A candle or vigil light is lit before the crucifix; with the electric lights turned off, the natural light of a candle aids concentration on the action of prayer. If at all possible, the entire family is present and participates. At the beginning or end a hymn could well be includedproviding a setting that will be cherished in most family groups.
O good and dearest Jesus, I kneel before your face. With all my heart I ask you to place in my heart more faith, hope and charity. Give me a true sorrow for my sins and a strong will to do better With great sorrow and grief I look upon your five wounds and think about them. Before my eyes are the words that the prophet David said of you, O good Jesus: "They have pierced my hands and feet They have numbered all my bones."
Prayer Source: Holy Lent by Eileen O'Callaghan, The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minnesota, 1975
These stations were adapted from St. Alphonsus Liguori.
Before visiting the Stations, let each one make an act of contrition and form the intention of gaining the indulgences, whether for himself or for the souls in purgatory
My Lord Jesus Christ, Thou hast made this journey to die for me with love unutterable, and I have so many times unworthily abandoned Thee; but now I love Thee with my whole heart, and because I love Thee I repent sincerely for having ever offended Thee. Pardon me, my God, and permit me to accompany Thee on this journey. Thou goest to die for love of me; I wish also, my beloved Redeemer, to die for love of Thee. My Jesus, I will live and die always united to Thee.
At the cross her station keeping,
Stood the mournful Mother weeping,
Close to Jesus to the last.
Stabat Mater dolorosa
Juxta crucem lacrymosa,
Dum pendebat Filius.