend You again. Grant that I may never cease to love You, and do with me as You will.
Station Two....Jesus Carries His Cross
We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You, because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
Jesus accepts His cross, the instrument that He will use to redeem the world. As He carries the heavy cross on His bruised shoulders He thinks of me, and offers His pending death to His Father for my sins, so that I may live. My most beloved Jesus, grant me by the virtue of Your Cross to embrace with meekness and cheerful submission all the tribulations You have destined for me until my death. By the merits of the pain You suffered in carrying Your Cross give me the necessary help to be ever ready to take up my cross and follow You with perfect patience and resignation. My beloved Jesus, I love You above all things. I am truly sorry for having offended You, and I repent with my whole heart. May I never offend You again. Grant that I may never cease to love You, and do with me as You will.
Station Three....Jesus Falls the First Time
We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You, because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
Jesus slowly sets forth on His way to Calvary, bowed down under the weight of His Cross. The soldiers strike Him, and the crowds mock and insult Him. His flesh is torn by the scourges, and on His head is a crown of thorns. Through His many wounds He has lost a great quantity of blood. He is so weak He can scarcely walk, yet He has to carry this great load. Finally, His strength fails him, and He falls to the ground. O Jesus, it was for me that You bore the heavy burden of the Cross. By the merits of this first fall, may I be saved from the misfortune of falling into mortal sin. My beloved Jesus, I love You above all things. I am truly sorry for having offended You, and I repent with my whole heart. May I never offend You again. Grant that I may never cease to love You, and do with me as You will.
Station Four....Jesus Meets His Mother
We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You, because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
Jesus, still burdened with His Cross, and wounded even more by His fall, meets His Mother. A sword of anguish pierces those hearts that love each other so tenderly. My sweet Jesus, by the compassion which You did feel for Your most holy Mother at this meeting, have compassion on me and grant me the grace of a truly devoted love for Her. O Mary, my Queen, overwhelmed with sorrow, intercede for me, that, through the sufferings endured by Your Son, I may obtain a continual and tender remembrance of the Passion of Jesus. My beloved Jesus, I love You above all things. I am truly sorry for having offended You, and I repent with my whole heart. May I never offend You again. Grant that I may never cease to love You, and do with me as You will.
Station Five....Simon Helps Jesus Carry His Cross
We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You, because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
Jesus' strength is failing, and the executioners fear Jesus will die on the way instead of on the Cross. They seize Simon of Cyrene and compel him to carry the Cross for Jesus. Simon realizes what he is asked to do, and it changes his heart. The Cross becomes for Simon a privilege and a joy. My most beloved Jesus, it is my privilege also to carry whatever crosses You desire to send me. I will not refuse them. I accept them, embrace them, and rejoice that I may be counted worthy to suffer for Your Name's sake. I unite them to Your death. You died for love of me, I will die for love of You. Help me by Your grace. My beloved Jesus, I love You above all things. I am truly sorry for having offended You, and I repent with my whole heart. May I never offend You again. Grant that I may never cease to love You, and do with me as You will.
Station Six....Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus
We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You, because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
Jesus, proceeding on His way, is covered with sweat and blood. His face, once beautiful, has now lost all its beauty. It is disfigured by wounds and blood. A holy woman named Veronica, moved with compassion, approaches and wipes His face with her veil. Jesus, as a reward for her piety, leaves the impression of His Sacred Countenance imprinted upon it. My Jesus, at my Baptism my soul was also beautiful, but my sins have since disfigured it. By Your Passion, O Jesus, restore it to its former beauty. May the contemplation of Your sufferings move me with the greatest compassion, make me hate my sins, and kindle in my heart a more fervent love for You. Imprint Your image in my mind so that I may never forget what my sins have done to You. Guide me, that I may one day be transformed into Your likeness. My beloved Jesus, I love You above all things. I am truly sorry for having offended You, and I repent with my whole heart. May I never offend You again. Grant that I may never cease to love You, and do with me as You will.
Station Seven....Jesus Falls for the Second Time
We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You, because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
At every step the pain of His wounds and the loss of blood increase. His strength fails Him a second time, and Jesus falls to the ground. My Jesus, it was the burden of my sins that caused You to fall again. So many times You have pardoned me, but I am weak, and so many times I have fallen again and begun again to offend You. By the merits of this second fall, help me to persevere in Your grace until my death. May I always commend myself to You in all temptations which assail me. My beloved Jesus, I love You above all things. I am truly sorry for having offended You, and I repent with my whole heart. May I never offend You again. Grant that I may never cease to love You, and do with me as You will.
Station Eight....Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem
We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You, because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
Jesus walks on, streaming with blood. Some holy women in the crowd see Him and are so touched with sympathy and compassion that they openly weep for Him. Jesus, knowing the things that are to happen to Jerusalem because of her rejection of Him, turns to them and says: "Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but for yourselves and for your children." My Jesus, I weep bitterly for the offenses I have committed against You. I weep because of the pains they have deserved, but most of all because they caused You, because of Your great love for me, to have to die for me. Teach me to be truly sorry for my sins, so that I may escape those dreadful judgements prepared for all who reject or neglect You in this life. My beloved Jesus, I love You above all things. I am truly sorry for having offended You, and I repent with my whole heart. May I never offend You again. Grant that I may never cease to love You, and do with me as You will.
