The Porziuncola Project
The Ninth Station
Jesus Falls the Third Time
We adore you, O’Most Holy Lord Jesus Christ,
Here and in all Your Churches throughout the world.
And we bless You,
Because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
At the very foot of the Hill of the Skull, Golgotha, Jesus falls for the third time. The remaining path is short but His body collapses and is crushed beneath the weight of the Cross. Now there is no energy left, no strength. His famished body, the loss of blood and His extreme exhaustion pull Him down and vex Him to stay down, give up the Way of the Cross and be done. But no! Mercy, man’s need to receive the mercy of the Father pushes Him, drives Him, motivates Him and compels Him to rise. How Satan wanted Him to stay down and walk away. The evil one suddenly realizes that if Jesus gives His life for us it will mean the end of His Kingdom. He knew the glory and majesty of God, but Lucifer did not know the depth of His Mercy. Would God really do this? Is man worth this much to Him? Will God offer the eternal sacrifice that is worthy of the creature man? Yes!
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How often the evil one is placing temptation before us, enticing us and encouraging us to use the gift of our freedom to sin. How much the evil one wants us to be like him; hateful, unforgiving, rude, cruel, selfish, proud and self seeking. He wants us to fall into the same madness that drove him out of heaven, the same fate of the demons that are bound to him by mutual hatred. He entices us to join him in that loveless place where there is neither mercy nor goodness. His tricks are clever and he is ruthless. By whatever means amnd into whatever sin he tries to lead us. His plan is to takes us down and convince us that once we are down we can never get up, that God could never forgive us. The evil one seeks to convict us of our sins and to trick us into believing that there is no mercy for us, that we are doomed, hopeless and therefore our lives are pointless. But He is wrong and a liar. So long as we have life’s breathe in us there is hope for mercy. There is no sin greater than the love of Christ Jesus. When we feel depressed about our sins, when our lives feel hopeless and we are convinced that there could be no mercy for us do the only thing one can do; call out to Jesus for mercy and call the devil a liar.
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My Jesus my sins have been grave and they have truly offended You. But I know, that no matter how many or how serious my sins are there is always mercy. You offered mercy to the repentant murder on the cross and You were pleased to surround Yourself with sinners. Jesus, I trust in Your mercy! Jesus I believe in Your mercy! Jesus I live each day of my life in Your mercy! Never will I ever forget that there is no sin that I can commit that is beyond Your ability and desire to forgive. I only need to approach the sacrament of mercy, and there, in the confessional I will confess my sins in trust. I will do the penance for my sins and I will do my utmost not to sin again. Thank You Lord for rising this third time and reminding me that I too can rise from whatever sin is holding me down.
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Jesus I trust in You!
Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory be…
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Make me feel as thou hast felt,
Make my soul to glow and melt,
With the love of Christ my Lord.
The Tenth Station
Jesus is Stripped of His Garments
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We adore you, O’Most Holy Lord Jesus Christ,
Here and in all Your Churches throughout the world.
And we bless You,
Because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
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After our first parents had sinned they realized that they were naked. God, in His compassion for them, made them clothes and covered them. He wanted them to feel neither shame nor embarrassment. Man, in his cruelty and rage, strips God of His clothing. As a means to humiliate Him, embarrass Him and expose Him to the world Jesus is stripped by the soldiers. How He suffered this violation of His own integrity. He endures such a suffering in order to offer reparation for all those who have been stripped of the dignity and their rights as persons. How Jesus comes to associate with those who have been so horribly used, abused and degraded. He can easily say to victims “I know!”
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If we think back upon our past we will be able to remember those times that we have been victimised, used, abused, unjustly treated with harshness and embarrassment. The pains of being humiliated and wronged stay with us for many decades, there are some who today still feel the sufferings of those abuses. Jesus knows. Jesus understands. Jesus has joined us in our suffering and our humiliations. Perhaps we have been the ones to hurt, abuse, humiliate and embarrass others. Things we have done, words we have used and the manner in which we have treated others may make us consider just how far our own cruelty has gone. Just as Jesus forgave the soldiers who humiliated Him, so He too will forgive us our transgressions against others.
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My Jesus, what I have done to others I have done to You. I ask Your forgiveness for the times that I have treated others the way the soldiers treated You. I ask forgiveness for the humiliations, abuse and violence that I have inflicted on others; whether that be in my behavior, my attitude and words. My Lord, I forgive those who have abused, hurt and have treated me unjustly. I ask You to please heal the pain that I still feel from these tragedies of my life. There is so much suffering in my heart, so much pain. Touch my heart O’Lord and make it whole again.
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Jesus I trust in You!
Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory be…
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Holy Mother pierce me through!
In my heart each wound renew,
Of my Savior crucified.
The Eleventh Station
Jesus is Nailed to the Cross
We adore you, O’Most Holy Lord Jesus Christ,
Here and in all Your Churches throughout the world.
