Christ’s passion

When we visit a church, new or familiar, I photograph the stations of the cross with relish.  Sometimes the end result includes dark, fuzzy, and/or cropped pictures that make me long for do-overs.  Other times I’m simply amazed at the beauties that pop out at me unexpectedly as I search my ever-expanding photo files for visuals that complement my writing.  But, always, I’m so drawn to the stations that I wonder how they were chosen to begin with.  And, if they could tell their story, what would they say?

Christ’s passion

July 2014, I fell head over heels in love with the stations of the cross during our eight-day silent retreat.  And, just last month, I serendipitously discovered why.  Thanks to a lifelong lingering memory, I can trace my initial fascination with the story of Christ’s passion to a long-ago prayer that mom recited nightly for my baby brother and me as we would “go to sleep with the angels.”

“Hortelanito, por Dios, dime la pura verdad: si Jesús de Nazaret por aquí lo has visto pasar” (Mendoza, 1939).

Powerful devotion

Life never has seemed so full of trouble and strife as now.  But, amid our daily anxieties, we never lose hope.  God’s help is near at hand.  With it we look forward to a share in Christ’s victory over sin and death.

Our present sufferings cannot be compared to the glory that one day will be revealed in us.  All we need do is remain faithful and constant.  In our daily cares and preoccupations we must keep our heart steadily fixed on our true goal.

We will find it much easier to do so when we perform our work with the spirit and outlook of Christ.  In his sacred passion and death our Savior opened the way for us to follow.  There is no other path to God, our father.

The stations, [Christ’s] way of the cross, are our way to salvation, too.  We must often apply their power to our own life situation.  This can be done anywhere: at home, on a park bench, waiting for a train or a friend.  When our schedule is crowded, we can think and pray at least one station a day.

Our Lord doesn’t expect long or eloquent prayers.  We need not even use words; a brief silent lifting of our hearts to him suffices (Franciscan Mission Associates, B-8/14, p. 2).

Opening prayer

God, our heavenly father, we raise our minds and hearts to you in praise and thanksgiving.  Though weak and sinful, we wish to follow your only son, our Lord Jesus, on the way of the cross.  May your Holy Spirit help us use our Savior’s strength effectively in our place in life.  We ask the special aid of our blessed Lady, ever virgin and mother, in following Christ and in making his way of the cross our way of life.  Amen.

1: Jesus is condemned.

We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you
because, by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world.

      

      

      

2: Jesus takes his cross.

We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you
because, by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world.

       

       

       

3: Jesus falls the first time.

We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you
because, by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world.

       

       

       

4: Jesus meets his mother.

We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you
because, by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world.

       

       

       

5: Simon helps Jesus carry the cross.

We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you
because, by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world.

       

       

       

6: Veronica wipes the face of Jesus.

We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you
because, by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world.

       

       

       

7: Jesus falls the second time.

We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you
because, by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world.

       

       

       

8: Jesus speaks to the women.

We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you
because, by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world.

       

       

       

9: Jesus falls the third time.

We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you
because, by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world.

       

       

       

10: Jesus is stripped of his clothes.

We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you
because, by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world.

       

       

       

11: Jesus is nailed to the cross.

We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you
because, by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world.

       

       

       

12: Jesus dies on the cross.

We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you
because, by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world.

       

       

       

13: Jesus is taken down from the cross.

We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you
because, by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world.

       

       

       

14: Jesus is laid in the tomb.

We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you
because, by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world.

        

       

       

Concluding prayer

O God, our heavenly father, by your great mercy we are born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, your son.  We look forward to the inheritance, imperishable and unfading, which you have reserved for us in heaven.  We thank you for calling us to eternal glory in Jesus, our savior.  We ask your forgiveness for the many times we have failed in following Christ.  May the remembrance of his life, passion, and resurrection sustain us on our earthly way of the cross.  May his example strengthen us in faith, hope, and love.  And when we come to die, may we, by your gracious goodness, be born again to eternal life.  Amen.

         

Contact information

Prayers are from Your Way of the Cross (FMA, B-13R, pp. 3 & 11, respectively).  Your Way of the Cross leaflets and the Retreat Booklet are from Franciscan Mission Associates, P.O. Box 598, Mt. Vernon, NY 10551-0598; and A Prayer in Honor of Our Lady of Sorrows is from the Servants of Mary, The Servite Order, 1439 South Harlem Avenue, Berwyn, IL 60402-0712.

Stations of the cross (left to right, top to bottom) can be found in the following sacred spaces: Sts. Cyril & Methodius (Corpus Christi, TX), St. Anthony of Padua (Rockford, IL), Most Holy Trinity (Covington, LA), St. Mary Cathedral (Austin, TX), St. Anselm (Madisonville, LA), St. Mary’s (Brownsville, TX), Christus Spohn Hospital Chapel (Corpus Christi, TX), Oblate School of Theology (San Antonio, TX), and St. Joseph (Port Aransas, TX), respectively.

           

           

February 25, 2016

Many who would willingly let themselves be nailed to a cross before the astonished gaze of a thousand onlookers cannot bear with a Christian spirit the pinpricks of each day!  Think, then, which is the more heroic (St. Josemaría Escrivá).

February 29, 2016

“We must not seek the cross in extraordinary sufferings seldom, if ever, encountered; we must look for it in the duties, the life, the difficulties, and the sacrifices of each day and of each moment” (Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen in Divine Intimacy).

March 9, 2016

“We could not go to Calvary to offer ourselves with him and thus share in the fruits of his sacrifice, so Jesus brought Calvary to us” (Fr. Lawrence G. Lovasik in The Basic Book of the Eucharist).

November 10, 2016

“No one should be ashamed of the cross of Christ through which the world has been redeemed” (St. Leo the Great).

March 20, 2017

Christ’s whole being must ring in our hearts with blood and bone.  We must follow him.  We must strive to penetrate into the heart of his mystery, to what he really is.  Then things become plain to us, as we have found them here (Romano Guardini in Meditations on the Christ).

St. Anthony of Padua Church – Rockford, IL

Grounds at the Oblate School of Theology – San Antonio, TX

Links of interest…  Majesty of Christ crucified…  Prayer before a crucifix…  Relics from the crucifixion…  Roaring lion, mourning dove, word of God…  Stations of the Cross: about / devotion / FishEaters / for kids (downloadable) / how to do / origin / prayers / printables / puppet show / significance / unique chant / way of the cross…  Ten lessons from the agony in the garden…  Veronica’s compassionate act…  Via Crucis at the Colosseum with Pope Francis…  Way of the cross (St. Alphonsus Liguori)…  What Jesus saw from the cross…

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