devotions to our lord jesus christ

Christ, having entered the sanctuary of heaven, intercedes for us constantly as the mediator at the right hand of the Father who assures us of the permanent outpouring of the Holy Spirit. There is no other way to the Father but through Christ.¹

The prayer of the Church venerates and honors the Heart of Jesus which, out of love for man, he allowed to be pierced by our sins.²

Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is of great antiquity in the Church. It was St. Margaret Mary Alacocque, however, who made this devotion widespread. In 1690, within the octave of the feast of Corpus Christi, our Lord appeared to her and said: “Behold this Heart which, notwithstanding the burning love for men with which it is consumed and exhausted, meets with no other return from most Christians than sacrilege, contempt, indifference and ingratitude, even in the Sacrament of my love. But what pierces my Heart most deeply is that I am subjected to these insults by persons especially consecrated to my service.”

However, to those who show Him love and who make reparation for sins, Our Lord made a great promise: “I promise you in the unfathomable mercy of my Heart that my omnipotent love will procure the grace of final penitence for all those who take communion on nine successive first Fridays of the month; they will not die in my disfavor, or without having received the Sacraments, since my divine Heart will be their sure refuge in the last moments of their life.”

The great promise of the Sacred Heart is most consoling: the grace of final perseverance and the joy of having His Heart as our sure refuge and infinite ocean of mercy in our last hour.

To gain this grace, we should:

• Receive Holy Communion on nine consecutive first Fridays without any break;

• Have the intention of honoring the Sacred Heart of Jesus and of reaching final perseverance;

• Offer each Holy Communion as an act of atonement for offenses against the Blessed Sacrament.

Introductory Prayer

Almighty and everlasting God, look upon the heart of your well-beloved Son and upon the praise and satisfaction which he offers to you in the name of all sinners; and grant them pardon when they seek your mercy.

We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, your Son, who live and reigns with you for ever and ever.

℟. Amen.

Reading Jn 19:31-37

Since it was the day of Preparation, in order to prevent the bodies from remaining on the cross on the sabbath (for that sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him; but when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.

He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth—that you also may believe. For these things took place that the scripture might be fulfilled, “Not a bone of him shall be broken.” And again another scripture says, “They shall look on him whom they have pierced.”

Consideration³

1 Love is revealed to us in the incarnation, the redemptive journey which Jesus Christ made on our earth, culminating in the supreme sacrifice of the cross. And on the cross it showed itself through a new sign: “One of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.” This water and blood of Jesus speak to us of a self-sacrifice brought to the last extreme: “It is finished”—everything is achieved, for the sake of love . . ..

The fullness of God is revealed and given to us in Christ, in the love of Christ, in Christ’s heart. For it is the heart of Him in whom “the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.” Were one to lose sight of this great plan of God—the overflow of love in the world through the incarnation, the redemption and Pentecost—he could not understand the refinement with which our Lord deals with us.

2Let us realize all the richness hidden in the words “the Sacred Heart of Jesus.” When we speak of a person’s heart, we refer not just to his sentiments, but to the whole person in his loving dealings with others. In order to help us understand divine things, Scripture uses the expression “heart” in its full human meaning, as the summary and source, expression and ultimate basis, of one’s thoughts, words and actions. A man is worth what his heart is worth. . . .

So when we talk about the heart of Jesus, we stress the certainty of God’s love and the truth of His commitment to us. When we recommend devotion to the Sacred Heart, we are recommending that we should give our whole self to Jesus, to the whole Jesus—our soul, our feelings and thoughts, our words and actions, our joys.

That is what true devotion to the heart of Jesus means. It is knowing God and ourselves. It is looking at Jesus and turning to Him, letting Him encourage and teach and guide us. The only superficiality that could beset this devotion would be due to man’s own failure to understand the reality of an incarnate God.

