First Station
Jesus in agony on the Mount of Olives
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi
R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum
From the Gospel according to Mark 14:32-36
32
Then they came to a place named Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.”
33
He took with him Peter, James, and John, and began to be troubled and distressed.
34
Then he said to them, “My soul is sorrowful even to death. Remain here and keep watch.”
35
He advanced a little and fell to the ground and prayed that if it were possible the hour might pass by him;
36
he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible to you. Take this cup away from me, but not what I will but what you will.”
Meditation
The weakest yet the strongest hour in Jesus’ life!
He knew what a dreadful death was ahead of Him.
Being truly and fully human,
He experienced that moment of human life in which all human beings fear death, particularly death caused by men and by injustice.
Everyday we are under the threat of death.
We often ignore it.
But it is there, around us, set for us and for others.
Are we ready for it?
But can we suppress it?
The only way not to succumb
to the fear of it is to say:
“Thy will be done”.
Our faith in God leads to spiritual courage, The most needed virtue in this world of today.
For amidst the world’s affluence we see the spiritual poverty
and shallowness that surround us and “distress and trouble” us.
The cup of suffering is on our daily table:
our own cup or the cup of others.
We ignore it,
We avoid it.
But when the unavoidable hour comes to take it, Will we be ready to say:
“Thy will be done”?
Prayer
O Lord of suffering,
Together with You we have entered The garden of Gethsemane.
We share in Your agony.
While You pray to Abba, the Father, We pray to You, our Lord and Savior.
Accept our supplications,
Strengthen in us Your unconquerable And all-conquering faith, So that we may pass through this valley of death Without the fear of death, But with the hope of eternal life. Turn the bitterness of Gethsemane Into the taste of the Garden of Eden, Our original abode And the source of happiness.
T
All:
Pater noster, qui es in caelis:
sanctificetur nomen tuum;
adveniat regnum tuum;
fiat voluntas tua, sicut in caelo, et in terra.
Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie;
et dimitte nobis debita nostra,
sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris;
et ne nos inducas in tentationem;
sed libera nos a malo
Stabat Mater dolorosa
iuxta crucem lacrimosa,
dum pendebat Filius.
Second Station
Jesus is betrayed by Judas and arrested
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi
R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum
From the Gospel according to Mark 14:43-46
43
Then, while he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived, accompanied by a crowd with swords and clubs who had come from the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders.
44
His betrayer had arranged a signal with them, saying, “The man I shall kiss is the one; arrest him and lead him away securely.”
45
He came and immediately went over to him and said, “Rabbi.” And he kissed him.
46
At this they laid hands on him and arrested him.
Meditation
He was love.
His name was love.
He was only love.
He preached love.
He spread love.
Even to those who responded in hatred.
Love generates trust.
He trusted His disciples
Because He loved them.
Yet, one of them went astray.
The love of silver had replaced
the love of the Master.
He called Him “Master” when he kissed Him.
But his kiss was a veil of greed.
Love had left him,
Self-interest had seized his soul.
Betrayal is our temptation.
How often, even in the guise of love,
We betray Him by betraying one another.
We betray our parents
to whose love we owe our existence.
We betray our teachers
To whose care we owe our education.
Prayer
O Lord betrayed,
Look upon us the betrayers.
Rekindle in us Your love.
Dispel from us al seeds of hate and mistrust.
Cleanse our hearts, our minds and our hands
So that we may cleanse the field of our life
From the thorns of enmity and betrayal
From greed and self-centredness.
Enable us to cast away from us
The shadows of Judas
And to overcome all temptations of betrayal.
T
All:
Pater noster, qui es in caelis:
sanctificetur nomen tuum;
adveniat regnum tuum;
fiat voluntas tua, sicut in caelo, et in terra.
Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie;
et dimitte nobis debita nostra,
sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris;
et ne nos inducas in tentationem;
sed libera nos a malo
Cuius animam gementem,
Contristatam et dolentem
Pertransivit gladius.
Third Station
Jesus is abandoned by his disciples
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi
R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum
From the Gospel according to Mark 14:27,50
27
Then Jesus said to them, "All of you will have your faith shaken, for it is written: 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be dispersed.'
50
And they all left him and fled
Meditation
Jesus had always been
Among the people, with the people, for the people.
His disciples had been his family,
Yet they left him alone in his hour of agony.
