STATIONS OF THE CROSS FOR GOOD FRIDAY, HOLY SATURDAY,etc...
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.
For thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen.
We glory in your cross, O Lord, All: for by virtue of the cross,
joy has come to the whole world.
FIRST: JESUS IS CONDEMNED TO DIE
We adore you O Christ, and we praise you,
All: because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
Lord, it’s too late for you to be quiet, you have spoken too much; You ate with notorious sinners, You got on well with the poor; You belittled the religious regulations. Your interpretation of the Law reduced it to one little commandment: to love. Now they are avenging themselves. Lord, I know that if I try to live a little like you, I shall be condemned. Help me to fight, Help me to speak, Help me to live your Gospel to the end, To follow the Cross.
Give us the grace to see, respect and love you in all people, both innocent
and guilty. Change our hearts that we may see with new eyes
those we might otherwise condemn.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.
SECOND: JESUS TAKES UP HIS CROSS
We adore you O Christ, and we praise you,
All: because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
Your Cross! As if it were your cross! You came to get ours, and all through your life, and along the way to Calvary, you took upon you, The Cross must be carried.
Lord, I would rather fight the Cross; to bear it is hard. At the dawning of each day, help me to set forth.
You accepted your Cross, Lord Jesus, not because the punishment was deserved, but because it was the key to unlock for us the way through to love and life. May we, in faith and trust in our Heavenly Father, accept the crosses that are placed upon us through life. Strengthened by the Christ who has walked the way before us, may we be led into abundant life and Godly purpose. Hail Mary, full of grace…
THIRD : JESUS FALLS THE FIRST TIME
We adore you O Christ, and we praise you,
All: because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
It is not surprising that Jesus falls over.
The cross is heavy, he is weakened by loss of blood,
and the midday heat in Jerusalem is fierce.
The ground is uneven, and the crowds press around.
It will not be surprising if we also fall over in these pressured days.
a moment where we are reduced to tears by the sheer helplessness we feel
As we lie on the ground – literally and metaphorically –
we can look to our side and see that Jesus is there with us,
on the floor, weighed down.
Together with Jesus, we find extra strength to get up and carry on.
Lord Jesus, in falling under the weight of Your cross, You identify Yourself with all who fall. You understand those who experience failure, weakness, a fall, and Your Heart goes out to them. Give us this same compassionate heart for others, and when things seem unmanageable, give me the strength to persevere. Hail Mary, full of grace…
FOURTH: JESUS MEETS HIS MOTHER
We adore you O Christ, and we praise you,
All: because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
Jesus, we remember the gaze that rested between you and your mother. In that moment of pain there was also a moment of deep and enduring love. Jesus, give us the courage to bring that love into the deepest recesses of the world around us, and our families, friends and neighbours,
may experience your victory over grief and pain.
We give thanks - for those ears that listen when no-one seems to hear; for those arms that embrace us in our fear; for those feet that walk with us when the way is difficult; for those shoulders for tears when life is tricky;
Hail Mary…
FIVE: SIMON HELPS JESUS
We adore you O Christ, and we praise you,
All: because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
Simon the Cyrene, a stranger in the city, did not know Jesus.
But that did not matter. What matters here is that in this moment of need
Simon was capable of lending his shoulders
to one whose own had given out, of offering his strength
to one who had nothing left, of taking on himself the cross,
which Jesus could no longer carry.
Lord, help us to grasp opportunities to be a Simon where we are. In times when we can help, let us have the generosity to do so. May we continue the spirit of Simon through our support of agencies working to alleviate suffering in our world. May we have the humility to accept the Simons along our road who reach out to help us in our moments of need. Hail Mary…
SIXTH: VERONICA WIPES JESUS’ FACE
We adore you O Christ, and we praise you,
All: because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
At first, Veronica saw only a buffeted and pain-filled face. Yet her act of love impressed the true image of Jesus on her heart. In his human face, bloodied and bruised, she saw the face of God, Emmanuel, God-with-us even in our deepest sorrows. Only with the heart can we see Jesus. Veronica's was an act of love, kindness and courage.
An act of kindness, if selflessly-offered, gives others a glimpse of Christ’s image. May our lives be an icon to others of God’s love. Hail Mary, full of grace…
SEVEN: JESUS FALLS THE SECOND TIME
We adore you O Christ, and we praise you,
All: because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
Stretched to breaking point by His awful scourging, bowed under the weight of the cross, worn out by the abandonment of His friends, Jesus stumbles again.All around us people are overburdened by the crosses they carry; they struggle and sometimes fall.
There are those who have lost their jobs and feel that they have little hope of finding another, those who live with the prospect of unemployment, and those who struggle to keep others in work. There are those who suffer because of failures in our financial, health and political systems. Jesus is with each one of us however we fall and there He chooses to love and save us.
Jesus, from deep within yourself, you found the courage and strength to get up once again and continue the journey. Give us your strength to keep going even when hope is dim and our resolve is weak. Hail Mary…
EIGHTH: JESUS MEETS THE WOMEN OF JERUSALEM
We adore you O Christ, and we praise you,
All: because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
The tears of the women stream down their faces;
they are bereft, consumed by the sadness of aching hearts,
by the loss of someone so dear.
Jesus’ response seems very odd;
don’t weep for me, but for yourselves and for your children.
By the time Luke’s Gospel was set down in writing
the listeners would know that the Jewish Temple at the heart of Jerusalem
had been destroyed, in 70AD, with children killed and much of Jerusalem in ruins. Jesus prophesies this, and he shows us that even as he journeys to Calvary his thoughts are not about himself, but others.
Lord, open our hearts to the suffering of all. Give us the generosity of spirit to help us recognise their pain, the courage to challenge the systems that place intolerable burdens on them, and the compassion to support them.
Hail Mary, full of grace…
NINTH: JESUS FALLS A THIRD TIME
We adore you O Christ, and we praise you,
All: because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
Jesus falls for a third time, broken, exhausted, physically and emotionally. Lying on the ground, Jesus must decide, does He get up once more or does He just stop and give up? We see him rise again, and with all his power he continues on his journey. Jesus shows us that we can go on, even if nobody else thinks that it is possible.
Many in our world today feel that they are at that moment of final falling, that their burden is too much to carry. They cannot bear any more. Crushed by the weight of their cross they feel unable to get up, unable to go on.
The third fall of Jesus reminds us that even in our moment of complete helplessness, or our experiences of depression, in our own Calvary,
we can stand up again. Jesus is with us and Jesus is our strength.
He overcame it all.
Lord, we pray that when our strength fails, our hope fades, and our spirit grows weary, may we put our unbounded trust in you.
In turn may we bring your love, in a word or action of comfort to another,
in their moment of depression or despair.
Hail, Mary…..
TENTH: JESUS IS STRIPPED OF HIS CLOTHING
We adore you O Christ, and we praise you,
All: because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
You had nothing left but your own cloak; You were fond of it, perhaps your Mother had woven it for you. But this, too, had to go. One thing only is needful, Lord, your Cross.
Nothing comes now between you and the Cross; You are finally going to be united forever, And together you will save the world.
Forgive us Lord for being an irreverent mob, prying into people’s lives.
Forgive us for being consumers of gossip under the name of ‘news’. Let us never expose anyone. May we respect the dignity of others and leave the judgement to God. Let us see the good in those around us and so enable them to reach their full potential. Hail Mary…
ELEVENTH: JESUS IS NAILED TO THE CROSS
We adore you O Christ, and we praise you,
All: because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
The hand that has wiped blindness from the eyes;
the hand that opened the seal of deafness,
the hand that touched a heart and cured a leper,
the hand that blessed children and those with a disability;
the carpenter’s hand is joined to the wood again.
As the cross is put in place, he hangs there between us and God,
a blood stained victim for love.
Jesus, we pray on behalf of those who cannot reach out to you at this moment.
We pray for victims of violence; those who suffer it and those who inflict it. We pray especially for children, for the elderly and those too vulnerable to defend themselves. May victims of cruelty and oppression know that you are always with them.
Sustain and support the anxious, be with those who care for the sick, and lift up all who are brought low; that they may find comfort, knowing that nothing can separate us from your love.
Hail Mary, full of grace…
TWELFTH: JESUS DIES ON THE CROSS
We adore you O Christ, and we praise you,
All: because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
He has known pain, exhaustion, apparent failure, shame. But it has not only been tragedy. He has known, too, the blessed dependence of a man upon others - helped by them and accepted their help;
He has known compassion from the women he met on the way, and the heroism that it inspires; Veronica who dared the mockery of the crowd and the authority of the armed guard to come close to him and wipe the tears and the filth from his face.
On that road, too, he has seen the absolute triumph of his mother’s love and trust for him and for his Heavenly Father. On that road where so much was dereliction and shame, her fiat: “Be it done to me according to thy word,” has flowered with unimaginable splendour. His passion is her passion.To his enemies this seems to be the hour of their triumph and Christ’s defeat, but in fact it is the supreme hour of his triumph.
O Christ, whose body was broken for the peace of the world, give your patient and compassionate Spirit to all who pray and work for peace, and the courage to reject all symbols and semblances of power in the pursuit of unity and reconciliation, following the way of your own suffering and weakness. Hail Mary, full of grace…
THIRTEENTH: JESUS IS TAKEN DOWN FROM THE CROSS
We adore you O Christ, and we praise you,
All: because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
Again history repeats itself. When he was born, wise men came to Jesus bringing him myrrh and frankincense and gold and offered them to him as he lay in his swaddling bands; and now Nicodemus comes with myrrh and aloes, and, “They took Jesus’s body, then, and wrapped it in winding-cloths with the spices,” .
So night fell. Everything, it seemed, was over. Nicodemus Joseph, and the holy women could do no more. Everyone who had loved him was exhausted, emptied out. It seemed that the whole world was emptied out, that there was no longer any meaning or purpose in anything.
Christ was in the tomb; the whole world was sown with the seed of Christ’s life; that which happened thirty years ago in the womb of the virgin mother was happening now, but now it was happening yet more secretly, yet more mysteriously, in the womb of the whole world.
Christ had already told those who flocked to hear him preach that the seed must fall into the earth, or else remain by itself alone. Now the seed of his life was hidden in darkness in order that his life should quicken in countless hearts, over and over again for all time. His burial, which seemed to be the end, was the beginning.
O my God, I am in every way unworthy of you, yet like Joseph of Arimathea I want to offer space for you. He offered his tomb, I offer my heart. Enter the darkness of my heart as your body entered the darkness of Joseph’s tomb, and make me worthy to receive you, driving out all sin and darkness, that I might be filled with your light.
Joseph was a secret disciple, but courageous enough to give you his tomb. Bless all, O Lord, who worship you in secret, especially those who have faith in you in places where your followers are persecuted. Hail Mary, full of grace…
FOURTEENTH: JESUS IS LAID IN THE TOMB
We adore you O Christ, and we praise you,
All: because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
Joseph of Arimathea placed the body of Jesus “in a tomb which was hewn in stone and which had never held a body. . . . Meanwhile, the women who had come from Galilee with Jesus were following behind. They took note of the tomb and how the body had been laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments. And on the Sabbath day they rested.(Luke 23:53-56)
When Jesus had fulfilled all he was sent by his Father to do, he rested in the tomb, and the women whose hearts were broken with grief rested with him. Of all the days in history, Holy Saturday – the Saturday during which the body of Jesus lay in the tomb in silence and darkness behind the large stone that was rolled against its entrance, (Mark 15:46) – is the day of God’s solitude. It is the day on which the whole creation waits in deep inner rest.
Holy Saturday is the quietest of all days. This divine silence is the most fruitful silence that the world has ever known. From this silence, the Word will be spoken again and make all things new.
Eternal God, in the cross of Jesus we see the cost of our sin and the depth of your love: in humble hope and fear may we place at his feet all that we have and all that we are, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Lord, it is not over.
You are in agony till the end of time, I know.
People tread the way of the cross in relays.
The resurrection will only be completed
when they have reached the end of the way.
I am on the road;
I have a small share of your suffering
and the others have theirs….
Lord, help me to travel along my road faithfully,
at my proper place in the vast procession of humanity.
Help me above all to recognize you
and to help you in all my fellow pilgrims.
Hail Mary, full of grace…
Our Father…….
Glory be to the Father….world without end. Amen.
God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us,
All: that your way may be known upon earth,
your saving power among all nations.
Almighty Father, look with mercy on this your family for which our Lord Jesus Christ was content to be betrayed, given up
into the hands of sinners, and to suffer death upon
the cross; who is alive and glorified with you
and the Holy Spirit, one God,
now and for
ever.