3 Jesus on the cross, with His heart overflowing with love for men, is such an eloquent commentary on the value of people and things that words only get in the way. Men, their happiness and their life, are so important that the very Son of God gave Himself to redeem and cleanse and raise them up. “Who will not love this heart so wounded?” a contemplative asks in this connection. “Who will not return love for love? Who will not embrace a heart so pure? We, who are made of flesh, will repay love with love. We will embrace our wounded One, whose hands and feet ungodly men have nailed; we will cling to His side and to His heart. Let us pray that we be worthy of linking our heart with His love and of wounding it with a lance, for it is still hard and impenitent. . . .”

But note that God does not say: “In exchange for your own heart, I will give you a will of pure spirit.” No, He gives us a heart, a human heart, like Christ’s. I don’t have one heart for loving God and another for loving people. I love Christ and the Father and the Holy Spirit and our Lady with the same heart with which I love my parents and my friends. I shall never tire of repeating this. We must be very human, for otherwise we cannot be divine. . . .

If we don’t learn from Jesus, we will never love. If, like some people, we were to think that to keep a clean heart, a heart worthy of God, means “not mixing it up, not contaminating it” with human affection, we would become insensitive to other people’s pain and sorrow. We would be capable only of an “official charity,” something dry and soulless. But ours would not be the true charity of Jesus Christ, which involves affection and human warmth. In saying this, I am not supporting the mistaken theories—pitiful excuses —which misdirect hearts away from God and lead them into occasions of sin and perdition. . . .

4But I have still a further consideration to put before you. We have to fight vigorously to do good, precisely because it is difficult for us men to resolve seriously to be just, and there is a long way to go before human relations are inspired by love and not hatred or indifference. We should also be aware that even if we achieve a reasonable distribution of wealth and a harmonious organization of society, there will still be the suffering of illness, of misunderstanding, of loneliness, of the death of loved ones, of the experience of our own limitations.

Faced with the weight of all this, a Christian can find only one genuine answer, a definitive answer: Christ on the cross, a God who suffers and dies, a God who gives us His heart opened by a lance for the love of us all. Our Lord abominates injustice and condemns those who commit it. But He respects the freedom of each individual. He permits injustice to happen because, as a result of original sin, it is part and parcel of the human condition. Yet His heart is full of love for men. Our suffering, our sadness, our anguish, our hunger and thirst for justice. . . . He took all these tortures on Himself by means of the cross. . . .

Suffering is part of God’s plans. This is the truth, however difficult it may be for us to understand it. It was difficult for Jesus Christ the man to undergo His passion: “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless not my will, but yours be done.” In this tension of pleading and acceptance of the Father’s will, Jesus goes calmly to His death, pardoning those who crucify Him.

This supernatural acceptance of suffering was, precisely, the greatest of all conquests. By dying on the cross, Jesus overcame death. God brings life from death. The attitude of a child of God is not one of resignation to a possibly tragic fate; it is the sense of achievement of someone who has a foretaste of victory. In the name of this victorious love of Christ, we Christians should go out into the world to be sowers of peace and joy through everything we say and do. We have to fight—a fight of peace—against evil, against injustice, against sin. Thus do we serve notice that the present condition of mankind is not definitive. Only the love of God, shown in the heart of Christ, will attain the glorious spiritual triumph of men.

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

I give myself and consecrate to the Sacred Heart of our Lord Jesus Christ, my person and my life, my actions, pains and sufferings, so that I may be unwilling to make use of any part of my being other than to honor, love and glorify the Sacred Heart.

This is my unchanging purpose, namely, to be all His, and to do all things for the love of Him, at the same time renouncing with all my heart whatever is displeasing to Him. I therefore take you, O Sacred Heart, to be the only object of my love, the guardian of my life, my assurance of salvation, the remedy of my weakness and inconstancy, the atonement for all the faults of my life and my sure refuge at the hour of death.

Be then, O Heart of goodness, my justification before God the Father, and turn away from me the strokes of His righteous anger. O Heart of love, I put all my confidence in you, for I fear everything from my own wickedness and frailty, but I hope for all things from your goodness and bounty.

Remove from me all that can displease you or resist your holy will; let your pure love imprint your image so deeply upon my heart, that I shall never be able to forget you or to be separated from you.

May I obtain from all your loving kindness the grace of having my name written in your heart, for in you I desire to place all my happiness and glory, living and dying in bondage to you.

Concluding Prayer

Father,

we honor the heart of your Son

broken by man's cruelty,

yet symbol of love's triumph,

pledge of all that man is called to be.

Teach us to see Christ in the lives we touch,

to offer him living worship

by love-filled service to our brothers and sisters.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

According to tradition, this litany, which in 1899 was approved for public recitation, originated at Marseilles, where devotion to the Sacred Heart was very prevalent from the beginning of the eighteenth century.

Lord, have mercy Lord, have mercy

Christ, have mercy Christ, have mercy

Lord, have mercy Lord, have mercy

God our Father in heaven have mercy on us

God the Son, Redeemer of the world

God the Holy Spirit

Holy Trinity, one God

Heart of Jesus, Son of the eternal Father

Heart of Jesus, formed by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mother

Heart of Jesus, one with the eternal Word

Heart of Jesus, infinite in majesty

Heart of Jesus, holy temple of God

Heart of Jesus, tabernacle of the Most High

Heart of Jesus, house of God and gate of heaven

Heart of Jesus, aflame with love for us

Heart of Jesus, source of justice and love

Heart of Jesus, full of goodness and love

Heart of Jesus, wellspring of all virtue

Heart of Jesus, worthy of all praise

Heart of Jesus, king and center of all hearts

Heart of Jesus, treasure-house of wisdom and knowledge

Heart of Jesus, in whom there dwells the fullness of God

Heart of Jesus, in whom the Father is well pleased

Heart of Jesus, from whose fullness we have all received

Heart of Jesus, desire of the eternal hills

Heart of Jesus, patient and full of mercy

Heart of Jesus, generous to all who turn to you

Heart of Jesus, fountain of life and holiness

Heart of Jesus, atonement for our sins

Heart of Jesus, overwhelmed with insults

Heart of Jesus, broken for our sins

Heart of Jesus, obedient even to death

Heart of Jesus, pierced by a lance

Heart of Jesus, source of all consolation

Heart of Jesus, our life and resurrection

Heart of Jesus, our peace and reconciliation

Heart of Jesus, victim for our sins

Heart of Jesus, salvation of all who trust in you

Heart of Jesus, hope of all who die in you

Heart of Jesus, delight of all the saints

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world have mercy on us

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world have mercy on us

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world have mercy on us

℣. Jesus, gentle and humble of heart.

℟. Touch our hearts and make them like your own.

Let us pray.

Father, we rejoice in the gifts of love we have received from the heart of Jesus your Son. Open our hearts to share his life and continue to bless us with his love. We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord.

℟. Amen.

The Christian loves to follow the Way of the Cross in the Savior's footsteps. The Stations from the Praetorium to Golgotha and the tomb trace the Passion and Death of Christ, who by his holy Cross has redeemed the world.

In order to understand the mystery of Redemption and the salvific meaning of suffering, one ought to meditate upon the sufferings of Our Lord which he took upon himself to save men from sin. “God is always on the side of suffering. His omnipotence is manifested precisely in the fact that he freely accepted suffering. He could have chosen not to do so. He could have chosen to demonstrate his omnipotence even at the moment of the Crucifixion.”

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

My Lord and my God,

under the loving eyes of our Mother,

we are making ready to accompany you

along this path of sorrow,

which was the price for our redemption.

We wish to suffer all that You suffered,

to offer you our poor, contrite hearts,

because you are innocent, and yet

you are going to die for us,

who are the only really guilty ones.

My Mother, Virgin of sorrows,

help me to relive those bitter hours

which Your Son wished to spend on earth,

so that we, who were made from a handful of clay,

may finally live

in libertátem glóriæ filiórum Dei,

in the freedom and glory of the children of God.

FIRST STATION

℣. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

℟. Because by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world.

It is after ten in the morning. The trial is moving to its close. There has been no conclusive evidence. The judge knows that his enemies have handed Jesus over to him out of envy, and he tries an absurd move: a choice between Barrabas, a criminal accused of robbery and murder, and Jesus, who says he is Christ. The people choose Barrabas, and Pilate exclaims: What am I to do then, with Jesus? (Mt 27:22)

They all reply: Crucify him!

The judge insists: Why, what evil has he done?

Once again they respond, shouting: Crucify him! Crucify him!

Pilate is frightened by the growing uproar. So he sends for water, and washes his hands in the sight of the people, saying as he does so: I am innocent of the blood of this just man; it is your affair (Mt 27:24).

And having had Jesus scourged, he hands him over to them to be crucified. Their frenzied and possessed throats fall silent. As if God had already been vanquished.

* Jesus is all alone. Far off now are the days when the words of the Man-God brought light and hope to men’s hearts, those long processions of sick people whom he healed, the triumphant acclaim of Jerusalem when the Lord arrived, riding on a gentle donkey. If only men had wanted to give a different outlet to God’s love! If only you and I had recognized the day of the Lord!

* You may kneel here.

SECOND STATION

℣. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

℟. Because by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world.

Outside the city, to the north-west of Jerusalem, there is a little hill: Golgotha is its name in Aramaic; locus Calváriæ, in Latin: the place of skulls or Calvary.

Offering no resistance, Jesus gives himself up to the execution of the sentence. He is to be spared nothing, and upon his shoulders falls the weight of the ignominious cross. But, through love, the Cross is to become the throne from which he reigns.

The people of Jerusalem and those from abroad who have come for the Passover push their way through the city streets, to catch a passing glimpse of Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. There is a tumult of voices, and, now and then, short silences: perhaps when Jesus fixes his eyes on someone:

If anyone wishes to come after me, let him take up his cross daily and follow me (Mt 16:24).

How lovingly Jesus embraces the wood which is to bring him to death!

* Is it not true that as soon as you cease to be afraid of the Cross, of what people call the cross, when you set your will to accept the Will of God, then you find happiness, and all your worries, all your sufferings, physical or moral, pass away?

Truly the Cross of Jesus is gentle and lovable. There, sorrows cease to count; there is only the joy of knowing that we are co-redeemers with Him.

THIRD STATION

℣. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

℟. Because by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world.

The heavy Cross cuts and tears into Our Lord’s shoulders.

The crowd has swollen into a multitude, and the legionaries can scarcely contain the angry, surging mob which, like a river that has burst its banks, flows through the streets and alleyways of Jerusalem.

The worn out body of Jesus staggers now beneath the huge Cross. His most loving Heart can barely summon up another breath of life for his poor wounded limbs.

To right and left, Our Lord sees the multitude moving around like sheep without a shepherd. He could call them one by one by their names, by our names. There they are, those who were fed at the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, those who were cured of their ailments, those he taught by the lakeside, on the mountain and in the porticoes of the Temple.

A sharp pain pierces the soul of Jesus; Our Lord falls to the ground exhausted.

* You and I can say nothing: now we know why the Cross of Jesus weighs so much. We weep over our wretched failings and also for the terrible ingratitude of the human heart. From the depths of our soul there comes an act of real contrition, that lifts us up from the prostration of sin. Jesus has fallen that we might get up: once and for all.

FOURTH STATION

℣. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

℟. Because by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world.

No sooner has Jesus risen from his first fall than he meets his Blessed Mother, standing by the wayside where He is passing.

With immense love Mary looks at Jesus, and Jesus at his Mother. Their eyes meet, and each heart pours into the other its own deep sorrow. Mary’s soul is steeped in bitter grief, the grief of Jesus Christ.

O all you that pass by the way, look and see, was there ever a sorrow to compare with my sorrow! (Lm 1:12)

But no one notices, no one pays attention; only Jesus.

Simeon’s prophecy has been fulfilled: thy own soul a sword shall pierce (Lk 2:35).

In the dark loneliness of the Passion, Our Lady offers her son a comforting balm of tenderness, of union, of faithfulness; a ‘yes’ to the divine will.

* Hand in hand with Mary, you and I also want to console Jesus, by accepting always and in everything the Will of his Father, of our Father.

Only thus will we taste the sweetness of Christ’s Cross, and come to embrace it with all the strength of Love, carrying it in triumph along the ways of the earth.

FIFTH STATION

℣. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

℟. Because by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world.

Jesus is exhausted. His footsteps become more and more unsteady, and the soldiers are in a hurry to be finished. So, when they are going out of the city through the Judgment Gate, they take hold of a man who was coming in from a farm, a man called Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus, and they force him to carry the Cross of Jesus (cf. Mk 15:21).

In the whole context of the Passion, this help does not add up to very much. But for Jesus, a smile, a word, a gesture, a little bit of love is enough for him to pour out his grace bountifully on the soul of his friend. Years later, Simon’s sons, Christians by then, will be known and held in high esteem among their brothers in the faith. And it all started with this unexpected meeting with the Cross.

I went to those who were not looking for me; I was found by those that sought me not (Is 65:1).

* At times the Cross appears without our looking for it: it is Christ who is seeking us out. And if by chance, before this unexpected Cross which, perhaps, is therefore more difficult to understand, your heart were to show repugnance . . . don’t give it consolations. And, filled with a noble compassion, when it asks for them, say to it slowly, as one speaking in confidence: “Heart: heart on the Cross! Heart on the Cross!”

SIXTH STATION

℣. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

℟. Because by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world.

There is no beauty in him, nor comeliness: and we have seen him and there was no sightliness, that we should be attracted to him. Despised and the most abject of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with infirmity; and his look was as it were hidden and despised. Whereupon we esteemed him not (Is 53:2-3).

And it is the Son of God who is passing by, a madman . . . madly in Love!

A woman, Veronica by name, makes her way through the crowd, with a white linen cloth folded in her hands, and with this she reverently wipes the face of Jesus. Our Lord leaves the impression of his Holy Face on the three parts of the veil.

The beloved face of Jesus, that had smiled upon children and was transfigured with glory on Mount Thabor, is now, as it were, concealed by suffering. But this suffering is our purification; the sweat and the blood, which disfigure and tarnish his features, serve to cleanse us.

* Lord, help me decide to tear off, through penance, this pitiful mask I have fashioned with my wretched doings . . . Then, and only then, by following the path of contemplation and atonement, will my life begin to copy faithfully the features of your life. We will find ourselves becoming more and more like You.

We will be other Christs, Christ himself, ipse Christus.

SEVENTH STATION

℣. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

℟. Because by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world.

Outside the walls of the city, the body of Jesus again gives way through weakness, and he falls a second time, amid the shouts of the crowd and the rough handling of the soldiers.

Infirmity of body and bitterness of soul have caused Jesus to fall again. All the sins of men—mine too—weigh down on his Sacred Humanity.

He has borne our infirmities and carried our sorrows, and we have taken him for a leper, and as one struck by God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our iniquities and bruised for our sins. On him fell the punishment that brought us salvation, and by his wounds we have been healed (Is 53:4-5).

Jesus stumbles, but his fall lifts us up, his death brings us back to life.

To our falling again and again into evil, Jesus responds with his determination to redeem us, with an abundance of forgiveness. And, so that no one may despair, again he wearily raises himself, embracing the Cross.

* May our stumbles and defeats separate us from Him no more. Just as a feeble child throws himself contritely into the strong arms of his father, you and I will hold tightly to the yoke of Jesus. Only a contrition and humility like this can transform our human weakness into the fortitude of God.

EIGHTH STATION

℣. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

℟. Because by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world.

Among the people watching Our Lord as he passes by are a number of women who are unable to restrain their compassion and break into tears, perhaps recalling those glorious days spent with Jesus, when everyone exclaimed in amazement: bene ómnia fecit (Mk 7:37), he has done all things well.

But Our Lord wishes to channel their weeping towards a more supernatural motive, and he invites them to weep for sins, which are the cause of the Passion and which will draw down the rigor of divine justice:

Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children . . .. For if they do these things to the green wood, what shall be done to the dry? (Lk 23:28, 31).

* Your sins, my sins, the sins of all men, rise up. All the evil we have done and the good that we have neglected to do. The desolate panorama of the countless crimes and iniquities which we would have committed, if He, Jesus, had not strengthened us with the light of his most loving glance.