The world around us is a noisy world,
Full of movement,
Overflowing with events, rapid changes,
So often unexpected, unpredictable,
Disturbing, bewildering.
Yet we so often feel alone in all this turmoil
Even when we are surrounded with people.
How many of us are prisoners in our own selves,
Abandoned by society?
People orphaned, handicapped,
Advanced in age, poor, forsaken, ignored, oppressed.
Loneliness touches also the rich, the affluent
The powerful, the privileged,
Unloved, they are even despised.
Loneliness is the temptation of our times.
Jesus was abandoned by his own disciples:
People whose hears and minds were filled
By his presence, his words and deeds.
They were asleep;
When awake, they ''fled away.''
Yet, the abandoned one
Did not abandon us
Will not abandon us.
Let us turn to him.
Prayer
Lord, take us back in your company.
Alone, we feel frozen
Alone, we feel fear and despair
Alone, we are poor and feel powerless
Alone, we are lost.
Our flight away from you
Has led us nearer to hell.
Save us from ourselves,
From our temptation of ignoring your presence
And becoming imprisoned in our narrow selves.
May your loneliness become our fullness
In your togetherness let our loneliness be dispelled.
T
All:
Pater noster, qui es in caelis:
sanctificetur nomen tuum;
adveniat regnum tuum;
fiat voluntas tua, sicut in caelo, et in terra.
Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie;
et dimitte nobis debita nostra,
sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris;
et ne nos inducas in tentationem;
sed libera nos a malo
O quam tristis et afflicta
Fuit illa benedicta
Mater Unigeniti!
Fourth Station
Jesus is condemned by the Sanhedrin
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi
R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum
From the Gospel according to Mark 14:55,57,60,64-65
55
The chief priests and the entire Sanhedrin kept trying to obtain testimony against Jesus in order to put him to death, but they found none.
57
Some took the stand and testified falsely against him,
60
The high priest rose before the assembly and questioned Jesus, saying, "Have you no answer? What are these men testifying against you?"
64
You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?" They all condemned him as deserving to die.
65
Some began to spit on him. They blindfolded him and struck him and said to him, "Prophesy!" And the guards greeted him with blows.
Meditation
Hatred turned into action!
Contempt turned into torture!
Jesus is there all alone
Delivered into the hands of enemies
Who wanted to destroy him and his mission.
Hatred is like darkness in our lives.
How often it surround us
When we walk out of the ''Light of the World''!
Hatred among individuals
Hatred between communities
Hatred based on racial prejudices
Hatred generated by injustices
Hatred caused by discrimination
Hatred emanating from self interest and arrogance.
People, communities, nations are ''spat upon''
Smitten, despised, hated, threatened by death.
Wars around the world
Are like thorns around the head of Jesus.
How much are we part of this darkness?
How much love is part of our deeds?
When we look at Jesus receiving blows,
Are we not being hurt?
Let us again turn to Him for healing.
Prayer
O Lord of pain,
Healer of pains,
Your silence is eloquent faith and radian love.
Your silence is the answer to hatred.
We beseech you,
Open our ears
Fill our hearts
Cleanse our minds.
We need your love and faith
To dispel hatred from us.
We confess that our lack of faith
Our weakness of love
Often lead us to be
Among those who took pride in 'smiting' You
And ''received You with blows''.
Open our arms to receive You
In love, in faith, in hope.
You are our only Savior.
Your pain is our cure.
T
All:
Pater noster, qui es in caelis:
sanctificetur nomen tuum;
adveniat regnum tuum;
fiat voluntas tua, sicut in caelo, et in terra.
Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie;
et dimitte nobis debita nostra,
sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris;
et ne nos inducas in tentationem;
sed libera nos a malo
Quea maerebat et dolebat,
Pia Mater, dum videbat
Nati poenas incliti.
Fifth Station
Jesus is denied by Peter
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi
R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum
From the Gospel according to Mark 14:66-68,72
66
While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the high priest's maids came along.
67
Seeing Peter warming himself, she looked intently at him and said, "You too were with the Nazarene, Jesus."
68
But he denied it saying, "I neither know nor understand what you are talking about." So he went out into the outer court. [Then the cock crowed.]
72
And immediately a cock crowed a second time. Then Peter remembered the word that Jesus had said to him, "Before the cock crows twice you will deny me three times." He broke down and wept.
Meditation
Denial of Jesus
Is denial of one's own self.
Fear has a powerful dominion over us.
Peter feared.
Fear is weakness.
