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Way of the Cross to ask for Contrition
Preparatory Prayer.
Oh Jesus, our loving Savior, we humbly bow before You, seeking Your Divine Mercy for ourselves and for the souls of the faithful departed. We beseech You to shower upon us the infinite merits of Your holy passion, which we contemplate with reverence. Help us approach this path of tears and sorrows with contrite and repentant hearts, embracing with joy every hardship, suffering, and humiliation in our lives.
And You, O divine Mary, who first showed us the Way of the Cross, implore the adorable Trinity to accept, as reparation for our countless offenses, all the pain and love that the Holy Spirit inspires within us during this sacred exercise.
Before the Station
Let us reflect on the profound submission of Jesus when He received this unjust sentence, and let us acknowledge that it was not only Pilate who sentenced Him, but all of us present here and all sinners in the world who demanded His death.
Filled with tender grief, let us say: Oh beloved Jesus! Since it is our sins that led You to the scaffold, help us detest them from the depths of our hearts so that our repentance and penitence may obtain forgiveness and mercy.
After the Station
Before the Station
Contemplate the profound humility of our Divine Master as He willingly accepts the heavy burden of His torment on His wounded shoulders. He desires that we learn to bear our own crosses by accepting with resignation all the hardships that come from Heaven or from the hands of others.
Oh, compassionate Jesus! It was not Your duty to carry this cross, for You were innocent. It was for us, wretched sinners burdened with every kind of transgression. Grant us the strength to follow in Your footsteps by enduring without complaint the trials and adversities of life. May we see them as opportunities to satisfy Your justice and as a means to reach our Heavenly Home.
After the Station
Before the Station
Consider Jesus Christ as He walks the road to Calvary. The blood He shed during the scourging and crowning with thorns weakened Him so much that He fell under the weight of His heavy burden. He only rose again after enduring the cruelest outrages, all without displaying any sense of indignation. In this way, He wished to atone for all our falls and teach us to rise through the austerities of penance when we have the misfortune of falling into the abyss of sin.
Oh, merciful Jesus! Extend Your hand to help us amidst the many dangers to which we are exposed. Strengthen us in our weaknesses, so that after courageously following You on Calvary, we may taste the sweet fruits of the tree of life and find eternal happiness with You.
After the Station
Before the Station
It was incredibly painful for Jesus to see His beloved Mother in such cruel circumstances. Mary, too, felt immense sorrow as She witnessed Her Son being dragged unfeelingly by a crowd of people who insulted Him. At this sight, Her maternal heart is pierced by a thousand swords, and is given over to every kind of anguish. She would like to deliver our Savior, and snatch Him from the hands of His executioners; but She knows that this is how our salvation must take place. She united Her love for Her Son with that of His Son and shared in His suffering until the very end.
O Mary, Mother of Sorrows, obtain for us the ardent love with which You accompanied Jesus Christ up the holy mountain, and the steadfastness which You showed at the foot of the Cross, so that we may remain constantly with You there, and that nothing can ever separate us from You.
After the Station
Before the Station
Let us consider the tremendous goodness of Jesus Christ towards us. If He allows us to help Him carry His Cross, it is not because He lacks strength, as He is the One who sustains the universe. Rather, He wants to teach us to unite our sufferings with His and share in His cup of bitterness.
Jesus, our Master, You have already borne the greatest burden of suffering, and You only ask us to taste a little of it. Let us not be enemies of ourselves and refuse this opportunity. Instead, help us accept it willingly so that we may become worthy to share Your glory in the delights of Heaven.
After the Station
Before the Station
Let us consider the heroic action of a pious woman who braved the crowd of soldiers to see her divine Master. She saw Him covered in spit, dust, sweat, and blood, and her love for Him moved her to tears. Overcoming all fears, she approached Jesus and wiped His bloodied face, the same face that captivates the Saints and leaves the Angels in awe.
O Jesus, the most beautiful of man’s children, what a state Your love for us has reduced You to! No, never have You been more worthy of our adoration and homage. We adore You and ask for Your forgiveness for our sins. Restore our souls to their former beauty, which was lost through sin.
After the Station
Before the Station
Consider the God-Man still succumbing. Let us contemplate this holy victim lying on the ground under the horrible weight of the wood of His sacrifice, exposed once again to the cruelty of the soldiers and His murderers. It is again to give us proof of His infinite love that Jesus Christ allows this second fall. He wants also to show by this that, falling so often into sin, we should not nevertheless lose hope, but always expect mercy; that the path to heaven is studded with thorns and nettles; that in the midst of the greatest afflictions, we should not let ourselves be overcome by discouragement; that for glory, it must first undergo trials.
Oh Jesus, our strength! preserve us from any relapse, and do not permit that we have the misfortune to render useless all the sacrifices and pains which You have endured to deliver us from eternal death.