How little a life is for making atonement!

NINTH STATION

℣. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

℟. Because by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world.

Our Lord falls for the third time, on the slope leading up to Calvary, with only forty or fifty paces between him and the summit. Jesus can no longer stay on his feet: his strength has failed him, and he lies on the ground in utter exhaustion.

He offered himself up because it was his will; abused and ill-treated, he opened not his mouth, as a sheep led to the slaughter, dumb as a lamb before its shearers (Is 53:7).

Everyone against Him . . . the people of the city and those from abroad, and the Pharisees and the soldiers and the chief priests . . .. All of them executioners. His Mother—my Mother—weeps.

Jesus fulfills the will of his Father! Poor: naked. Generous: what is there left for him to surrender? Diléxit me, et trádidit semetípsum pro me (Gal 2:20), he loved me and delivered himself up unto death for me.

* My God! may I hate sin, and unite myself to you, taking the Holy Cross into my arms, so that I, in my turn, may fulfill your most lovable Will, . . . stripped of every earthly attachment, with no other goal but your glory, . . . generously, not keeping anything back, offering myself with you in a perfect holocaust.

TENTH STATION

℣. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

℟. Because by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world.

When Our Lord arrives at Calvary, he is given some wine to drink mixed with gall, as a narcotic to lessen in some way the pain of the crucifixion. But Jesus, after tasting it to show his gratitude for that kind service, has not wanted to drink (cf. Mt 27:34). He gives himself up to death with the full freedom of Love.

Then, the soldiers strip Christ of his garments.

From the soles of his feet to the top of his head, there is nothing healthy in him: wound and bruises and swelling sores. They are not bound up, nor dressed, nor anointed with oil (Is 1:6).

The executioners take his garments and divide them into four parts. But the cloak is without seam, so they say:

It would be better not to tear it, but let us cast lots for it to see whose it shall be (Jn 19:24).

Thus, Scripture is again fulfilled: They divided my garments among them, and upon my vesture they cast lots (Ps 21:19).

* Despoiled, stripped, left in the most absolute poverty. Our Lord is left with nothing, save the wood of the Cross.

For us to reach God, Christ is the way; but Christ is on the Cross, and to climb up to the Cross we must have our heart free, not tied to earthly things.

ELEVENTH STATION

℣. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

℟. Because by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world.

Now they are crucifying Our Lord, and with him two thieves, one on his right and one on his left. Meanwhile, Jesus says:

Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing (Lk 23:34).

It is Love that has brought Jesus to Calvary. And once on the Cross, all his gestures all his words are of love, a love both calm and strong.

With a gesture befitting an Eternal Priest, without father or mother, without lineage (cf. Hb 7:3), he opens his arms to the whole human race.

With the hammer-blows with which Jesus is being nailed, there resound the prophetic words of Holy Scripture: They have pierced my hands and feet. I can count all my bones, and they stare and gloat over me (Ps 21:17-18).

My people, what have I done to thee, or in what have I saddened thee? Answer me! (Mi 6:3).

* And we, our soul rent with sorrow, say to Jesus in all sincerity: I am yours and I give my whole self to you; gladly do I nail myself to your Cross, ready to be in the crossroads of this world a soul dedicated to you, to your glory, to the work of Redemption, the co-redemption of the whole human race.

TWELFTH STATION

℣. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

℟. Because by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world.

On the uppermost part of the Cross the reason for the sentence is written: Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews (Jn 19:19). And all who pass by insult him and jeer at him. If he is the king of Israel, let him come down here and now from the cross (Mt 27:42).

One of the thieves comes to his defense: This man has done no evil . . .(Lk 23:41). Then, turning to Jesus, he makes a humble request, full of faith: Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom (Lk 23:42).

Truly, I say to thee: This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise (Lk 23:43).

At the foot of the Cross stands his Mother, Mary, with other holy women. Jesus looks at her; then he looks at the disciple whom he loves, and he says to his Mother: Woman, behold thy son. Then he says to the disciple: Behold thy mother (Jn 19:26-27).

