Stations of the cross
Stations of the cross
Prayer of preparation
Father in heaven, we thank you for having sent your only Son to free us from the slavery of sin. He went the way of the cross for our salvation; give us the courage to follow him, being strengthened by his example and his love. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
1st Station: Jesus is condemned to death (Luke 23:1-2, 23-24)
Leader: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you All: Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
Meditation: Jesus went around doing good and now his people condemn him to death for no real good reason. A common criminal is valued higher than Christ. Jesus accepts the condemnation because he knows it is the will of his Father.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, many times we do not receive the recognition we expect or rightly deserve. May we be strengthened by what your own people did to you: as your followers we should not expect a different treatment than you had to undergo yourself. Amen!
Our Father…. Hail Mary…. Glory Be to the Father…
2nd Station: Jesus takes up the cross (Matt. 27:27-31)
Leader: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you All: Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
Meditation: Jesus could have asked his Father to send legion of angels to defend him and to turn the cross away from him; he did not do it; he carried his cross to the end, not for his own benefit, but for our salvation.
Prayer: We thank you, Lord, for accepting the cross so that we could be saved. Help us to accept the hardships and suffering that is needed to improve the lot of our neighbor and of ourselves; may we take up our cross daily and follow you. Amen!
Our Father…. Hail Mary…. Glory Be to the Father…
3rd Station: Jesus falls the first time under the cross (Isaiah 53:4-7)
Leader: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you All: Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
Meditation: Jesus falls under the heavy weight of the cross; however, he does not remain down but he gets up and continues carrying the cross which the Father had given him to carry. Christ gives an example for us to follow when we have fallen into sin.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, we are sinners but we know that you have offered us your grace and your help to repent and start afresh. Trusting in your strength we will carry on to do the will of the Father. Amen!
Our Father…. Hail Mary…. Glory Be to the Father…
4th Station: Jesus meets the sorrowful mother (Isaiah 66:10, 12-14)
Leader: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you All: Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
Meditation: Jesus is encouraged when he meets his mother; his own disciples had either betrayed, denied or deserted him. Mary remained faithful, the only sinless person, a ray of hope in his utter loneliness.
Prayer: Lord, make us realize that our mere presence cab comfort others in their sorrow and in their suffering. May we never shy away from people simply because we feel that we cannot help them physically or relieve their suffering. Amen!
Our Father…. Hail Mary…. Glory Be to the Father…
5th Station: Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus to carry his cross (Lk. 23:13, 26-27)
Leader: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you All: Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
Meditation: Jesus is exhausted and very weak. Simon is forced to help. Later on he discovers that the person he helped and who looked like a condemned criminal, was his own Saviour and God. Even now it holds true: whatever we do to the least of our neighbours, we do it to Christ.
Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, teach us never to judge our neighbor according to his outward appearance or according to what others say about him. Help us to treat each one as we would treat you. Amen!
Our Father…. Hail Mary…. Glory Be to the Father…
6th Station: Veronica wipes the face of Jesus (Sirach/Eccl. 6:14-17)
Leader: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you All: Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
Meditation: Veronica wanted to give some comfort to Jesus and she was rewarded with an imprint of his face on the cloth she used. The image of Christ will be ‘printed on our hearts’ if we learn to help and serve others. “Everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God” (1Jn 4,7).
Prayer: Lord, increase our knowledge of you so that in knowing you we may be able to show your true face to others and thus draw them to you. Amen!
Our Father…. Hail Mary…. Glory Be to the Father…
7th Station: Jesus falls a second time (Jeremiah 1:17-19)
Leader: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you All: Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
Meditation: Jesus does not give up even though he falls another time under the heavy cross. He perseveres until he has accomplished what God gave him to do, although he is at the end of his strength.
Prayer: Lord, may we never be discouraged by our weakness and repeated failures. Help us to focus our eyes on our goals: the cross and the resurrection. May this help us to persevere at all times. Amen!
