Source – Vademecum, A collection of prayers of Divine Word Missionaries
(Opening hymn)
L. “Who is this that comes in crimsoned garments, arrayed in majesty, marching in the greatness of his strength?”
A. “It is I, I who announce vindication, I who am mighty to save.”
L. “Whyisyourapparelred,andyourgarmentslike those of the wine presser?”
A. “The wine press I have trodden alone, and of my people, there was no one with me. I looked about, but there was no one to help, I was appalled that there was no one to lend support.”
L. “The favors of the Lord I will recall, the glorious deeds of the Lord.”
A. “Because of all he has done for us; for he is good to the house of Israel” (Is 63:1-3,5,7).
First Station:
Jesus is condemned to death
L. We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.
(Genuflect or bow)
A. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
L. At midnight Jesus said to the Father: “You can do all things. Spare me this cup! No, not what I will but what you will” (Mk 14:36). It was the will of the Father to lay upon him the guilt of us all (Is 53:6). Standing before Pilate, he accepts from him the condemnation decreed by God in Paradise for the guilty, suffering and death. (Gn 2:17) (kneel/ pause)
L. “Just as by the disobedience of the one, the many were constituted sinners.”
A. “So also by the obedience of the one, the many will be constituted holy” (Ro. 5:19).
(Hail Mary… may be added at this point at each station.)
L. “To the King of the ages,
A. The immortal, invisible, and only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen” (1 Tim 1:17).
L. Christ was obedient unto death.
A. Even to death on the cross.
Second Station: Jesus carries his cross
L. We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.
A. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
L. “Anyone who wants to be my follower, must renounce oneself and shoulder the cross; to be a follower of mine. Why, the one who would save the life shall lose it; but the one who freely parts with the life for the sake of the Gospel will save it in the end. Clearly, what does it profit, if you gain the whole world and forfeit your life in any case? Or what price can anyone pay to purchase life forever?” (Mk 8:34-37). (kneel/pause)
L. “If anyone is ashamed of me and my message before this sinful generation,
A. The Son of man, in turn, will be ashamed of that person when he returns wrapped in his Father’s glory and escorted by his holy angels” (Mk 8:38).
L. To the King of the ages,
A. The immortal, invisible, and only God, …
L. Christ was obedient unto death.
A. Even to death on the cross.
Third Station: Jesus falls the first time
L. We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.
A. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
L. “He was spurned and avoided by people, a man of sufferings, accustomed to infirmity. One of those from whom people hide their faces, spurned, and we held him in no esteem. Yet it was our infirmities that he bore, our sufferings that he endured, while we thought of him as stricken, as one smitten by God and afflicted” (Is 53:3-4). (kneel/pause)
L. “BecauseChristsufferedinhisbody,youonyour part should arm yourselves with the same ideal.
A. Those who have suffered in the body have broken with sin, so that during the time left for them in this life they no longer should live according to the lusts of people but according to the will of God” (1 Pet 4:1-2).
L. To the King of the ages,
A. The immortal, invisible, and only God, …
L. Christ was obedient unto death.
A. Even to death on the cross.
Fourth Station: Jesus meets his Mother and ours
L. We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.
A. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
L. “Little children, let no one mislead you. One who leads a holy life is holy just as God is holy. Whoever commits sin, springs from the devil because the devil has sinned from the very beginning. The Son of God made his appearance for the purpose of destroying sin, the work of the devil” (1 Jn 3:7-8). Yet if anyone should commit a sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the Holy One” (1 Jn 2:1). (kneel/pause).
L. “My children, bear patiently the anger that has come from God upon you. Fear not but call upon him. He who brought this upon you will remember you.
A. As your hearts have been disposed to stray from God, turn now ten times the more to seek him. He will, in saving you, bring you back enduring joy” (Ba 4:25-29).
L. To the King of the ages,
A. The immortal, invisible, and only God, …
L. Christ was obedient unto death. A. Even to death on the cross.
Fifth Station:Simon carries the Cross for Jesus
L. We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.
A. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
L. “Those who belong to Christ have crucified their flesh with its passionate cravings. If we live by spiritual ideals, let us conduct ourselves by these ideals. Help bear one another’s burdens, and so you will fulfil the law of Christ. As for me, God forbid that I should glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world is crucified to me and I to the world” (Ga 5:24f and 6:2,14). (kneel/pause)
L. “Therefore, let us go to him outside the camp, bearing the same reproaches as he.
A. Here indeed we have no lasting city, but we are in search of that city that is to come” (Heb 13:13f).
L. To the King of the ages,
A. The immortal, invisible, and only God, …
L. Christ was obedient unto death.
A. Even to death on the cross.
Sixth Station: Veronica wipes the face of Jesus
L. We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.
A. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
L. “When Christ, high priest of the messianic blessings, appeared, he entered once for all through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made by human hands, that is, not of earthly origin. It was not the blood of goats and calves but his own blood that was the means of his entering the Holy Place and securing eternal redemption. Now if the blood of the goats and calves results in outward cleansing, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through his eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our own conscience from lifeless deeds and fit it for the worship of the living God?” (Heb 9:11-14). (kneel/ pause)
L. “Therefore,brethren,wehaveconfidentaccessto the Holy Place, thanks to the blood of Jesus, by following the new and living path which he has opened for us through the veil, I mean, his flesh.
A. So let us draw near with a sincere heart, with our hearts purified from an evil conscience” (Heb 10:19-22).
L. To the King of the ages,
A. The immortal, invisible, and only God, …
L. Christ was obedient unto death.
A. Even to death on the cross.
Seventh Station: Jesus falls the second time
L. We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.
A. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
L. “Onallsideswearehardpressed,butbynomeans trapped. We are thrown down, but by no means destroyed. We carry about with us in our bodies at all times the condemnation of Jesus to death, so that in these same bodies of ours the living power of Jesus may become evident” (2 Co 4:8-10). (kneel/ pause)
L. “WepreachacrucifiedChrist:totheJewscertainly a stumbling block and to the Gentiles an absurdity.
A. But to those who are called, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Co 1:22-24).
L. To the King of the ages.
A. The immortal, invisible, and only God, …
L. Christ was obedient unto death.
A. Even to death on the cross.
Eighth Station: Jesus consoles the weeping women of Jerusalem
L. We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.
A. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
L. “Since we have a great high priest, who has penetrated the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to the faith we profess. We do not have a high priest, who is incapable of sympathizing with our weaknesses. He has experienced them all, just as we, yet without sinning. Let us therefore confidently draw near to God’s throne, the source of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to aid us when we need it” (Heb 4:4-16). (kneel/ pause)
L. “Ifwegoonsinningwillfullyafterhavingreceived the full knowledge of the truth, nothing is left but a dreadful expectation of judgment, a fierce fire which will devour God’s adversaries.
A. How severe will be the punishment of those who trample underfoot the Son of God and outrage the Spirit who bestows grace! It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb 10:26- 30).
L. To the King of the ages,
A. The immortal, invisible, and only God, …
L. Christ was obedient unto death.
A. Even to death on the cross.
Ninth Station: Jesus falls the third time under the cross
L. We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.
A. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
L. “While we were still helpless, Christ, at the appointed time, died for us wicked people. God proves his love for us, because, when we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Ro 5:6f). “He died for all, in order that they who are alive may live no longer for themselves, but for him who died for them” (2 Co 5:15). (kneel/pause).
L. “Therefore, let your conduct be guided by love, as Christ also loved us.
A. And delivered himself for us an offering to God, a sacrifice that has an agreeable fragrance” (Ep 5:2).
L. To the King of the ages,
A. The immortal, invisible, and only God, …
L. Christ was obedient unto death.
A. Even to death on the cross.
Tenth Station: Jesus is stripped of his garments
L. We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.
A. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
L. “Put to death the passions which belong to earth; rid yourselves of all these vices: anger and passionate outbursts, malice, abusive language, and foul-mouthed utterances. Do not lie to one another. Strip off the old self with its deeds and put on the new, which is being progressively remolded after the image of its Creator and brought to deep knowledge” (Col 3:8-10). (kneel/ pause)