Fear destroys one's integrity.
Even the most courageous who claim fearlessness
Are not exempt from fear's influence.
The temptation of ear will always be with us.
It is not easy for us human beings
To follow Jesus' own words;
''Do not fear
those who kill the body'' (Mt.10:28).
It is not easy to follow his example:
To be ready to be smitten,
To undergo scourging and torture
To take up the cross.
The only power to conquer fear
Is His word: ''Take heart, it is I, have no fear'' (Mt 14:27)
''Breaking down and weeping'' saved Peter from fear.
Repentance, recovery of our union with Him
Can remove fear from our life.
The victory over the fear of death was won
By the death of Jesus Christ.
Prayer
Lord,
Brave Shepherd, Fearless Master
Chase away from us
All inclination to fear.
Keep us alert to your boldness
So that we may not be tempted to deny You.
We confess that denying you
Alienates us from our true selves.
Without You we feel empty,
Vulnerable to fear and denial.
Look upon us
And pour upon our eyes
Drops of tears from Saint Peter's eyes:
To straighten us
To strengthen us
To confess You
At all times and in all places.
T
All:
Pater noster, qui es in caelis:
sanctificetur nomen tuum;
adveniat regnum tuum;
fiat voluntas tua, sicut in caelo, et in terra.
Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie;
et dimitte nobis debita nostra,
sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris;
et ne nos inducas in tentationem;
sed libera nos a malo
Quis est hommo qui non fleret,
Matrem Christi si videret
In tanto supplicio?
Sixth Station
Jesus is judged by Pilate
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi
R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum
From the Gospel according to Mark 15:1-5
As soon as it was morning the bound Jesus
and led him away and delivered him to Pilate.
And Pilate asked him, ‘’Are you the King of the Jews?’
And he answered him, ‘’You have said so.’’
And the chief priests accused him of many things.
And Pilate again asked him,
‘’Have you no answer to make?
See how many charges they bring against you.’’
But Jesus made no further answer,
So that Pilate wondered.
Meditation
Again Jesus faces judgement!
The Creator being judged by His creatures!
What an irony!
How often in our daily life
Do we assume the role of the judge?
Our eyes are set upon others;
Seldom do they penetrate our own selves.
Our neighbor is more frequently and more dominantly
Present in our sight and in our judgement.
We take real pleasure in considering ourselves righteous.
Our world is caught in a web of inter-relationships.
Others are imposed upon us by the mass media.
The occupy the very center of our attention.
Our human frailty leads us to resort to self-justification.
When we ourselves become subject to judgement.
We are easily tempted to reciprocate
By condemning those who condemn us.
Jesus was silent.
His silence is bewildering
For Pilates of all ages.
Let us learn His lesson,
Follow His example:
Not to judge others.
Let us judge ourselves,
Allowing God to be our supreme judge.
Prayer
O Lord, judge of all,
Fountain of all justice,
Help us to stop being the judge of others.
Make us the subject of Your judgement.
For You are the Righteous Judge.
Cleanse our conscience
So that it may become the clear mirror for Your judgement.
We confess: our conscience is often blurred
By our worldliness and self-righteousness.
Grant us inner silence
So that we may clearly hear
The voice of Your judgement;
The way of our salvation.
T
All:
Pater noster, qui es in caelis:
sanctificetur nomen tuum;
adveniat regnum tuum;
fiat voluntas tua, sicut in caelo, et in terra.
Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie;
et dimitte nobis debita nostra,
sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris;
et ne nos inducas in tentationem;
sed libera nos a malo
Quis non posset contristari,
Christi Matrem contemplari,
Dolentem cum Filio?
Seventh Station
Jesus is condemned to death
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi
R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum
From the Gospel according to Mark 15:12-15
Pilate again said to them,
“What shall I do with the man whom you call
the King of the Jews?”
And they cried out again, “Crucify him!”
And Pilate said to them, Why, what evil has he done?”
But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him.”
So Pilate wishing to satisfy the crowd,
released for them Barabbas,
and having scourged Jesus,
he delivered him to be crucified.”
Meditation
“Crucify him!”
“Crucify him!”
It echoes today as strongly
as it sounded when it first burst from the lips
of the crowd in Jerusalem.
How often do we crucify Jesus
by our indifference,
our apathy,
our in action,
towards the demands of the faith He gave us
through His words and deeds,
through His suffering and sacrificial crucifixion.
