To avoid plagiarism and breach of copyright the Pope's words have been slightly altered without loss of meaning.
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FIRST STATION
Jesus is condemned to death
We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you
Because by your holy Cross, you have redeemed the world
Reading: Jn 18:37-38
Meditation
The question arises: does 'the' truth really exist? What is it? Can we know it or find it? Pilate cannot understand that 'the' Truth is standing right there in front of him. He cannot see that the face of Jesus is the face of God. And yet Jesus is exactly the Truth that, in the fullness of time, 'became flesh' (Jn 1:1, 14) and came to dwell among us so that we might know it. The truth is not grasped as a thing, the truth is encountered. It is not a possession, it is an encounter with a Person.
Prayer
Lord, your disciples were afraid to ask what you meant when you said, 'The Son of Man is to be handed over to men.' For them it was better not to talk about it, better not to understand than to understand the truth you had proclaimed. We must pray for the grace not to fly from the Cross when it comes: fear, yes! That is true. That scares us. Nevertheless that is where following you leads.
Nearest to you, on the Cross, was your mother, your dear mother. Perhaps today, this day in which we pray to her it would be good to ask her not for the grace to take away our fear - that must come, that fear of the Cross ... but the grace we need not to fly from the Cross in fear. She was there. She knows how to be near the Cross.
Amen.
Our Father ...
Stabat Mater dolorosa, juxta crucem lacrymosa, dum pendebat Filius.
At the Cross her station keeping, stood the mournful Mother weeping, close to Jesus at the last.
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SECOND STATION
Jesus takes up his Cross
We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you
Because by your holy Cross, you have redeemed the world
Jn 19: 14-17
Meditation
The Cross is the word through which God has responded to evil in the world. Sometimes it seems God does not react to evil and stays silent. God has spoken and replied in the Cross of Christ: mercy, love, forgiveness. But it also means judgement - God loves us by judging us and we must not forget that. Embracing God's love I am saved. Refusing it I am condemned - not by him but by my own self since God never condemns; he only loves and saves.
The word of the Cross is also the answer which Christians offer in the face of evil, that evil which continually works in us and around us. Christians must respond to evil with good, taking the Cross upon themselves, as Jesus did.
Prayer
Lord, through your Cross you bear the suffering and the sin of mankind, including our own. Jesus, you accept all this with open arms, bearing on your shoulders our crosses and urging us to have courage. Saying to us, 'You do not carry your cross alone! I carry it with you. I have overcome death and I have come to give you hope, to give you life.'
Amen.
Our Father ...
Cujus animam gementem, contristatam, et dolentem, pertransivit gladius.
Through her heart His sorrow sharing, all His bitter anguish bearing, now at length the sword has passed.
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THIRD STATION
Jesus falls for the first time
We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you
Because by your holy Cross, you have redeemed the world
Is 53: 4-6
Meditation
Following Jesus does not involve triumphal processions. It means sharing his merciful love, entering into his great work of mercy for each individual and for the whole of mankind. This forgiveness passes through the Cross with these conditions stipulated by Jesus himself: to place nothing before the love of him, to take up ones own cross, and to follow him. Many want to follow Jesus on account of his miracles, but he does not want anyone to be deceived. He knows full well what awaits him in Jerusalem. He knows the way the Father asks him to walk. The Way of the Cross. The Way of sacrifice of himself for the forgiveness of our sins. And yet, Jesus does not want to complete this work alone. Christ wants to include us in the mission the Father has given him.
Prayer
Ask Jesus, speak to him if you make a mistake in your life, if you should fall, if you should do something wrong - don't be afraid. Say, 'Jesus, look what I have done, what must I do now?' Speak continually with Jesus, in good and bad times, when doing right and when doing wrong. Do not be afraid of him!
Amen.
Our Father ...
O quam tristis et afflicta fuit illa benedicta Mater Unigeniti!
Oh how sad and sore distressed was that Mother highly blessed, of the sole-begotten One!
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FOURTH STATION
Jesus meets his mother
We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you
Because by your holy Cross, you have redeemed the world
Lk 2:34-35, 51
Meditation
As we enter further into the mystery, this mystery that seems a little like a labyrinth, we need the Mother, the mother's hand. May Mary make us understand how great and humble this mystery is, how sweet as honey and bitter as aloe. May she be the one who accompanies us on this journey, which no one can take if not ourselves. Each one of us must take it! With the mother. Weeping, and on our knees.
Prayer
Lord, you left your mother in our midst that she might accompany us. May she take care of us and protect us on our journey, in our hearts and in our faith. May she help us become disciples and missionaries - like herself. May she teach us to go out onto the streets. May she teach us to step outside of ourselves.
Amen
Our Father...
Qua moerebat, et dolebat pia mater, dum videbat nati peonas incliti.
Christ above in torment hangs; she beneath beholds the pangs of her dying glorious Son.
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FIFTH STATION
Simon helps Jesus carry his Cross
We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you
Because by your holy Cross, you have redeemed the world
Mt 27:32; 16:24
Meditation
The Cross of Christ teaches us to be like Simon of Cyrene who helped Jesus carry that heavy wood. Often we say, 'I will follow you, but do not speak of the Cross. I will follow you on other terms - but without the Cross.' When we journey through life without the Cross, when we profess Christ without the Cross, we are not disciples of the Lord. We are worldly.
Prayer
Lord, only in you can we find salvation and redemption. With you, evil, suffering and death do not have the last word because you give us hope and life; you have transformed the Cross from an instrument of hate, defeat and death into a sign of love, victory and life.
Amen.
Our Father...
Quis est homo qui non fleret Matrem Christi si videret in tanto supplicio?
Is there one who would not weep, whelmed in miseries so deep, Christ's dear Mother to behold?
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SIXTH STATION
Veronica wipes the face of Jesus
We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you
Because by your holy Cross, you have redeemed the world
Is 53: 2-3
Meditation
The disfigured face of Jesus resembles all the faces of men and women marred by a life which does not respect their dignity, by war and violence which afflict the weakest. And yet, the face of Jesus conveys a deep peace. His tortured body expresses a sovereign majesty. A restrained but powerful energy shines through. It seems to say, 'Have faith, do not lose hope. The power of the love of God, the power of the Risen One overcomes all things.'
Each unborn child unjustly condemned to abortion bears the face of Jesus Christ. Bears the face of the Lord, who even before he was born - and as soon as he was born - experienced the rejection of the world.
Prayer
Let us pray with St Francis of Assisi as he prayed before the Crucifix: Most High, glorious God, enlighten the shadows of my heart and grant me a right faith, a certain hope and perfect charity, sense and understanding, Lord, so that I may accomplish your holy and true command.
Amen.
Our Father...
Quis non posset contristari, Christi Matrem contemplari, dolentum cum Filio?
Can the human heart refrain from partaking in her pain, in that Mother's pain untold?
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SEVENTH STATION
Jesus falls a second time
We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you
Because by your holy Cross, you have redeemed the world
Is 50: 6-7
Meditation
Jesus does not come into the Holy City to receive honours like earthly kings, the powerful, the rulers. He enters to be scourged, insulted, abused as Isaiah foretold in our reading (50: 6) He enters to receive a crown of thorns, a staff, a purple robe: the kingship of derision. He enters to climb Calvary under a burden of wood. And the all important word: Cross. Jesus enters Jerusalem in order to die on the Cross. And it is precisely here that his kingship shines forth in godly fashion: his royal throne is the wood of the Cross!
Prayer
Lord, why did you take the Cross as your throne? Because you take upon yourself the evil, the filth, the sin of the world, including the sin of all of us, and you cleanse it with your blood, with the mercy and the love of God.
Amen.
Our Father...
Pro peccatis suae gentis, vidit Jesum in tormentis, et flagellis subditum.
Bruised, derided, cursed, defiled, she beheld her tender Child, all with bloody scourges rent.
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EIGHTH STATION
Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem who weep for him
We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you
Because by your holy Cross, you have redeemed the world
Lk 23: 28-31
Meditation
The Cross of Christ invites us to allow ourselves to be smitten by his love, teaching us always to look upon others with mercy and tenderness, especially those who suffer or who are in need of help. Those who need a word, or a concrete action requiring us to step outside of ourselves to meet them, to extend our hand to them. Think of those with Jesus on the way to Calvary: Pilate, Simon of Cyrene, Mary, the women. Pilate - who did not have the courage to go against the tide to save Jesus's life and washed his hands instead. The Cross of Christ teaches us to be like Simon of Cyrene who helped Jesus carry the heavy wood; it teaches us to be like Mary and the other women who were not afraid to accompany Jesus right to the very end, all with such love and tenderness!
And you? Who are you like? Pilate? Simon? Mary?
Prayer
Dear friends, let us bring to the Cross of Christ our joys, our sufferings and our failures. There we will find a Heart that is open to us. That understands us. That forgives us. That loves us. That calls us to bear this love in our lives, to love each person, each brother, each sister - with the same love.
Amen.
Our Father...
Vidit suum dulcem Natum, moriendo desolatum, dum emisit spiritum.
For the sins of his own nation saw him hang in desolation till his spirit forth he sent.
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NINTH STATION
Jesus falls for the third time
We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you
Because by your holy Cross, you have redeemed the world
Lm 3:27-32
Meditation
What does the Cross give to those who gaze upon it or touch it? What does it leave in each one of us? It gives a treasure that no one else can give. It gives the certainty of the unshakeable love of God for us. A love so great it enters into our sin and forgives it. Enters into our suffering and gives us the strength to bear it. Enters into death to conquer it and save us. The Cross of Christ contains all the love of God, his immeasurable mercy. A love in which we can place our trust. A love we can believe in.
Let us entrust ourselves to Jesus. Let us give ourselves over entirely to him.
Prayer
Lord, sometimes we are tempted to be the kind of Christian who avoids your wounds. But you, you want us to touch human misery. You want us to touch the suffering flesh of others. You hope we will stop seeking shelter from the maelstrom of human misfortune by hiding within groups or inside our own shell. You hope we will enter into the reality of other people's lives and know the power of tenderness. Whenever we do that, our lives becomes complicated. Yes. Wonderfully so. We experience intensely what it is to be a people. To be part of a people.
Amen.
Our Father...
Eja, Mater! Fons amoris! me sentire vim doloris fac, ut tecum lugeam.
O thou Mother! fount of love! touch my spirit from above, make my heart with yours accord.
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TENTH STATION
Jesus is stripped of his garments
We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you
Because by your holy Cross, you have redeemed the world
Mt 27:33-36
Meditation
We have everything: the Church, Jesus Christ, the Sacraments, the Virgin Mary: everything. The Kingdom of Heaven has done a good job! And we are good, all of us. To believe otherwise would be a sin! But 'spiritual well-being' is not enough. Like the young rich man in the parable who wanted to follow Jesus - but only to a certain point. To be a real Christian you must receive the last anointment: the Cross anointment, the anointment of true humiliation.
He humiliated himself to the point of death. Even death on a cross.
That is the cornerstone, the proof of our Christian reality. So we ask ourselves, Am I a 'well-being' Christian or am I a Christian that walks with Jesus towards the Cross? It's a matter of being able to endure every humiliation. Many Christians are blocked by this scandal of the Cross, and instead complain when they suffer any wrongs, behaving in a way that is contrary to the nature of Christ. A Christian can be recognised by the capacity to endure humiliations with patience and joy.
There are two paths Christians may follow: caring only for their own well-being to assure a place in Heaven, or keeping close to Jesus, on the path of Jesus.
Prayer
Lord, you are a scandal. You are a scandal: the scandal of the Cross. A Cross which is humility, meekness: a Cross that speaks to us of God's closeness.
Amen.
Our Father...
Fac ut ardeat cor meum; in amando Christum Deum, ut sibi complaceam.
Make me feel as You have felt; make my soul to glow and melt with the love of Christ our Lord.
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ELEVENTH STATION
Jesus is nailed to the Cross
We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you
Because by your holy Cross, you have redeemed the world
Mt 27: 37-42
Meditation
God follows this course for love! There is no other explanation. Love alone does this. In meditating today we look at the Cross, the story of mankind and the story of God. Looking at the Cross you can sample the honey of aloe, the bitter honey, the bitter sweetness of the sacrifice of Jesus. But this mystery is so great we cannot look upon it by ourselves so much to understand - yes, to understand - as to feel deeply the salvation of it. First of all, the mystery of the Cross. It can be understood, little by little, by kneeling, in prayer, but also through tears. They are the tears that bring us close to the mystery. Without weeping - heartfelt weeping - we can never understand this mystery. It is the cry of the penitent, the cry of a brother or sister looking upon so much human misery and upon Jesus, but kneeing and weeping. And never alone. Never alone!
Prayer
Lord, with the Cross, you unite yourself to the silence of the victims of violence, those who can no longer cry out, especially the innocent and the defenceless. With the Cross, you are united to families in trouble, and those who mourn the tragic loss of their children. We pray for them.
Amen.
Our Father...
Sancta Mater! istud agas; crucifixi fige plagas, cordi meo valide.
Holy Mother! pierce me through; in my heart each wound renew of my Saviour crucified.
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TWELFTH STATION
Jesus dies on the Cross
We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you
Because by your holy Cross, you have redeemed the world
Mt 27 45-50, 54
Meditation
The Cross is not a message of defeat and failure. It is a paradox. It speaks to us about a death which is life, a death which gives life, because it speaks to us of love. A love of God incarnate. A love which does not die but triumphs over evil and death. When we allow the crucified Jesus to gaze on us we are re-created. We become 'a new creation'. Everything else starts with this: the experience of transforming grace, the experience of being loved for no merits of our own and in spite of us being sinners. That is why St Francis could say with St Paul: Far be it from me to glory except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Ga 6:14)
Prayer
Lord, on the Cross you are united with every person who suffers from hunger in a world which permits itself the luxury of throwing away tons of food every day. On the Cross you are united to the many fathers and mothers who suffer as their children become victims of drug-induced euphoria. On the Cross you are united with those who are persecuted for their religion, for their beliefs or simply for the colour of their skin. On the Cross you are united with so many young people who have lost faith in political institutions because they see only selfishness and corruption. You unite yourself with those young people who have lost faith in the Church, or even in God because of the counter-witness of Christians and ministers of the Gospel. How our inconsistencies make you suffer!
Amen.
Our Father...
Tui Nati vulnerati, tam dignati pro me pati, poenas mecum divide.
Let me share with You His pain, who for all my sins was slain, who for me in torments died.
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THIRTEENTH STATION
Jesus is taken down from the Cross and given to his mother
We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you
Because by your holy Cross, you have redeemed the world
Mt 27: 54 -55
Meditation
No one can approach and touch the Cross of Jesus without leaving something of themself there and without bringing something of the Cross of Jesus into his or her own life.
But the Cross of Christ invites us also to allow ourselves to be smitten by his love, teaching us always to look upon others with mercy and tenderness, especially those who suffer, who are in need of help, who need a word or a concrete action which requires us to step outside ourselves to meet them and to extend a hand to them.
Prayer
Mother, look upon us! Your gaze leads us to God, your look is a gift from the Father, who awaits us at every turn of our journey. It is a gift from Jesus Christ on the Cross, who takes upon himself our suffering, our struggles, our sin. And in order to meet this loving Father, today we say: Mother, look upon us!
Let us all say it together: Mother, look upon us! Mother, look upon us!
Amen.
Our Father...
Fac me tecum pie flere, crucifixo condolere, donec ego vixero.
Let me mingle tears with You, mourning Him who mourned for me, all the days that I may live.
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FOURTEENTH STATION
Jesus is laid in the tomb
We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you
Because by your holy Cross, you have redeemed the world
Mt 27: 59-61
Meditation
Everyone respond in your own heart: am I courageous or am I a coward?
Or am I like the thorny ground: negativity, negative feelings choke the Lord's words in us (Mt 13: 18-22) Do I have the habit of playing both sides in my heart: do I make a good impression for God? Or for the devil? Do I want to receive the seed from Jesus and at the same time water the thorns and the weeds that grow in my heart?
Today I am sure the seed is able to fall on good soil. We are listening to witnesses, how the seed has fallen on good soil. 'No, Father, I am not good soil; I am a disaster, and I am full of stones, of thorns, of everything.' Yes, maybe that is so on the surface of it, but free a little patch, a small patch of good soil and let the seed fall there. Watch how it grows.
I know that you want to be good soil, true Christians, authentic Christians. Not part-time Christians: 'starchy', aloof and Christian 'in appearance only'.
Prayer
Father, your Cross is the word through which you have responded to evil in the world. Sometimes it seems you don't react to evil. Sometimes it seems you keep silent. And yet you have spoken. You have replied. Your answer is the Cross of Christ - mercy, love, forgiveness and also loving judgement. Judging us through loving us. I embrace your love and am saved. I refuse your love and am condemned. Not by you, but by my own self.
You never condemn. You only love. And save.
Amen.
Our Father...
Juxta Crucem tecum stare; et me tibi sociare, in planctu desidero.
By the Cross with You to stay; there with You to weep and pray, is all I ask of You to give.
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