L. “Rejoice in your sufferings, and what may be lacking to the sufferings of Christ,
A. Supply in your flesh for the benefit of his body which is the Church” (Col 1:24).
L. To the King of the ages,
A. The immortal, invisible, and only God, …
L. Christ was obedient unto death.
A. Even to death on the cross.
Eleventh Station: Jesus is nailed to the cross
L. We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.
A. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
L. “Weknowthatouroldselfhasbeencrucifiedwith Christ, in order that the body enslaved to sin may be made powerless and that we may no longer be slaves to sin; for the one who is dead, is once for all without sin. But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him, since we know that Christ, having risen from the dead, will die no more. Thus you too must consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Ro 6:6-11). (kneel/pause)
L. “With Christ I am nailed to the cross. It is now no longer I who live but Christ lives in me.
A. And the life that I now live in the flesh, I live in the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me” (Gal 2:20f).
L. To the King of the ages,
A. The immortal, invisible, and only God, …
L. Christ was obedient unto death.
A. Even to death on the cross.
Twelfth Station: Jesus dies on the cross
L. We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.
A. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
L. “Thesoldierscameandbrokethelegs,bothofthe one and of the other, that were crucified with him. When they came to Jesus, they saw that he was already dead. So they did not break his legs, but one of the soldiers pierced his side with a lance, and immediately there came out blood and water” (Jn 19:32f). “He it is who came to make us victors by purifying and redeeming us, by the outpouring of the Spirit. He made victory possible for us not merely by the water of baptism but both by the water and by his blood” (1 Jn 5:6). (kneel/pause)
L. “BeofthesamemindasChristJesus,who,though he is by nature God, did not consider his equality with God a condition to be clung to, but emptied himself by taking the nature of a slave, fashioned as he was to the likeness of men and recognized by outward appearances as a man.
A. He humbled himself and became obedient to death: yes, to death on a cross” (Phil 5:6-9).
L. To the King of the ages,
A. The immortal, invisible, and only God, …
L. Christ was obedient unto death.
A. Even to death on the cross.
Thirteenth Station: Jesus is laid in his mother’s arms
L. We adore you, O Christ. and we praise you.
A. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
L. “Those who are led by the Spirit of God, are the children of God. Now you have not received a spirit of bondage so that you are again in fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption as children, in virtue of which we cry ‘Abba! Father!’ But if we are children, we are heirs also: heirs indeed of God and joint heirs with Christ, provided, however, we suffer with him that we may also be glorified with him” (Ro 8:14-17). (kneel/pause)
L. “Mylittlechildren,weknowthatwehavepassed from death to life, because we love our brethren. One who does not love, abides in death.
A. We know what love is from the fact that Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. We too ought to lay down our lives for our brethren. Little children, let us not love merely in word or with the tongue but in action, in reality” (1 Jn 3:14-18).
L. To the King of the ages,
A. The immortal, invisible, and only God, …
L. Christ was obedient unto death.
A. Even to death on the cross.
Fourteenth Station: Jesus is laid in the tomb
L. We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.
A. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
L. “Let us eagerly throw ourselves into the struggle before us and persevere, with our gaze fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfect embodiment of confidence. He, in view of the joy offered him, underwent crucifixion and contempt of its disgrace, and has taken his seat at the right hand of God’s throne. Meditate on him who in his own person endured such great opposition at the hands of sinners; then your souls will not be overcome with discouragement” (Heb 12:2-3). (kneel/pause)
L. “I count everything loss in comparison with the supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord.
A. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I count them as rubbish that I may gain Christ. I would share in his sufferings, in the hope that, if I resemble him in death, I may somehow attain to the resurrection from the dead” (Phil 3:8,9,11).
L. To the King of the ages,
A. The immortal, invisible, and only God, …
L. Christ was obedient unto death.
A. Even to death on the cross.
Conclusion
L. “IfthenyouhaverisenwithChrist,seekthethings that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things that are above; not on the things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, your life, appears, then you shall appear with him in glory” (Col 3:1-4).
L. To the King of the ages,
A. The immortal, invisible, and only God, …
L. Let us pray for the intentions of the Holy Father.
Our Father…
Hail Mary…
Glory be…
Éditions Verbum Bible 