The crowd acted amidst and emotional outburst,
Under the instigation of their leaders
who themselves acted out of intentional evil
aimed at the destruction of the person,
in whom they saw their own destruction
instead of their salvation.
Christ was re-crucified
all along the centuries that followed Him.
He was crucified with the heart-breaking sorrow
of His mother, the Holy Virgin Mary.
He was crucified with the crucifixion of Saint Peter
and the deadly tortures of all His apostles
and the martyrs and confessors of all nations.
We are part of the throng
who wanted Jesus to be crucified,
removed from our human life.
We have built in us
temples of indifference,
purely formal adherence to His faith,
lukewarm attitudes to His calling and commission,
even denial of His divine love
because of our divisions.
Prayer
Lord of the Cross,
Healer of our sins,
We ask for your forgiveness.
Look upon us with Your eyes
Full of compassion.
Set us apart from the crowd
Who shout; “Crucify him.”
Forgive us our lack of faith,
Our shallowness of love
Our emptiness of dedication
Our meagerness of authentiucity
Our weakness in witness
Our slowness in service
The paleness of Your image in us.
Turn us away from the byways;
Bring us back in the middle of the road
In our journey of pilgrimage on earth.
T
All:
Pater noster, qui es in caelis:
sanctificetur nomen tuum;
adveniat regnum tuum;
fiat voluntas tua, sicut in caelo, et in terra.
Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie;
et dimitte nobis debita nostra,
sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris;
et ne nos inducas in tentationem;
sed libera nos a malo
Pro peccatis suae gentis,
vidit Iexsum in tormentis,
et flagellis subditum.
Eigth Station
Jesus mocked and crowned with thorns
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi
R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum
From the Gospel according to Mark 15:17-20
The soldiers clothed him in a purple cloak,
and plaiting a crown of thorns
they put it on him.
And they began to salute him,
“Hail, King of the Jews!”
And they struck his head with a reed,
and spat upon him,
and they knelt down in homage to him.
And when they had mocked him,
They stripped him of the purple cloak,
and put his own clothes on him.
And they led him out to crucify him.”
Meditation
Mockery, disdain, scorn!
The weakness of the strong.
The arms of the unjust.
The King, the real King of souls,
The King with no Kingdom
that is measured by frontiers,
This King was undergoing the lowest forms of humiliation.
His divine humility was being ridiculed.
He who humbled Himself to raise our human dignity
Was being mocked in all despicable ways.
God, the source of all goodness
was being treated by the beneficiaries
of His love and goodness
with the most degrading contempt and hatred.
What a tragedy!
Turning the Light into darkness,
Beauty into ingratitude.
Where do we stand?
Do we respond to the gifts of God by acts of goodness
towards the children of the Giver of life,
our brothers and sisters in Him?
For the way we treat each other is the way we treat God.
For the love of God passes through
the love of His children (1Jn 4:20-21).
Do we respond with inertia and apathy?
We recognize Him as King every time we say:
“Thy Kingdom come?”
Are we sincerely conscious
of what we utter when we speak?
Are we loyal citizens?
Our indifference and disloyalty
Are synonymous to mockery and scorn.
Prayer
O King, King of all Kings,
The ruler of “the Kingdom in us,”
We confess that the suffering
that we have caused you
by our aloofness from you
causes us deep suffering and immeasurable regret.
Forgive us,
restore us in the spirit of true citizenship of your Kingdom;
renew in us the sense of faithfulness,
obedience and commitment,
the true sings of partnership
in your Kingdom of peace, concord and justice.
Cast away from us the worship
Of the “golden calf” and the other idols
That try to occupy the place of your Kingdom in us.
T
All:
Pater noster, qui es in caelis:
sanctificetur nomen tuum;
adveniat regnum tuum;
fiat voluntas tua, sicut in caelo, et in terra.
Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie;
et dimitte nobis debita nostra,
sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris;
et ne nos inducas in tentationem;
sed libera nos a malo
Tui Nati vulnerati,
Taum dignati pro me pati,
Poenasw mecum divide.
Ninth Station
Jesus is helped by Simon of Cyrene to carry the cross
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi
R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum
From the Gospel according to Mark 15:21-22
They compelled a passerby,
Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country
to carry His cross.
And they brought Jesus to the place called the Golgotha
which means the palace of the skull.
Meditation
The figure of Simon of Cyrene
has become on the most popular
and attractive figures of the New Testament story.
