Thursday 5 April 2012

Stations of the Cross

With quotations of Bld Alexandrina's Sentiments of the Soul, Fr Umberto first and Eugenie Signorile later have prepared Stations of the Cross. Read please; it's nice:


How much did His life on earth cost Jesus? 
It was not only Gethsemane with the three hours suffering on Calvary: 
All Jesus’ life was Gethsemane and Calvary. 
As He grew in age and wisdom,
the cross grew with Him, and in Him, too. 
He was not separated from it for so much as an instant:
In it He grew, in it He suffered,
But always with a smile, and with kindness. 


1st Station
Jesus is condemned.

Pilate delivered Him over to them to be crucified, so they took Jesus… (Jo 19, 16-17)

I see and I hear the great multitude
That unanimously, with no mercy for me,
Cries out for my crucifixion.
My ears hear their scream: 
"Die!  Let Him be condemned!” 
What shouts, those of the multitude! 
I receive the death sentence. 
Glory be to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost,
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.


2nd Station
Jesus carries the cross.

And He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called
 the place of a skull, which is called in Hebrew Golgotha. (Jo 19, 17)

The weight is so great that I feel myself crushed into the earth. 
I not only carry the cross, but the entire world. 
So few friends... almost only enemies. 
Glory be to the Father..


3rd Station
Jesus falls for the first time.

I looked, but there was no one to help,
I was appalled, but there was no one to uphold. (Is. 63, 5)

I fall under the weight of the Cross. 
It seems to me that I am losing life.
Losing my life in order to give it to all strengthens me.
I struggle to my feet and continue to walk.
Glory be to the Father... 


4th Station
Jesus meets His Blessed Mother.

Jesus sees His Mother standing nearby. (Jo 19, 26)

 My mother approaches and we meet.
We look intensely at each other. 
I continue to walk.
She also walks, held by my appearance
Which grips her heart and soul"?
I not only carry the cross but also Her pain.
Glory be to the Father... 


5th Station
Jesus is helped by the Cyrene.

And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, and laid on him the cross. (Lk 23, 26)

At each step it seems me that I shall just die.  (It seems to me that I shall die at every step.)
I want somebody that takes the cross.  (I want someone to share the cross.)
There is one who does take it, not for love, but because it is imposed on him.
Yet I put into it so much love
That when they remove the cross I still feel as if I carry its weight.
Glory be to the Father... 

6th Station
Veronica wipes the face of Jesus.

Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me. (Mt. 25, 40)

A woman who has compassion for my suffering comes to meet me.
With what delicacy and love she cleans my face
Of the sweat, the blood, the dust!
How dearly I would like this heroic gesture to spread!
My face and the love of my heart remain printed on the cloth.
Glory be to the Father... 


7th Station
Jesus falls for the second time.

He poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the sinners. (Is 53, 12)

Halfway into the journey I fall heavily.
My lips, covered in blood,
kiss the land which bruises me"?  
The eyes of my soul see the whole of humanity.
Glory be to the Father... 


8th Station
Jesus meets the holy women of Jerusalem.

Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. (Lk 23, 28)

Some women follow me; they cry bitterly. 
I look on them with compassion and say to them:
"Do not cry for me, but for yourselves;
Cry for your sins; they are the cause of my suffering.”
Glory be to the Father... 


9th Station
Jesus falls for the third time.

Dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me. (Ps 22, 16-17)

Is heaven against me as well as the world?
The executioners renew their fury and drag me roughly.
However only love and compassion for them flows from my heart.
Glory be to the Father... 


10th Station
Jesus is stripped of His garments

They divided His garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. (Mk 15, 24)

They take my clothes from me with a fury that
could tear my flesh to shreds; what violent pain!
To be undressed in public! 
The rabble laugh. 
I feel that my mother wants to cover Me with Her mantle.
Glory be to the Father... 


11th Station
Jesus is nailed to the cross.

They crucified Him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. (Lk 23, 33)

They stretch Me onto the cross.
I offer them hands and feet to be crucified: 
I am bound irrevocably to the Cross, and to the work of redemption.
Glory be to the Father... 


12th Station
Jesus dies on the cross.

When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “Everything is consummated," and He bowed His head and gave up His spirit. (Jo 19, 30)

Darkness covers Calvary. 
- Father, forgive them, because they do not know what they do! 
- Father, my Father, even you abandon me! 
- My children, I thirst for you! 
- My Mother, accept the world:  it is yours,
  born of My blood, born of your pain!
- All is consummated. 
- Father, I deliver my spirit to you: 
- My last breath is for You.
Glory be to the Father... 


13th Station
Jesus is placed in the lap of His Mother.

And Joseph of Arimathea took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud.  (Mat 27, 59)

His Mother, with Jesus dead in Her arms! 
It was love that led Jesus to give up His life
His Mother continues the same mission of love: 
To love us as she loves Jesus. 
Glory be to the Father... 


14th Station
Jesus is laid in tomb.

And Jose laid him in a tomb cut in stone, where no one had ever yet been laid.  (Lk. 23,53)

Love, joined to grace and the divine life,
Triumphed over pain and death.
Glory be to the Father... 

Oh glorious Calvary!  Oh cross of salvation!
Your blood waters the earth, fruitful rain, rain of love
That reconciles Heaven and Earth! 
Heaven is reconciled with the Earth!

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