Station Nine....Jesus Falls the Third Time
We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You, because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
Jesus is now almost at the summit of Calvary. His weakness is extreme. The excessively brutal solders, anxious to crucify Him, cruelly try to hasten His steps, but He can scarcely move, and Jesus falls a third time. O Lord Jesus, by the merits of this third most painful fall, pardon my frequent relapses into sin and give me the strength I need to conquer all human respect and all my wicked passions. Imprint the thought of all Your sufferings firmly in my mind so that I may hate my sins more and more. My beloved Jesus, I love You above all things. I am truly sorry for having offended You, and I repent with my whole heart. May I never offend You again. Grant that I may never cease to love You, and do with me as You will.
Station Ten....Jesus Is Stripped of His Garments
We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You, because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
Jesus, now at Calvary, is violently stripped by His executioners. His inner garments adhere to His torn flesh, and they are dragged off so roughly that the skin is pulled off with them. My innocent Jesus, You endured this shame for my most shameful deeds. By the merits of the torment You felt, help me to strip myself of all false shame, conceit, pride, and all affection of the things of earth, so that I may place all my love in You. Help me to humble myself voluntarily in this life, that I may escape everlasting punishment in the life to come. My beloved Jesus, I love You above all things. I am truly sorry for having offended You, and I repent with my whole heart. May I never offend You again. Grant that I may never cease to love You, and do with me as You will.
Station Eleven....Jesus is Nailed to the Cross
We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You, because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
The executioners lay the Cross on the ground, and Jesus is stretched upon it. He extends His hands willingly, offering to His Eternal Father the sacrifice of His life for our salvation. He is fastened to the Cross with nails, and then He and the Cross are raised up for all to see. My suffering Jesus, what my sins have done to You! Nail my heart to Your feet, that it may be united to You until my death so that I will never offend You again. My beloved Jesus, I love You above all things. I am truly sorry for having offended You, and I repent with my whole heart. May I never offend You again. Grant that I may never cease to love You, and do with me as You will.
Station Twelve....Jesus Dies on the Cross
We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You, because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
For three excruciating hours Jesus hangs on the Cross. His blood runs in streams down His torn body. Finally, after all He had set out to do has been accomplished, He abandons Himself to the weight of His body, bows His head, and dies. My dying Jesus, I devoutly kiss the honoured Cross on which You died for love of me. My sins have merited for me a miserable death, but Your death is my hope. By the merits of Your death help me to live only for You. And when I die, help me to die embracing Your feet and burning for love for You. My beloved Jesus, I love You above all things. I am truly sorry for having offended You, and I repent with my whole heart. May I never offend You again. Grant that I may never cease to love You, and do with me as You will.
Station Thirteen....Jesus is Taken Down from the Cross
We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You, because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus take Jesus' body down from the cross and place it in His mother's arms. With unspeakable tenderness she receives the lifeless body of her Divine Son, and with boundless grief presses it to her bosom. O Mother of Sorrow, give me a share in your most holy sorrow in the suffering of your Son, that I may fully realize what my sins have caused. Accept me as your servant, pray for me, and have compassion on my infirmities. Jesus, my Redeemer, You have died for love of me. In Your mercy permit me to love You, for I wish only You, nothing more. My beloved Jesus, I love You above all things. I am truly sorry for having offended You, and I repent with my whole heart. May I never offend You again. Grant that I may never cease to love You, and do with me as You will.
Station Fourteen....Jesus is Laid in the Tomb
We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You, because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
The lifeless body of Jesus is carried by his disciples to the tomb. Mary, His most holy mother, arranges it with overwhelming sorrow. Then they all withdraw, and the tomb is sealed. My buried Jesus, devoutly I kiss the stone that encloses You. But death could not hold You. I, too, will descend into the grave when You will it. My sinful body will return to the dust from which it came. In Your great mercy, receive my immortal soul, so that on the last day I may rise in glory with You and join You in Your kingdom where I may love You and praise You forever. My beloved Jesus, I love You above all things. I am truly sorry for having offended You, and I repent with my whole heart. May I never offend You again. Grant that I may never cease to love You, and do with me as You will.
Our Father, Who art in heaven; hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Glory be to the Father and the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Have mercy on us Lord. Have mercy on us Lord
We Adore You, O Christ, and We Bless You, Because by Your Holy Cross You Have Redeemed the World.
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It is difficult to understand how the Lord Jesus could pray for His brutal executioners to be forgiven (Luke 23:34). We often try to excuse our unforgiving hearts by arguing that He was God, whereas we are sinful creatures. But Jesus calls us to follow His divine example.