The sun’s light is extinguished and the earth is left in darkness. It is close to three o’clock, when Jesus cries out: Eli, Eli, lamma sabacthani? That is: My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? (Mt 27:46).

Then, knowing that all things are about to be accomplished, that the Scriptures may be fulfilled, he says: I am thirsty (Jn 19:28).

The soldiers soak a sponge in vinegar and, placing it on a reed of hyssop, they put it to his mouth. Jesus sips the vinegar, and exclaims: It is accomplished (Jn 19:30).

The veil of the temple is rent, and the earth trembles, when the Lord cries out in a loud voice: Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit (Lk 23:46). And he expires.

* Love sacrifice; it is a fountain of interior life. Love the Cross, which is an altar of sacrifice. Love pain, until you drink, as Christ did, the very dregs of the chalice.

THIRTEENTH STATION

℣. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

℟. Because by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world.

Mary stands by the Cross, engulfed in grief. And John is beside her. But it is getting late, and the Jews press for Our Lord to be removed from there.

Having obtained from Pilate the permission required by Roman law for the burial of condemned prisoners, there comes to Calvary a councilor named Joseph, a good and upright man, a native of Arimathea. He has not consented to their counsel and their doings, but is himself one of those waiting for the kingdom of God (Lk 23:50-51). With him too comes Nicodemus, the same who earlier visited Jesus by night; he brings with him a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds weight (Jn 19:39).

These men were not known publicly as disciples of the Master. They had not been present at the great miracles, nor did they accompany him on his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. But now, when things have turned bad, when the others have fled, they are not afraid to stand up for their Lord.

Between the two of them they take down the body of Jesus and place it in the arms of his most holy Mother. Mary’s grief is renewed.

* Where has thy Beloved gone, o fairest of women? Where has he whom thou lovest gone, and we will seek him with thee? (Cant 5:17).

The Blessed Virgin is our Mother, and we do not wish to, we cannot, leave her alone.

FOURTEENTH STATION

℣. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

℟. Because by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world.

Very near Calvary, in an orchard, Joseph of Arimathea had had a new tomb made, cut out of the rock. Since it is the eve of the solemn Pasch of the Jews, Jesus is laid there. Then Joseph, rolling a great stone, closes the grave door and goes away (Mt 27:60).

Jesus came into the world with nothing; so too, with nothing—not even the place where he rests—he has left us.

The Mother of Our Lord—my Mother—and the women who have followed the Master from Galilee, after taking careful note of everything, also take their leave. Night falls.

Now it is all over. The work of our Redemption has been accomplished. We are now children of God, because Jesus has died for us and his death has ransomed us. Empti enim estis prétio magno! (1 Co 6:20), you and I have been bought at a great price.

* We must bring into our life, to make them our own, the life and death of Christ. We must die through mortification and penance, so that Christ may live in us through Love. And then follow in the footsteps of Christ, with a zeal to co-redeem all mankind.

We must give our life for others. That is the only way to live the life of Jesus Christ and to become one and the same thing with Him.

We, too, O God, will descend into the grave whenever it shall please you, as it shall please you, and wheresoever it shall please you. Let your just decrees be fulfilled; let our sinful bodies return to their parent dust, but in your great mercy, receive our immortal souls, and when our bodies have risen again, place them likewise in your kingdom that we may love and bless you for ever and ever.

℟. Amen.

or:

Dear God and Father of mine, Lord of life and death, with an immutable decree you have established that as a just chastisement for our sins all of us men have to die; look at me here bent low before you. From the bottom of my heart I abhor my past faults for which I have merited death a thousand times, death that I now accept as atonement for my sins and as proof of my submission to your lovable will. O Lord, happily will I die at the moment, in the place, and in the way that you want. And until that day I will take advantage of the days of life that remain in order to fight against my defects and grow in your love, to break the bonds that tie my heart to creatures and to prepare my soul to appear in your presence; and from this moment on I abandon myself without reserve into the arms of your fatherly providence.

