jesus is nailed to the cross

℣. 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