And we bless You,
Because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
We take a moment to consider the incredible violence of this moment. Men, soldiers trained and paid are using large hammers to drive nails through the hands and feet of our Lord. The nails pierce through His flesh and into the wood of the cross, pinning Him down and fixing Him to beams. The Cross is raised and there hangs the Son of God. The mighty hands of God that held back the Red Sea are immobilized. The very hands that created the world and all that is within it are motionless. The mighty feet of God that marched before the nation of Israel are held down and can only lie still. To breather jesus has to pull Himself up on the nails in His hands and push Himself up by the nails in His feet. Every breath is in agony, every word He speaks is chosen carefully and spoken with excruciating pain.
There are seven times that Jesus speaks from the Cross. Each sentence should be taken with careful thought and meditation:
“Father Forgive them for they know not what they do.”
“I thirst.”
To His mother and to John in turn: “Woman behold your son. Behold your mother.”
To the repentant thief: “I promise you, this day you will be with me in paradise”
“My God! My God! Why have You abandoned me?”
“Father, into Your hands I commend my Spirit.”
“It is consummated.”
O’ My Jesus, You spoke seven times from the cross. Each time You were speaking to me. Each time You were seeking to teach me. Open my heart and my mind so that I may know and understand the words that You have chosen to remain with me forever. I thank You for the mercy of Your forgiveness. Thank You for thirsting for my soul. Thank You for giving me Your mother to be my mother. Thank You for the promise of eternal life, if I remain faithful to You. Thank You for never abandoning me even though, at times, I can’t feel your presence. Thank You for commending me to the Father and thank You for consummating Your love for me upon the Hill of Calvary. All I can say is; I love You too!
Jesus I trust in You!
Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory be…
Let me share with thee His pain,
Who for all our sins was slain,
Who for me in torements died.
The Twelfth Station
Jesus Dies on the Cross
We adore you, O’Most Holy Lord Jesus Christ,
Here and in all Your Churches throughout the world.
And we bless You,
Because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
It is three o'clock in the afternoon, darkness has been over the world since twelve. The creator of the world is falling into death and the earth and all creation with it are in mourning. The Pharisees had taunted Him; “Come down from the cross if You are the Messiah!” No! Because He is the Messiah He stays upon that cross. It is not the nails that keep Him there, it is love. “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” Never will Jesus take back His ‘yes’ His yes means yes and He fulfills the Father’s will that He should give His life for love of us. He stays on that cross because it is the means of our salvation. He will not come down. Men hung Him there, men will have to take Him down. “He always loved His own who were in the world and He would love them to the end.”
Jesus loves us to the very end. He gave us His all. He held back nothing of Himself or for Himself. He has given Himself totally for us and to us. He gives His last breath as He cries out and gives up His spirit. And gives onto the last drop of His blood as the soldiers will take a lance and thrust it through His side. Not only blood, but blood and water flow out from His side. These two rich symbols of baptism and eucharist, love and mercy pour forth from the very heart of Jesus. As Jesus enters into death, man enters into life. The sacrifice has been made, the offering has been offered, the world is now reconciled to the Father. And now man knows just how much He is loved by God.., onto death, death on a cross. Who of us can doubt the love God has for us? Who of us could doubt His mercy? Who of us can deny that our dignity lies in a God Who says; “You are worth dying for!”
O’my Jesus, You died for love of me! You gave Your life that I may have life and have it to the full. Upon that Cross made beautiful by Your sacrifice You redeemed me and delivered me from the clutches of my sin fullness. From that Cross mercy flowed and continues to flow into the world. I am a recipient of that mercy. For my sins were like scarlet but You have washed me clean and made my soul; white as snow. As I look upon the cross and see You hanging there, lifeless, I am brought to tears. You did this for me, a sinner. You loved me, a miserable person. You gave Your life for me, a person who has so often chosen to betray You. Your love has made me joyful. Your love for me has made me whole. Your love has made me want nothing more than to love You in return. From this day forward my life shall be one long song of gratefulness. I will spend my life replying to Your thirst for love. I will satiate Your thirst! I shall be all Your and only Yours!
Jesus I trust in You!
Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory be…
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Let me mingle tears with thee,
Mourning Him who mourned for me,
All the days that I may live.
The Thirteenth Station
Jesus is Laid in the Arms of His Blessed Mother
We adore you, O’Most Holy Lord Jesus Christ,
Here and in all Your Churches throughout the world.
And we bless You,
Because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
Joseph of Arimathea and John the Beloved Disciple take our Lord down from the cross and lay Him in Mary’s arms. She cradles Him as if He were the infant of Bethlehem. She removes the crown from His head as she slowly and gently kisses Him. With her veil she wipes His face clean. She places His lifeless hands in her own as draws her face close to His and allows her tears to fall upon Him. As she rocks His body in her arms she longs to hear the coo of her baby, His gentle breathe or the quiet and gentle muttering of “mamma”. But there is none. The Word is silent. It is fulfilled by our Lady, that which was what was written by the prophet Jeremiah: “All you who pass by and see, is there any sorrow like my sorrow?”
Jesus has entered into death. His soul and His body have experienced the unnatural separation from each other. While His body lies in His mother’s arms, His soul is making its journey to the Hades of the Fathers (or hell as we say in the Creed). He goes there, to Adam, to Moses, to Abraham and all the Patriarchs and the just of old. He goes to escort them into paradise. To open for them the gates that have been shut since the time of the fall of Adam. As the gates of heaven burst open and light pours into the Hades of the Fathers, Jesus stands in glory in the midst of that light. A cry goes out like a trumpet blast: “Behold, the Lamb of God. Behold Him Who has taken away the sins of the world. Enter into the Joy of your Father.”
Although the body and soul of Jesus have experienced the sufferings of death, Jesus Divine Nature remains united to both. His body, deprived of the presence of His soul, remains ever united to His Divine Person. Mary, suffering the loss of her son, is not only in the agony of loss, she is in adoration of the Divine Presence, still there in the human body of the one to whom she gave birth.
Lord Jesus, You were taken down from the cross and placed in Your mother’s arms. As she held Your dead body she worshipped Your Divine presence. May I, like Mary, be ever conscience of Your Sacramental Presence in the Most Holy Eucharist. Bestow upon me the faith that will lead me to believe with all my heart soul and strength that it is really You present in the Sacrament of the Altar. When I come before You in the Tabernacle, when I receive You in Holy Communion, when I spend time before You in Eucharistic adoration, give me confidence that the words You spoke are true: “My flesh is real food. My Blood is real drink,,,This is my body...This is the Chalice of my blood...” Help me to remember that I do not receive dead flesh or a lifeless body, but Your true and real abiding presence; “The Bread of Life and the Chalice of Salvation”.
Jesus I trust in You!
Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory be…
By the cross with thee to stay,
There with thee to weep and pray,
Is all I ask of thee to give.
The Fourteenth Station
Jesus is Laid in the Tomb
We adore you, O’Most Holy Lord Jesus Christ,
Here and in all Your Churches throughout the world.
And we bless You,
Because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
The tomb of Jesus, lent to Him by Joseph of Arimathea, is not far from Calvary. After Mary had her time to mourn with the body of Jesus, it was carried to the tomb and covered with a linen cloth. Due to the approaching Sabbath, they did not have the time to anoint His body. No oils, no herbs, His body lifeless and poor was laid to rest in a borrowed tomb. The large stone was rolled in front of the tomb and all went their way. No one remained but the Roman guard that was stationed to guard the body of Jesus. Isn't It strange, the apostles who believed that Jesus was the Christ, whom He told He would rise from the dead, were in hiding in disbelief that He would rise. And the pharisees, who condemned Him for claiming to be the Christ, had the Romans station guards at His tomb to make sure that He would not rise.
Man has taken God and placed Him into the very earth from which we were made. It was from dirt that God made man and it will be from the dirt that God shall remake man. This time, as sanctifying grace is given through the wondrous sacrament of Baptism, man shall receive more than before. Adam and Eve were made in His image and likeness, but we, through baptism receive our status as adopted children of God. Called to the very life of God. No longer mere creatures, now, brothers and sisters of Christ Jesus, sons and daughters of the Father, dwelling places and spouses of the most Holy Spirit. From that tomb Jesus shall rise and with Him all those who will be baptized into Him, becoming one body with Him.
My Jesus, Your body was laid in the Holy Sepulchre. From that tomb You rose triumphantly over death “trampling death by death”. Such a wonderful mystery would have Saint Paul cry out: “O’Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting now that the tomb is empty?” Death itself has been rendered powerless. For if we die with Christ we shall also live with Him. And if we live with Him we shall also reign with Him. Death is no longer the enemy of man! It is now, as Saint Francis would call it, “Sister Death”. “Blessed are those” Saint Francis would write; “who death finds doing Your will. The second death shall do them no harm.” Jesus, I desire to live with You. I desire to reign with You. I desire to be with You in paradise forever there to enjoy the fullness of life forever. O’My Jesus, fill me the a desire for the one love, the one desire, the one goal of my human existence...unity with You!
Jesus I trust in You!
Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory be…
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Virgin of all virgins blest!
Listen to my fair request,
Let me share thy grief divine.
Closing Prayer:
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My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, I am overwhelmed by the intense love that You have for me and for all of sinful humanity. Has humanity ever known a greater love than the Son of God made man offering Himself for us and for our salvation. As prophesied by the prophet Isaiah; You bore our offenses. You were scourged for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities. You were like a lamb led to the slaughter and You opened not Your mouth. You did this for me so that I could not only be redeemed from my sin, but that I may also become a child of God. I ask You to send forth the Holy Spirit into my heart that I may always live in gratitude for so great a love. I love You Lord and I want to love You more. May Your cross be ever before my eyes and branded upon my heart. I cry with St. Francis: “Love is not loved! Love is not loved! Christ crucified, no one loves Him anymore.” O’Lord, grant me the grace to love love, to love Christ crucified.
Amen