The Stations of the Cross is a Catholic devotion that commemorates Jesus Christ’s final hours before dying for our salvation. The 14 devotions, or stations, focus on specific events of His Passion and death, beginning with His condemnation. When we pray the stations we accompany the Lord on a kind of mini pilgrimage as we move from station to station. At each station, we recall and meditate on a specific event in Christ’s path to his death. At each station, we prayer and spend time in quiet reflection before moving to the next station until all 14 are complete.
The Stations of the Cross are commonly found in churches as a series of 14 small icons or images. They can also appear in church yards arranged along paths. The stations are most commonly prayed during Lent on Wednesdays and Fridays, and especially on Good Friday, the day of the year upon which the events actually occurred.
You can pray the Stations at any time, alone or in community. You can pray the Stations by physically walking from Station to Station, or remain in one place. You are encouraged to do what is most effective for your prayer.
The Stations of the Cross found here is the form we use to pray at Divine Mercy Parish on Fridays throughout Lent. It is an adaptation from the Good Friday Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum in Rome for the Jubilee year 2000. The Stations were led by His Holiness, St. John Paul II and include his meditations and prayers. The Station icons are from the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Zagreb Croatia (photos from Shutterstock).
Let us begin:
Introduction:
What does it mean to have a part in the Cross of Christ? It means to experience, in the Holy Spirit, the love hidden within the Cross of Christ. It means to recognize, in the light of this love, our own cross. It means to take up that cross once more and, strengthened by this love, to continue our journey… To journey through life, by participating with the one who “endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”
As we enter into this time of prayer, let us concentrate on the full meaning of that event, so that what happened may speak with new power to our minds and hearts, and become the source of the grace of a real sharing in it.
Brief pause for silence.
Opening Prayer
Let us pray.
Lord Jesus Christ, fill our hearts with the light of your Spirit, so that by following you on your final journey we may come to know the price of our Redemption and become worthy of a share in the fruits of your Passion, Death and Resurrection. You who live and reign for ever and ever.
R. Amen.
The 1st Station
We adore You, O Christ and we bless You, because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world!
Commentary:
Pilate said to him: “So you are a king?”
Jesus answered: “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.”
Pilate said in answer: “What is truth?” This was a question about his own relationship with truth. It was an attempt to escape from the voice of conscience, pressing him to acknowledge the truth and follow it. When someone refuses to be guided by truth he is ultimately ready even to condemn an innocent person to death. Having him scourged and crowned with thorns, Pilate presents Jesus, saying “Behold the man.” The response: “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate washes his hands. Thus was Jesus, the Son of the living God, the Redeemer of the world, condemned to death by crucifixion.
Silent Reflection
Prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ, you accepted an unjust judgment. Grant to us and to all men and women of our time the grace to remain faithful to the truth. Do not allow the weight of responsibility for the sufferings of the innocent to fall upon us and upon those who come after us. To you, O Jesus, just Judge, be honour and glory for ever and ever.
R. Amen.
The 2nd Station
We adore You, O Christ and we bless You, because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world!
Commentary:
The Cross. The symbol of a shameful death, the cross, becomes a key. From now on, with the help of this key, we will open the door of the deepest mystery of God. Through Christ’s acceptance of the Cross, the instrument of his own self-emptying, men and women will come to know that God is love. Love without limits: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life”
Silent Reflection
Prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ, who accepted the Cross to make of it the sign of God’s saving love for humanity, grant us and all men and women of our time the grace of faith in this infinite love. By passing on to the people of our time the sign of the Cross, may we be authentic witnesses to Redemption. To you, O Jesus, Priest and Victim, be praise and glory for ever.
R. Amen.
The 3rd Station
We adore You, O Christ and we bless You, because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world!
Commentary:
Jesus falls under the Cross. This will happen three times along the comparatively short stretch of the “Via Dolorosa.” Exhaustion makes him fall. His body is stained with blood from the scourging, his head is crowned with thorns. All this causes his strength to fail. So he falls, and the weight of the Cross crushes him to the ground. Jesus falls and gets up again. In this way, the Redeemer of the world addresses in a wordless way all those who fall. He exhorts them to get up again: “He himself bore our sins in his body on the wood of the cross, that we might no longer live for sin but for righteousness – by his wounds we have been healed.”
Silent Reflection
Prayer:
O Christ, as you fall under the weight of our faults and rise again for our justification, we pray, help us and all who are weighed down by sin to stand up again and continue the journey. Give us the strength of the Spirit to carry with you the cross of our weakness. To you, O Jesus, crushed under the weight of the cross be our praise and love for ever.
R. Amen.
The 4th Station
We adore You, O Christ and we bless You, because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world!
Commentary:
“Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and his kingdom will have no end.”
“Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word”
Silent Reflection
Prayer:
O Mary, who walked the way of the Cross with your Son, your mother’s heart torn by grief, but mindful always of your fiat and fully confident that He to whom nothing is impossible would be able to fulfil his promises, implore for us and for the generations yet to come the grace of surrender to God’s love. Help us, in the face of suffering, rejection, and trial, however prolonged and severe, never to doubt his love. To Jesus, your Son, honour and glory for ever and ever.
R. Amen.
The 5th Station
We adore You, O Christ and we bless You, because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world!
Commentary:
The divine Condemned One is someone who, in a certain sense, “makes a gift” of his Cross. Was it not he who said: “He who does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me?” Simon receives a gift. He has become “worthy” of it. What the crowd might see as an offence to his dignity has, from the perspective of redemption, given him a new dignity. In a unique way, the Son of God has made him a sharer in his work of salvation.
Silent Reflection
Prayer:
O Christ, you gave to Simon of Cyrene the dignity of carrying your Cross. Welcome us too under its weight, welcome all men and women and grant to everyone the gift of generosity to serve. Do not permit that we should turn away from those who are crushed by the crosses of illness, loneliness, hunger or injustice. As we carry each other’s burdens, help us to become witnesses to the gospel of the Cross and witnesses to you, who live and reign for ever and ever.
R. Amen.
The 6th Station
We adore You, O Christ and we bless You, because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world!
Commentary:
The Redeemer of the world presents Veronica with a true image of his face. The veil upon which the face of Christ remains imprinted becomes a message for us. Acts of love do not pass away. Every act of goodness, of understanding, of service leaves on people’s hearts an indelible imprint and makes us ever more like the One who “emptied himself, taking the form of a servant.” This is what shapes our identity and gives us our true name.
Silent Reflection
Prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ, you accepted a woman’s selfless gesture of love, and in exchange ordained that future generations should remember her by the name of your face. Grant that our works and the works of all who will come after us will make us like unto you and will leave in the world the reflection of your infinite love. To you, O Jesus, splendour of the Father’s glory, be praise and glory for ever.
R. Amen.
The 7th Station
We adore You, O Christ and we bless You, because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world!
Commentary:
“Not behind us with the Saviour’s Cross, but behind the Saviour with our own cross,” wrote a Polish Poet. The poet’s words tells us that every person, carrying their cross, who falls under it’s weight, meets Christ who has done the same. In his turn, Christ, on the way to Calvary, meets every man and woman and, falling under the weight of the Cross, does not cease to proclaim the good news. Our Redeemer says to each human heart: “My grace is sufficient for you; for my power is made perfect in weakness”
Silent Reflection
Prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ, you fell under the weight of the Cross and you get up again in order to take it upon yourself. Give to us the strength to carry the cross of daily life and to get up again from our falls, so that we may bring to future generations the Gospel of your saving power. To you, O Jesus, our support when we are weak, be praise and glory for ever.
R. Amen.
The 8th Station
We adore You, O Christ and we bless You, because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world!
Commentary:
“Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never gave suck!’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us’; and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ For if they do this when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
Silent Reflection
Prayer:
O Christ, you came into this world to visit all those who await salvation. Grant that we will recognize the time of its visitation and share in the fruits of your redemption. To you, O Jesus, born of the Virgin Daughter of Zion, be honour and praise for ever and ever.
R. Amen
The 9th Station
We adore You, O Christ and we bless You, because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world!
Commentary:
“Though he was in the form of God, he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself taking the form of a servant, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a Cross”.
Silent Reflection
Prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ, through your humiliation beneath the Cross you revealed to the world the price of its redemption. Grant to the men and women the light of faith, so that, as they recognize in you the Suffering Servant of God and humanity, they may have the courage to follow the same path which, by way of the Cross and self-emptying, leads to life without end. To you, O Jesus, our support when we are weak, be honour and glory for ever.
R. Amen.
The 10th Station
We adore You, O Christ and we bless You, because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world!
Commentary:
“When he tasted it, he would not drink it.” He did not want a sedative. He wanted to be fully aware as he suffered on the Cross, accomplishing the mission he had received from the Father. The soldiers in charge of the execution tried to dull his senses and his consciousness. But with Christ this could not be. Jesus knows that his death on the Cross must be a sacrifice of expiation. This is why he wants to remain alert to the very end.
Silent Reflection
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, who, with supreme dedication, accepted death on the Cross for our salvation, grant to us and to all the world’s people a share in your sacrifice on the Cross, so that what we are and what we do may always be a free and conscious sharing in your work of salvation. To you, O Jesus, Priest and Victim, be honour and glory for ever.
R. Amen.
The 11th Station
We adore You, O Christ and we bless You, because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world!
Commentary:
“Now my soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, ‘Father save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came out of heaven: “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.”. Jesus said, “This voice has not come for my sake, but for your sakes. Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And, when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself.”
Silent Reflection
Prayer:
O Christ lifted high, O Love crucified, fill our hearts with your love, that we may see in your Cross the sign of our redemption and, drawn by your wounds, we may live and die with you, who live and reign with the Father and the Spirit, now and for ever.
R. Amen.
The 12th Station
We adore You, O Christ and we bless You, because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world!
Commentary:
“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” At the height of his Passion, Christ does not forget us. Jesus knows that more than anything else humanity needs love; we need the mercy which at this moment is being poured out on the world. “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” This is how Jesus replies to the plea of the criminal hanging on his right: this promise of a new life is the first fruit of the Passion and Death of Christ. Jesus cries out: “I am thirsty.” It is the one word which refers directly to his physical suffering. Then Jesus adds: “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” These words of the Psalm, reveal the depths of his union with the Father. From this moment on, the dialogue will only be between the dying Son and the Father who accepts his sacrifice of love. Jesus cries out: “It is accomplished!” Now the work of redemption is complete. The mission, for which he came on earth, has reached its goal. The rest belongs to the Father: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” And having said this, he breathed his last.
Silent Reflection
Prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ, in the moment of your agony you were not indifferent to humanity’s fate, and with your last breath you entrusted to the Father’s mercy the men and women of every age, with all their weaknesses and sins. Fill us and the generations yet to come with your Spirit of love. To you, crucified Jesus, the wisdom and the power of God, be honour and glory for ever and ever.
R. Amen.
The 13th Station
We adore You, O Christ and we bless You, because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world!
Commentary:
In the arms of his Mother they have placed the lifeless body of the Son. The Gospels say nothing of what she felt at that moment. It is as though by their silence the Evangelists wished to respect her sorrow, her feelings and her memories. Or that they simply felt incapable of expressing them. From Mary, the “Sorrowful Mother,” we are shown the difficult love which does not flee from suffering, but surrenders trustingly to the tenderness of God, for whom nothing is impossible.
Silent Reflection
Prayer:
Mary, obtain for us the grace of faith, hope and charity, so that we, like you, may stand without flinching beneath the Cross until our last breath. To your Son, Jesus, our Saviour, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, all honour and glory for ever and ever.
R. Amen.
The 14th Station
We adore You, O Christ and we bless You, because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world!
Commentary:
He “was crucified, died and was buried.” The lifeless body of Christ has been laid in the tomb. But the stone of the tomb is not the final seal on his work. The last word belongs not to falsehood, hatred and violence. The last word will be spoken by Love, which is stronger than death. “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” The tomb is the sign of his supreme sacrifice for us and for our salvation. Very soon this tomb will become the first proclamation of praise and exaltation of the Son of God in the glory of the Father. In the depths of her heart, Mary stores and ponders the Passion of her Son; the women agree to meet on the morning of the day after the Sabbath, in order to anoint Christ’s body; the disciples gather in the seclusion of the Upper Room, waiting for the Sabbath to pass. Then the tomb, the silent witness of the Resurrection, will speak. The stone rolled back, the inner chamber empty, the cloths on the ground, this will be what John sees when he comes to the tomb with Peter: “He saw and he believed.” And with him the Church believed, and from that moment we never grow weary of proclaiming to the world this fundamental truth of our faith: “Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.” The empty tomb is the sign of the definitive victory of truth over falsehood, of good over evil, of mercy over sin, of life over death. The empty tomb is the sign of hope.
Prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, you were drawn by the Father from the darkness of death to the light of a new life in glory. Grant that the sign of the empty tomb may speak to us and to future generations and become a wellspring of living faith, generous love, and unshakeable hope. To you, O Jesus, whose presence, hidden and victorious, fills the history of the world, be honour and glory for ever and ever.
R. Amen.
Closing Prayer
Let us pray.
Lord Jesus Christ, your passion and death is the sacrifice that unites heaven and earth and reconciles all people to you. May we who have faithfully reflected on these mysteries follow in your steps and so come to share your glory in heaven where you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit one God, for ever and ever.
R. Amen.