A simple, ordinary person,
A devout member of the community.
A pilgrim from Africa to Jerusalem.
When Jesus was left helpless
in the hands of His executioners,
Simon did not hesitate to help Him,
even when Jesus’ Apostles
were not there to help their Master.
How many people, in history and today,
have wished to put on them the cloak of Simon
to be a partner of Christ carrying His cross
on His way to crucifixion?
Love, sympathy, compassion
are not drained from human hearts.
How can we turn that compassion into action?
How can we give it a self-sacrificial expression?
Love and sympathy lose their strength
if they are not turned into passionate action.
Into tangible service for the benefit of others.
Golgotha!
A name of heavy remembrance of death,
“the place of the skull.”
We are destined to end our earthly life
In some place of “the skull.”
Will we be able to make our death
worthy of a death on the cross,
a living and lifegiving
testimony to the Cross of Jesus,
with the fragrance of salvation,
life eternal?
Prayer
O Lord, on Your journey to death,
Take us with you as Your companions.
Accept us in the ranks of your followers and helpers.
Instill in us the spirit of Simon of Cyrene.
But lead us further than the “place of the skull.”
Make us partakers in Your crucifixion.
May your suffering and our sharing in it
Heal our sicknesses:
‘’For innumerable are my transgressions
Ineffable are my iniquities
Unforgivable are my regrets
Incurable are my wounds”.
(From the Prayer Book of Hours of the Armenian Church)
T
All:
Pater noster, qui es in caelis:
sanctificetur nomen tuum;
adveniat regnum tuum;
fiat voluntas tua, sicut in caelo, et in terra.
Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie;
et dimitte nobis debita nostra,
sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris;
et ne nos inducas in tentationem;
sed libera nos a malo
Eia Mater, fons amoris,
me sentire vim doloris
fac, ut tecum lugeam.
Tenth Station
Jesus promises his kingdom to the Good Thief
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi
R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum
From the Gospel according to Luke 23:33-34, 42-43
They crucified him and the two criminals,
one on the right and one on the left.
And Jesus said,
“Forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
One of the crimnals said,
“Jesus,
remember me when you come in your kingly power.”
And he said to him,
“Truly I say to you,
Today you will be with me in Paradise.”
Meditation
People had achieved their goal.
They saw the person who had disturbed their lives
nailed on the cross
and removed from their midst.
For them He was a criminal like the two others.
Now, the words uttered by Him
disturbed them more:
“Forgive them.”
Were they conscious
of what was involved
in their actions of mockery,
torture, scourging and crucifixion?
Their eyes could not see deeper and clearer,
They were filled with the blood of hate.
They were carried away by emotion,
By false understanding, by misguidance.
Their rage and anger were stimulated
by leaders who thought they knew
what they were doing.
What human frailty!
How could they know that they were treating
God as a criminal?
Their minds and hears were haunted
by the idea that they were defending God
from this blasphemer.
How could they know
that they were defending themselves, their authority,
under the name of their God?
To what heights can soar human arrogance,
self glorification, the lust for power?
But look at the contrast.
Forgiveness is the answer to torture and the torturer.
A glimpse of hope:
the contrite heart of the criminal who did see
what the torturers could not see –
The Son of God with His power of love and forgiveness.
Let us join this criminal and say in unison:
“Jesus, remember us.”
Prayer
O Lord Crucified,
Look upon us from the height of Your cross,
from the unattainable pinnacle of Your Love and forgiveness.
Forgive us for our failure
To understand You and to conduct
our lives according to your commandments.
Save us from succumbing to the temptations
of quick and hasty actions.
Enlighten us with the serenity
of your grace of wisdom.
Your benevolence has no end.
Purify our hearts
so that we may ask you in all sincerity:
“Forgive us our trespasses.”
T
All:
Pater noster, qui es in caelis:
sanctificetur nomen tuum;
adveniat regnum tuum;
fiat voluntas tua, sicut in caelo, et in terra.
Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie;
et dimitte nobis debita nostra,
sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris;
et ne nos inducas in tentationem;
sed libera nos a malo
Fac ut ardeat cor meum
in amando Christum Deum
ut sibi complaceam.
Eleventh Station
Jesus on the Cross, his Mother and his disciple
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi
R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum
From the Gospel according to John 19:25-27
Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother,
and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas,
and Mary Magdalene.
When Jesus saw his mother,
and the disciple whom he loved
standing near,
he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!”
Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.”
And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.