Prayer for a Happy Death

O my Creator and Father, I beg of you the most important of all your graces: that of final perseverance and a holy death. Despite the fact that I have greatly misused the life you have given me, grant me the grace to live it well from this moment on and to end it in your holy love.

Let me die as the holy patriarchs, leaving this valley of tears without sadness, to go and enjoy eternal rest in my true homeland.

Let me die as did glorious St. Joseph, accompanied by Jesus and Mary, pronouncing those sweetest of names, which I hope to extol for all eternity.

Let me die as did the Immaculate Virgin, in the purest of love and with the desire of uniting myself to the only object of my love.

Let me die as did Jesus on the cross, fully identified with the will of the Father and made into a holocaust for the sake of love.

Jesus, having accepted death for me, grant me the grace of dying in an act of perfect love for you.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for me now and at the hour of my death.

St. Joseph, my father and lord, win for me the favor of dying as one of the just.

Prayer for the Moment of Death

O Lord, my God, from this moment on I accept with a good will, as something coming from your hand, whatever kind of death you want to send me, with all its anguish, pain and sorrow.

℣. Jesus, Mary and Joseph.

℟. I give you my heart and my soul.

℣. Jesus, Mary and Joseph

℟. Assist me in my last agony.

℣. Jesus, Mary and Joseph.

℟. May I sleep and take my rest in peace with you.

Lord Jesus, let me know myself and know you. And desire nothing save only you. Let me hate myself and love you. Let me do everything for the sake of you. Let me humble myself and exalt you. Let me think nothing except you. Let me die to myself and live in you. Let me accept whatever happens as from you. Let me banish self and follow you, And ever desire to follow you. Let me fly from myself and take refuge in you, That I may deserve to be defended by you. Let me fear for myself, let me fear you, And let me be among those who are chosen by you Let me distrust myself and put my trust in you. Let me be willing to obey for the sake of you. Let me cling to nothing save only to you, And let me be poor because of you. Look upon me, that I may love you. Call me that I may see you, And for ever enjoy you. Amen.

Dómine Iesu, nóverim me, nóverim te, Nec áliquid cúpiam nisi te. Óderim me et amem te. Ómnia agam propter te. Humíliem me, exáltem te. Nihil cógitem nisi te. Mortíficem me et vivam in te. Quæcúmque evéniant accípiam a te. Pérsequar me, sequar te, Sempérque optem sequi te. Fúgiam me, confúgiam ad te, Ut mérear deféndi a te. Tímeam mihi, tímeam te, Et sim inter eléctos a te. Diffídam mihi, fidam in te. Obœdíre velim propter te. Ad nihil affíciar nisi ad te, Et pauper sim propter te. Áspice me, ut dilígam te. Voca me, ut vídeam te, Et in ætérnum fruar te. Amen.

I am not moved to love you, O my God, That I might hope in promised Heaven to dwell; Nor am I moved by fear of pain in Hell To turn from sin and follow where you trod You move me, Lord, broken beneath the rod, Or stretched out on the cross, as nails compel your hand to twitch. It moves me that we sell, To mockery and death, your precious blood. It is, O Christ, your love which moves me so, That my love rests not on a promised prize; Nor holy fear on threat of endless woe; It is not milk and honey, but the flow Of blood from blessed wounds before my eyes, That waters my buried soul and makes it grow.

St. Andrew, the Apostle, was martyred. He died nail to a cross. His desire to be identified with Christ was so great that when he was being led toward the place of his martyrdom, and saw the cross in the distance, he cried out:

O good cross, made beautiful by the body of the Lord; long have I desired you, ardently have I loved you, unceasingly have I sought you out; and now you are ready for my eager soul. Receive me from among men and restore me to my Master, so that by means of you he may receive me who by means of you dying redeemed me. Amen.

O bona crux, quæ decórem et pulchritúdinem de membris Dómini suscepísti; diu desideráta, sollícite amáta, sine intermissióne quæsíta et aliquándo cupiénti ánimo preparáta: áccipe me ab homínibus, et redde me magístro meo. Súscipe discípulum Christi, ac per te me recípiat, qui per te móriens me redémit. Amen.