After the Station
Before the Station
Let us admire the unparalleled generosity of Jesus Christ. He forgets His own sufferings to comfort the holy women who are distraught by his sad state. He reminds them to mourn not over Him but rather on themselves and their betraying country. Jesus teaches us that His heart is moved by our compassion only if we first mourn for our sins, which are the cause of His sufferings.
Oh lovable Jesus, true Consoler of souls! grant us the grace to accompany You constantly on the path of the Cross, like the daughters of Jerusalem so as to hear there, like them, words of life and enjoy Your ineffable consolations.
After the Station
Before the Station
Let us consider the adorable Jesus at the summit of Calvary. He then casts His eyes on the place where He will soon be sacrificed to the fury of His enemies. In this moment, His mind is consumed by our constant falls and the apparent futility of His blood for the multitude of sinners. This torments His tender heart even more than the sufferings that await Him. It throws His soul into such deep sadness and cruel despondency, that His strength fails Him as in His agony, and He lets Himself go face down on the ground.
O Jesus, victim of love! You are about to be immolated for the salvation of mankind. Grant us the merits of Your sacrifice during our lifetime, so that we may praise You in eternity.
After the Station
Before the Station
The pain Jesus endures when His executioners tear off His clothing is immense. The wounds that had been concealed by His robe are reopened, causing Him to suffer once again the tortures of the scourging. However, what is most agonizing for Him is being stripped naked before the eyes of the crowd.
O Jesus, divine Lamb, You have arrived at the place of Your sacrifice without complaint. Your silence speaks volumes, teaching us the necessity of suppressing our impatience and complaints. You still allow Yourself to be stripped of Your garments, to atone for the misfortune we have had of losing the precious gift of grace. Please help us to recover it, and strip us entirely of the old man, so that we may live only according to the sentiments of Your adorable heart.
After the Station
Before the Station
Consider Jesus Christ willingly offering Himself to be crucified and laying Himself upon the tree of the Cross. What torment must He have endured as the hammer blows drove the nails into His precious feet and hands! His flesh tears, His bones creak, His tendons break, His veins burst, and His blood flows in great streams, exhausting His strength. The agony is intensified by the unbearable thirst He experiences.
Oh sin, accursed sin! It was you who caused this sea of suffering in which we contemplate our Redeemer, our victim. Oh Christians, what excessive love, what immense charity! Let our hearts be torn and kindled at the sight of this, and let our tears flow ceaselessly day and night! Let us be crucified with Him and let our eyes shed ceaseless tears of repentance.
After the Station
Before the Station
Consider Jesus, the God of all holiness, breathing His last breath between two criminals. Marvel at the sweetness and strength of His love. He asks His Father to forgive His persecutors, He promises glory to the repentant thief, entrusts His Mother to His beloved disciple, He commends His soul into His Father’s hands. Then He declares, “It is consummated,” and He dies for us. In that very instant, all creation proclaims His divinity, and nature itself mourns, as if on the verge of self-annihilation, witnessing the death of its Creator.
Sinners! Will there be anyone among you who remains unaffected by this deeply moving scene? Behold your Redeemer, see the dreadful state to which your sins have reduced Him. Yet He forgives, if your repentance is genuine. His feet were nailed for you, waiting for you; His arms are outstretched, ready to receive you; His side is pierced, His heart wounded, overflowing with grace for you; His head is bowed, offering you the kiss of peace and reconciliation. Let us, therefore, all go to His Cross and be willing to die for Him, since He died for us.
After the Station
Before the Station
Consider the extreme sorrow of this tender Mother after the death of Her divine Son, Jesus. She receives this pious deposit into Her arms, She gazes upon His pallid, bloodstained, and disfigured face. She sees His lifeless eyes, His closed mouth, His pierced side, and His hands and feet pierced by nails. This sight inflicts an indescribable martyrdom upon Her, a price only God can fully comprehend.
Oh Mary! It is we who are the cause of Your affliction, our sins that have pierced Your soul as You stood at the foot of the Cross! Deign to obtain forgiveness for us and allow us to adore our crucified love in Your embrace. Imprint deeply upon our souls the sufferings You endured, so that we may never forget them.
After the Station
Before the Station
O Jesus, our dear Redeemer, here lies in the tomb, Your precious Body, the sacred pledge of our salvation. May it be our greatest solace in this valley of tears to meditate on His sufferings and ignominious death, which He endured to redeem us.
And because You desired a new tomb, Jesus, to teach us that we must approach You with a renewed heart in the Sacrament of Your love, graciously cleanse us of all our stains and desires, and make us worthy to sit down often at Your sacred banquet. Bury in this same tomb all our iniquities and lusts, so that, dying to our passions and to all the things of this world, to lead with You a life hidden in God, we may deserve a happy ending, and contemplate You face to face in the splendor of Your glory.
After the Station
Let Us Pray: O God, who hast willed to sanctify the cross, this sign of life, by the precious blood of Thy only-begotten Son, grant to all those who glory in this holy cross, the grace to be able to glory also, at all times and in all places, in Thy powerful protection, through the same Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.