Our Father…. Hail Mary…. Glory Be to the Father…
8th Station: Jesus speaks to the women of Jerusalem (Lk. 23:27-28)
Leader: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you All: Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
Meditation: In his own suffering Jesus is still able to focus on the needs and problems of others. He tries to open the eyes of the women to their own inner state which deserves a far more serious punishment than Jesus is undergoing himself.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, may our church communities always have an open eye for the suffering of the people around them, but may this never be an occasion for them to be blind to their own condition. May we always be living branches, joined to you, the true vine. Amen!
Our Father…. Hail Mary…. Glory Be to the Father…
9th Station: Jesus falls a third time (John 12:22-34)
Leader: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you All: Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
Meditation: No matter how often we fall into sin, God always offers us his mercy and forgiveness and beckons us to continue and carry on with the task he gave us. The fruit of perseverance is eternal salvation: union with Christ in his glorious resurrection.
Prayer: Lord, forgive us our sins that made you suffer and die on the cross. May we never despair of your mercy and give us the courage to start anew after every fall into sin. Amen!
Our Father…. Hail Mary…. Glory Be to the Father…
10th Station: Jesus is stripped of his clothes (Mark 15:22-24)
Leader: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you All: Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
Meditation: Prophet Isiah spoke about Christ when he said: “Like a sapling her grew up in front of us, like a root in arid ground, without beauty, without majesty, no looks to attract our eyes.” (Is.53:2). Christ realized that the real value of man does not consist in outward appearance nor in the clothes he wears.
Prayer: Lord, may material possessions or earthly glamour never draw us away from you. Make us realize that our ultimate value consists in our union with you, and make us ready to go and do away with all we have in order to follow you. Amen!
Our Father…. Hail Mary…. Glory Be to the Father…
11th Station: Jesus is nailed to the cross (Luke 23:33-34)
Leader: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you All: Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
Meditation: With hands and feet fastened to the wood of the cross, Christ seems powerless. However, through the cross he renewed the world and saved us so that now he is able to live in us and use our hands and feet to establish God’s kingdom more firmly here on earth.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, be with all those who are prevented by men from doing your work and with those who do not enjoy religious freedom. May also their cross conquer the evil surrounding them so that your reign of peace and love may be within us now and forever. Amen!
Our Father…. Hail Mary…. Glory Be to the Father…
12th Station: Jesus dies on the cross (Mark 15:33-34)
Leader: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you All: Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
Meditation: The seed must fall into the ground and die before it can bear fruit. Jesus died and has won the whole world. We now live the life he lived, no longer for ourselves but for others. We have to die to ourselves in order to be able to rise with Christ.
Prayer: Lord, make us constantly aware of your love for us that you died for us even though we were sinners. Eliminate from this world all hatred which results in killing, murder and fighting and make it turn to a love that builds a new and better world. Amen!
Our Father…. Hail Mary…. Glory Be to the Father…
13th Station: Jesus is taken off the cross (Luke 23:50-53)
Leader: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you All: Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
Meditation: Mary suffered with Jesus until the end. Now she receives the body of her dead son in her arms. Mary must have had a great faith: she did not lose faith in God in the face of this outward failure. She continued to observe the Lord’s command about the great Sabbath and was prepared for the final embalming on the first day of the week.
Prayer: Lord, give us the faith we need to see in every cross we carry the glory of the resurrection. May we never be discouraged no matter how great our sorrow. Help us to stand by and comfort those who stand at the deathbed of their loved ones. Amen!
Our Father…. Hail Mary…. Glory Be to the Father…
14th Station: Jesus is buried in a tomb (Matt. 27:59-60)
Leader: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you All: Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
Meditation: A burial seems to be the end of a person’s life. It was so up till the death of Jesus. He conquered death and ‘descended into hell’ to free the saints who lived before him. Since Jesus’ death we too hope for a glorious future with him in a new world without end.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, you have gone before us to prepare the way. May we follow in your footsteps. Comfort the sorrowing people at the tombs of their loved ones with the assurance of a resurrection with you in the house of our Father. Amen!
Our Father…. Hail Mary…. Glory Be to the Father…
Closing Prayer
Father in Heaven, we thank you for having given us your only begotten Son. He has taught us to love our neighbor as he has loved us. Father, help us to follow the example of Christ, your Son; may he live in and through us, now and forever. Amen!