O Jesus Crucified!
Help us to carry our cross
as You carried Yours!
in reparation for the crimes of the world
and for the needs of the Holy Church.
O Jesus, whose adorable Face bowed so mercifully on the tree of the Cross, on the day of the Passion, for the salvation of the world, today again, out of pity, bow to us, poor sinners; let a look of compassion fall upon us, and receive us in the kiss of peace.
O my Jesus, mercy!
I. Jesus is condemned to death.
We genuflect before the representation of the station, saying:
Then we announce the Station: First Station... etc.
And Jesus keeps silent, He, the very innocence!… He, whose words give life!… His adorable Face loses nothing of its calm and its sweetness… What a lesson for me!
– O my God, forgive me all the words by which I wounded charity, humility, modesty, piety, and make that, in my trials, I honor You by my resignation and my patience.
Holy Mother, pierce me through, in my heart each wound renew of my Savior crucified.
II. Jesus takes up His cross.
We genuflect before the representation of the station, saying:
Then we announce the Station: Second Station... etc.
Jesus receives the Cross with joy, with love… He presses it against His heart… He sticks His forehead and His lips to it… Oh! how He loves us!…
– My good Master, forgive me the complaints and the murmurs with which I welcomed the sorrows that Your tenderness sent me, and make me feel happy to suffer something for You.
Holy Mother, pierce me through, in my heart each wound renew of my Savior crucified.
III. Jesus falls for the first time.
We genuflect before the representation of the station, saying:
Then we announce the Station: Third Station... etc.
Jesus bruises His face by the violence of His fall… He rises again with a face stained with mud, dust and blood…
– Holy Father, I offer You this fall of my Saviour in expiation for all the faults by which I have wrongly edified and scandalized my neighbor. For the sake of Jesus, humiliated and suffering, have mercy on me. In reparation, I want to work to avoid evil and to win hearts for You.
Holy Mother, pierce me through, in my heart each wound renew of my Savior crucified.
IV. Jesus encounters His holy Mother.
We genuflect before the representation of the station, saying:
Then we announce the Station: Fourth Station... etc.
What a moment! Oh tremendous pain!… What glances I see exchanged between this loving God and this tender Mother!… What tears bathe Their faces!…
– O holy Father, I offer You my tears in expiation of all my delicacies and my little resignation to Your holy wills. Grant me, as Mary did, to meet the eyes and face of Jesus in all my sacrifices.
Holy Mother, pierce me through, in my heart each wound renew of my Savior crucified.
V. Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry His cross.
We genuflect before the representation of the station, saying:
Then we announce the Station: Fifth Station... etc.
A stranger helps my good Master to carry His Cross, and I, His child, the object of His tenderness, refuse to do so by distancing myself from the contradictions with which life is sown! Oh, how ungrateful I am!
– Forgive me, my God, forget the past, turn Your Face towards me. From now on, I will share your pains, at least by accepting mine in a Christian way.
Holy Mother, pierce me through, in my heart each wound renew of my Savior crucified.
VI. Veronica wipes the face of Jesus.
We genuflect before the representation of the station, saying:
Then we announce the Station: Sixth Station... etc.
Should I not, following the example of this pious woman, make You forget by my reparations the outrages which You receive from so many sinners? Is it not up to me to compensate You by more fidelity and more love?
– Oh, that is what I want to do, my God, by putting my glory in your humiliations and sufferings.
Holy Mother, pierce me through, in my heart each wound renew of my Savior crucified.
VII. Jesus falls for the second time.
We genuflect before the representation of the station, saying:
Then we announce the Station: Seventh Station... etc.
Oh! in what state of abasement and opprobrium I see You reduced, my Saviour Jesus!… A God in the dust!… The executioners raise Him by charging Him with blows… His beautiful face itself is not spared…
And why? To atone for my thoughts of vanity, of self-esteem. Oh, how I must abhor them, since Jesus suffered so much to obtain their forgiveness!
– My God, my God…, mercy! make my heart truly humble.
Holy Mother, pierce me through, in my heart each wound renew of my Savior crucified.
VIII. Jesus consoles the women of Jerusalem.
We genuflect before the representation of the station, saying:
Then we announce the Station: Eighth Station... etc.
Oh, the good Master! In the midst of His sorrows He takes care of the one who makes the tears of these pious women flow. He teaches them how to weep for themselves, and He deigns to comfort them by turning His adorable Face towards them; He encourages and blesses them…
– O my Saviour, give us to weep for our sins, which are the true cause of Your sorrows. Give me, in particular, a sincere sorrow for my faults; let my last tear be a tear of repentance and love.
Holy Mother, pierce me through, in my heart each wound renew of my Savior crucified.