Meditation
Great moment, unique event, final act:
Mother-Son, unbreakable association!
During His public ministry
Jesus had almost ignored His mother.
Seldom we find Him together with His mother.
Surely she had always been in His heart and mind.
At this last moment of His life on earth
His mother emerged in His sight.
And occupied His last thought.
In Bethlehem His eyes were opened
in the sight of His mother.
In Golgotha His eyes were closing
with the image of His mother.
His mother was the first and the last person
Of His thought and concern,
Of His love and care.
Women: God’s most sensitive creatures.
His daughters, our mothers, our sisters.
They were among His closest company
Devotees to His mission,
Partakers in His agony, anguish and pain.
They kept company with His mother;
Their presence was a spiritual comfort for her
As she so often felt the sword pierce her heart (Lk 2:35).
Mary was no in good hands,
Those of the Apostle whom He loved most.
Supreme form of motherhood.
Highest vocation in human life,
Cherished in such exemplary form
By the Lord Jesus Christ.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, Son of the Holy Virgin Mary,
Through the intercession of Your holy mother
Keep pure in our hearts the love for our mothers.
So that we can respond to their all-encompassing love
By our devotedness to their care.
May the love that was shed forth
From the cross upon your mother
Become the sole force of our hearts,
To guide us in our relatedness to our mothers.
Mother of Jesus, pour in us all a drop
of your purity and innocence (St.Gregory of Narek).
May your Son Jesus Christ grant wisdom and courage
To our sisters and mothers,
To cherish in them the dignity of motherhood:
Beginning of all human happiness.
T
All:
Pater noster, qui es in caelis:
sanctificetur nomen tuum;
adveniat regnum tuum;
fiat voluntas tua, sicut in caelo, et in terra.
Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie;
et dimitte nobis debita nostra,
sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris;
et ne nos inducas in tentationem;
sed libera nos a malo
Sancta Mater, istud agas,
Crucifixi fige plagas,
cordi meo valide.
Twelfth Station
Jesus on the Cross
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi
R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum
From the Gospel according to Mark 15:33-34, 37, 39
And when the sixth hour had come,
there was darkness over the whole land
until the ninth hour.
And the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice,
“Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachtani,”
which means, “My God, my God why has thou forsaken me?”
And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed his last.
The centurion, who was standing in front of him,
had seen how he died, and he said,
“In truth, this man was a Son of God.”
Meditation
At last!
Jesus and everything related to Him was at an end.
Relief came over those
who looked for His complete removal
from the scene of human history.
The last words of Jesus were spoken.
He sank into silence!
The words were the last.
But the Word is forever,
With no beginning, no end:
Alive and true today
As yesterday and for all ages.
For “In Him was life,
And the life was the light of men.
And the light shines in the darkness
And the darkness has not overcome it” (Jn 1:4-5).
Darkness is where light is absent.
Jesus felt forsaken.
He was so truly human!
Who can stand the moment of death
Without the feeling of the end,
And emptiness of life?
Joy and sorrow were in interplay,
Joy for those whose “enemy”
had been done away with and for good.
Sorrow for those who thought their life
was doomed to darkness:
Their Master had gone forever.
Let us search our own souls.
How can darkness be turned into light
And sorrow into joy?
Prayer
O Lord departed
We humbly beseech You:
Stay in us, be with us.
Without You we are in darkness.
Breathe in us Your “last breath.”
May it become the first breath
Of our new life in You.
Instill in us the mind and heart of the centurion
who with Your “last breath”
felt the overflowing breath of Your Holy Spirit
and courageously confessed by saying:
“Truly this man was the Son of God.”
Kneeling before Your cross we repeat:
“Truly You are the Son of God.”
T
All:
Pater noster, qui es in caelis:
sanctificetur nomen tuum;
adveniat regnum tuum;
fiat voluntas tua, sicut in caelo, et in terra.
Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie;
et dimitte nobis debita nostra,
sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris;
et ne nos inducas in tentationem;
sed libera nos a malo
Vidit suum dulcem Natum
moriendo desolatum
dum emisit spiritum.
Thirteenth Station
Jesus is taken down from the Cross
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi
R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum
From the Gospel according to Mark 15:42-43, 45
And when evening had come,
since it was the day of Preparation,
that is the day before the Sabbath,
Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council
who was also himself looking for the Kingdom of God,
took courage and went to Pilate,
and asked for the body of Jesus.
When Pilate learned from the centurion that Jesus was dead,
he granted the body to Joseph.
Meditation
As Jesus had been abandoned
In the last moments of His life on earth,
His body also was disowned by His own.
The tragedy had touched also His breathless body.
What a shocking contrast!
“The Bestower of gifts to all
This day is sought as a gift from Pilate
He who clothes Himself with light like a garment
Consents to be wrapped by Joseph.”
(Liturgy of the Armenian Church: Proper for Good Friday)
But the world was not entirely dark.
The tragedy was mixed with some light.
Light came from the heart of a person
Who was eagerly “looking for the Kingdom of God”:
Joseph of Arimathea.
A soul genuinely sensitive to God,
A man in whom the goodness of God was not eclipsed.
He was a flower of Jesus,
without being among the disciples.
He secretly and inwardly
was in communion with Jesus.
In our human condition
Are we not often torn apart within ourselves?
There is an inner self within our self.
We fail in bringing it out to the light.
We lack courage.
A multitude of reasons weighs heavily on us.
Our face and our self,
Our appearance and our being,
Are so much apart from each other.
But there is the hour of truth.
When it strikes,
The inner self surfaces
And joins our self-display.
Thai is the moment of wholeness
The time of truthfulness
The hour of salvation:
the recognition of Jesus Christ
As our God and Savior.
Prayer
O Lord, laid down at the feet of the Cross,
We beseech You, as You leave us in Your body,
Leave us not in Your Spirit.
Your breathless body
is for us the temple of the Holy Spirit.
Look upon us and heal
the chasm that destroys our wholeness.
Cast away from us the temptation
Of hesitation, doubt and apprehension.
Reshape in us Your image,
So that we may recover our wholeness
As Joseph of Arimatea “took courage”
And acted openly by his faith and love.
T
All:
Pater noster, qui es in caelis:
sanctificetur nomen tuum;
adveniat regnum tuum;
fiat voluntas tua, sicut in caelo, et in terra.
Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie;
et dimitte nobis debita nostra,
sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris;
et ne nos inducas in tentationem;
sed libera nos a malo
Fac me tecum pie flere,
Crucifixo condolere,
donec ego vixero.
Fourteenth Station
Jesus is laid in the tomb
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi
R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum
From the Gospel according to Mark 15:46
Joseph of Arimathea bought a linen shroud,
and taking Jesus down,
wrapped him in the linen shroud,
and laid him in the tomb
which had been hewn out of the rock;
and he rolled a stone against the door of the tomb.
Meditation
The tomb!
The terminal destination of our physical existence,
The final prison of the body, with no keys.
The tomb “hewn in the rock,”
Immovable, “sealed” and “guarded.”
Unsearchable mystery!
“The Giver of life to all
Today is put in a new-hewn rock.
The treasure of immortality
Is sealed by the ring of the priests.
The Bestower of eternal life
This day humbly descended in the soil of death.
He who dwelt in unattainable light,
Is buried with His body in the heart of the earth.”
(Liturgy of the Armenian Church: Proper for Good Friday)
Can light be buried?
People have tombs
Faith, hope, love,
Ideas, ideals, perennial values, have no tombs.
“He who could not be contained
by the earth and heaven
who was wrapped in swaddling clothes in a manger”
(Liturgy of the Armenian Church: Proper for the Feast of the Nativity)
could not be kept wrapped and enshined
in the core of the earth.
As His body rests in the soil,
Let us wait in faith and hope
To see the light of His Resurrection.
Prayer
O Lord entombed,
We confess that our hearts are heavy and full of sorrow.
Your bodily disappearance deeply afflicts us.
We beseech You to turn our hearts into Your real tomb,
So that we may see You come forth from our hearts
And fill our lives.
In a world where hearts are tempted to despair,
We are in dire need of hope.
Have compassion upon us.
May our sins be buried in the tomb
May Your forgiveness bring to us the taste of eternal life,
So that we may hail Your resurrection
With cleansed hearts and minds
And render to Your thanks and glory
For ever and ever. Amen.
T
All:
Pater noster, qui es in caelis:
sanctificetur nomen tuum;
adveniat regnum tuum;
fiat voluntas tua, sicut in caelo, et in terra.
Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie;
et dimitte nobis debita nostra,
sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris;
et ne nos inducas in tentationem;
sed libera nos a malo
Quando corpus morietur
fac ut animae donetur
paradise Gloria.
Amen
