The Stations of the Cross began as the practice of pious pilgrims to Jerusalem who would retrace the final journey of Jesus Christ to Calvary.

Later, for the many who wanted to pass along the same route, but could not make the trip to Jerusalem, a practice developed that eventually took the form of the fourteen stations currently found in almost every church.

Opening Prayer

Mary, my Mother, you were the first to live the Way of the Cross. You felt every pain and every humiliation. You were unafraid of the ridicule heaped upon you by the crowds. Your eyes were ever on Jesus and His Pain. Is that the secret of your miraculous strength? How did your loving heart bear such a burden and such a weight? As you watched Him stumble and fall, were you tortured by the memory of all the yesterdays-His birth, His hidden life, and His ministry?

You were so desirous of everyone loving Him. What a heartache it was to see so many hate Him – hate with a diabolical fury. Take my hand as I make this Way of the Cross. Inspire me with those thoughts that will make me realize how much He loves me. Give me light to apply each station to my daily life and to remember my neighbor’s needs in this Way of the Pain.

Obtain for me the grace to understand the mystery, the wisdom and the Divine love as I go from scene to scene. Grant that my heart, like yours, may be pierced through by the sight of His sorrow and the misery and that I may determine never to offend Him again. What a price He paid to cover my sins, to open the gates of heaven for me and to fill my soul with His own Spirit. Sweet Mother, let us travel this way together and grant that the love in my poor heart may give you some slight consolation.

Amen.

• First Station: Jesus is Condemned to Death
• Second Station: Jesus Carries His Cross
• Third Station: Jesus Falls for the First Time
• Fourth Station: Jesus Meets His Sorrowful Blessed Mother
• Fifth Station: St. Simon Helps Jesus Carry His Cross
• Sixth Station: St. Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus
• Seventh Station: Jesus Falls a Second Time
• Eighth Station: Jesus Speaks to the Holy Women of Jerusalem
• Ninth Station: Jesus Falls for the Third Time
• Tenth Station: Jesus is Stripped of His Garments
• Eleventh Station: Jesus is Nailed to the Cross
• Twelfth Station: Jesus Dies on the Cross
• Thirteenth Station: Jesus is Taken Down From the Cross
• Fourteenth Station: Jesus is Laid in the Tomb

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