IX. Jesus falls for the third time.
We genuflect before the representation of the station, saying:
Then we announce the Station: Ninth Station... etc.
Jesus, bruised, swollen, exhausted, inflicts once again on His sweet face this kind of pain and humiliation… Then, at the sight of Calvary, He rises again, if one can say so, with a new courage, a new love. His heart urges Him to die for His children.
O tenderness of the heart of my God, how little You find to return!… At the sight of the slightest pain, of the smallest sacrifice, I feel frightened, discouraged.
– Forgive me, my Jesus, forgive me! I will rise up with You, and, to animate myself to follow You, I will think of You in all my repugnance, and I will find the courage to return You love for Love.
Holy Mother, pierce me through, in my heart each wound renew of my Savior crucified.
X. Jesus is stripped of His garments.
We genuflect before the representation of the station, saying:
Then we announce the Station: Tenth Station... etc.
Strip me, my God, of everything that displeases You in me; strip me especially of my self-love; wash me in the blood that flows from Your wounds, and may this innocent and divine blood make the virtues that shine in You germinate in my heart: purity, gentleness, charity and the spirit of penance... May my soul be pleasing to Your eyes and rejoice Your divine Heart.
Pardon, my Jesus, pardon and mercy! Grant me the grace to imprint Your holy Face on my soul. May Your divine Father, looking at me, recognize the likeness of His beloved Son, in whom He finds all His complacency. Through the merits of Your holy wounds, I ask You for this grace for myself and for all the sinners throughout the world.
Holy Mother, pierce me through, in my heart each wound renew of my Savior crucified.
XI. Jesus is nailed to the cross.
We genuflect before the representation of the station, saying:
Then we announce the Station: Eleventh Station... etc.
O my God, I know well that it is not enough to strip myself of myself: I still have to attach myself, to unite myself to You.
– Alas! I understand that this is only possible in this world through suffering. I consent, Lord, without delay, without reserve. Lay me on the cross that Your Providence prepares for every man in this world, in order to make him conform to You…
– O my Jesus, suspended between heaven and earth, draw me and raise me up to You, so that I may merit Your eternal glory.
Holy Mother, pierce me through, in my heart each wound renew of my Savior crucified.
XII. Jesus dies on the cross.
We genuflect before the representation of the station, saying:
Then we announce the Station: Twelfth Station... etc.
In the three hours leading up to Jesus’ death on the Cross, He still shows us His loving face. He asks His Father to forgive us, He promises the thief to open Heaven to him that very day. He tells us that He thirsts for our love. He entrusts us to His most holy Mother.
Holy Father, almighty and eternal God, I offer You the sufferings of my Jesus, His aching face, His sacred wounds, His adorable Blood, His last words and His last sigh in thanksgiving for the benefits with which You have blessed me… in expiation of my faults, and particularly in order to implore three graces: for myself and for my family, sincere contrition with a firm will to be all yours; for poor sinners, conversion; and for the holy Church, our Mother, the help she awaits from Your goodness in the trials she is undergoing. Do not look at our sins, Lord, but look at the Face of Your Christ. Look at His Heart, which has loved us so much, and for His sake have mercy on us.
Holy Mother, pierce me through, in my heart each wound renew of my Savior crucified.
XIII. Jesus is taken down from the cross.
We genuflect before the representation of the station, saying:
Then we announce the Station: Thirteenth Station... etc.
O Mary, my tender Mother, it is I who have caused Your sorrows; allow me at least to weep with You, to contemplate in Your arms the bruised and torn Face of my Redeemer… Avenge Yourself, beloved Mother, it is quite just; but avenge Yourself as a mother!…
– Obtain for me from your divine Son that love which makes me drink with holy generosity the few drops He has reserved for me in the chalice of His Passion, and repeat with Magdalene: Oh, how sweet it is to find innocence in the tears of repentance and love!
Holy Mother, pierce me through, in my heart each wound renew of my Savior crucified.
XIV. Jesus is laid in the tomb.
We genuflect before the representation of the station, saying:
Then we announce the Station: Fourteenth Station... etc.
O my Jesus, Your body is laid to rest in the sepulchre. You love us so much that You cannot resign Yourself to abandoning us. For more than two thousand years, You have been in the tabernacle, waiting for us. Too often, alas, the tabernacle is for You a cold, dark tomb that men abandon. I, at least, want to visit You there often and console You with the ardor of my love.
O my Jesus, my Saviour, You will not be alone: let Your child be buried with You… It is not enough. Hide me in the secret of Your Face and in the wound of Your Heart: that is where I want to live and dwell, to be seen only by You. My God! My God! Make me act only for You.
Holy Mother, pierce me through, in my heart each wound renew of my Savior crucified.
For the intentions of the Father of Christianity: