THE STATIONS OF THE CROSS

The First Station

JESUS IS CONDEMNED TO DEATH

With angry hearts and hatred on their faces, they poked at Jesus and condemned Jesus to death. He stood so silent, His hands tied, in perfect peace, because He knew the Father's love. He knew the Father's will. We too will stand our trials in peace, the more we realize the immense love the Father, Son and Holy Spirit have for us. We must pray to the Spirit to transform us more and more into Jesus' image and, through this transformation, we will be led ever closer to the Father. Oh, how Jesus loves us!

The Second Station

THEY GIVE JESUS THE CROSS

They gave Jesus a heavy cross, laden with the sins of the world. They placed it on His shoulder. It was so heavy He felt as if His shoulder would break. He asks us to carry little crosses, to experience little pains. He could not remove this cross from His shoulder. The weight was unbearable. It is through His suffering and death that we receive new life. It is through our sufferings this day that we will grow in our life with Jesus. Jesus loves us so much that He took up the cross of salvation. He loves us. To His death He loved us. Oh, how Jesus loves us!

The Third Station

JESUS FALLS THE FIRST TIME

The cross was so heavy Jesus could hardly walk. He held on to His cross for greatest love of us and in compliance with the will of His Father. It became so hard to walk! The cross was so heavy! He fell. He fell and the cross fell on Him. They poked at Him, they struck Him, they demanded He get up. The pain from the instruments they used to poke Him and strike Him was so great! He somehow managed to get up. When we fall under the weight of our cross, we go to Jesus' Eucharistic Heart. He is no less present in the tabernacle and in the Eucharist than on the day He carried His cross. He waits with the same love that He had for us when He carried His cross and suffered such agony. Oh, how Jesus loves us!

The Fourth Station

JESUS AND MARY MEET

Jesus saw the face of His beautiful Mother. She was weak, her face reddened and full of tears. He saw her tender heart, her love, her anguish, her pain. He saw His dear Mother Mary. His Heart was comforted by the sight of her, but torn by her suffering.

As Mary looked into the eyes of her beloved Son, she saw His love. His head, bleeding and wounded. His body weak. His clothes covered with blood. She looked into His eyes and she saw His love for us. She calls out to us today. She wants to call us back to the love of her Son. See through her eyes, as she peers into His eyes, the love He has for us this day. He gave Himself for us. Oh, He loves us so much. We are Mary's little children. See through Mary's eyes the love of her Son. Oh, how Jesus loves us!

The Fifth Station

SIMON OF CYRENE IS FORCED
TO HELP JESUS CARRY HIS CROSS

The cross was so heavy Jesus could not move. His persecutors became angry and forced a man to help Him. The cross was so heavy the two of them could barely move it. How is our cross today? Does it seem so heavy we cannot go on? He is forever watching us. When we are suffering the greatest, He is very close to us. It is in immense suffering that we realize His great love for us. Pray for grace to do always the Father's Will. Pray for grace to grow in our knowledge and love of Jesus.

The Sixth Station

VERONICA WIPES THE FACE OF JESUS

Jesus' face was covered with blood. From the crowd Veronica came forward with a cloth to wipe His face. On the cloth Jesus gave to us an imprint of His bloodied face. This remains with us this day as a sign of His immense love for us. But more than any cloth, look beyond the visible consecrated host. Jesus remains with us, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, in the Eucharist this day, waiting and longing to be with us. Oh, how Jesus loves us!

The Seventh Station

JESUS FALLS THE SECOND TIME

As Jesus went on the way to Calvary, it became harder and harder to walk. The cross was becoming heavier, His body weaker and weaker. His shoulders and arms hurt so much! His head throbbed as He walked. The blood came from His body, from His head to His feet. He was covered with open wounds. He could not go any farther. He stumbled and fell. Again they poked at Him, only harder, and with such hatred they kicked Him. Such vileness in the hearts of men! His greatest agony was not the agonies of His body, but the agonies of His heart for the love He has for all His precious souls. He loved them so dearly. He loved those who persecuted Him. Oh, how Jesus loves us!

The Eighth Station

JESUS MEETS THE WOMEN OF JERUSALEM

The women came to Jesus with their children, their tender hearts crying and wanting to comfort Him. He saw their love, their care. He saw the coldness of men's hearts for all time, the hatred, the anger, the sins, all the souls that, despite all of His sufferings and death, would be condemned to eternal damnation. He told the women to weep not for Him, but for themselves and their children. His greatest agonies were the agonies of His Most Sacred Heart. Oh, how Jesus loves us!

The Ninth Station

JESUS FALLS THE THIRD TIME

Jesus fell hard the third time. He was so weakened His body collapsed under the cross from such exhaustion! Jesus' greatest agonies were not the wounds to His body. They were the wounds He experienced to His heart. Do we not realize how much Jesus loves us? It is in meditating on His Passion and death that we will realize His immense love for us. When we fall, when we struggle, Jesus gives us the grace to get up. Jesus never gives us more than we can handle. Our strength will come from Jesus. Come to Jesus' Eucharistic Heart. He is waiting for us this day. Oh, how Jesus loves us!

The Tenth Station

JESUS IS STRIPPED OF HIS GARMENTS

They took Jesus to the hill to crucify Him. They angrily stripped Jesus of His garments. They took off Jesus' clothes to whip Him. They had covered Jesus' bloody wounds with a dirty purple robe. Now, total surrender-they took off Jesus' clothes. He showed us the way to surrender, always complying with the will of the Father. It is in living in His will that we will have peace and joy, and life eternal some day. Oh, how Jesus loves us!

The Eleventh Station

THEY NAIL JESUS TO THE CROSS

See Mary as she holds the little Baby Jesus. See her as she washes His tender hands and feet. See her now as she watches as they pound into those same hands and feet the gigantic nails that fix Jesus to the cross.

Mary's heart was torn in her chest as they nailed His hands and feet to the cross. She asks us this day to walk the Passion with Him. See through her eyes the love He has for us. He truly was nailed to the cross. They pounded the nails into Jesus' first hand, then they stretched His body and nailed His other hand. The blood poured from these wounds, that went totally through Jesus' hands. His pain was so immense, but then they nailed His feet! We do not know what pain He suffered. For each one of us He suffered this pain. Oh, how Jesus loves us!

The Twelfth Station

JESUS DIES ON THE CROSS

(Silence.)

Jesus hung for three agonizing hours on the cross against the darkened sky. His greatest agonies were not the agonies of His body, but those of His Heart for the great love He has for each and every soul. He gave Himself to us. He gave His all. He hung with His arms spread in total surrender. Jesus' head was punctured; His hands and feet were nailed to the cross. He gave Himself to us. He gives Himself to us this day in the Eucharist. Jesus gives us Himself! What more do we want?

Song: Oh, burning Heart….

They pierced His Heart with a lance and what flowed forth was blood and water, the sacramental life of the Church, water for Baptism and blood for the Eucharist. His life, death, and Resurrection live on in the Church this day.

The Thirteenth Station

JESUS IS TAKEN DOWN FROM THE CROSS
AND PLACED IN THE ARMS OF HIS MOTHER

They placed the lifeless body of Jesus in the arms of His most loving Mother. As she had held the little baby body in her arms, she now received His bloodied, bruised body. This is how He obeyed the Father's will. Jesus gave His life for us. The Father gave His only Son because He loves us so much. Mary, His Mother, our Mother and the Mother of the Church, is forever by His side. See Jesus in the arms of His loving Mother under the cross. This is love. Mary held His lifeless body in her arms. See through Mary's eyes the love He has for us this day. He gives Himself to us today in the Eucharist. Jesus loves us so much!

The Fourteenth Station

JESUS IS LOCKED IN THE TOMB