Stations of the Cross
Written by Fr. John Bollan
Responses
Leader: We adore you O Christ and
we bless you.
All: Because by your holy cross you
have redeemed the world.
All: I love you Jesus, my love above
all things; I repent with my whole
heart for having offended you.
Never permit me to separate myself
from you again. Grant that I may
love you always, and then do with
me what you will.
Opening Prayer
Lord Jesus,
We walk this way with you each year and yet,
with every step, you teach us something new
- about us, about you.
We may not move as we take this journey:
but we ask that you move our hearts
with deeper love for you
and for all those you place on our road that we might love you in them.
Give us deep compassion for the little ones of the earth:
you continue to suffer in them
but we know you will also rise in them.
Amen.
First Station:
Jesus is condemned to death
We pray for those whose voices
have been silenced by injustice.
As Pilate shows, the law can be
used as a weapon against the
weak. Jesus stands with those
unjustly deprived of their liberty,
of their land, of their future. We
cry out with him to the Father of
Justice: make us servants of your
justice and truth!
Second Station:
Jesus takes up his cross
We pray for those who
are heavily burdened
The weight of our cross is
only lightened by
responding to Christ’s
invitation to come to him:
may our own Way of the
Cross lead us to him.
Third Station:
Jesus falls the first time
We pray for those who fall, and
those whom we cause to fall.
Each fall of Jesus is a sign of
human frailty but also a
foretaste of his resurrection,
when he will break the chains
of death to bring us salvation.
Arise and come to our help,
Lord!
Fourth Station:
Jesus meets his mother
We pray for those whose only
help is their family, and for
those who lack even this.
The road to Golgotha fulfils the
words of Simeon in the temple.
Mary must watch and pray over
the suffering of her son. Be
close to us, Blessed Mother, in
our need: be the help of the
hopeless!
Fifth Station:
Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus
We pray for those who come to
the help of the poor and
oppressed.
Although it seems that Simon is
just plucked from the crowd, it
is the Father who is sending
help to his Son. Those who
help others are doing God’s
work – and we too are called to
play our part.
Sixth Station:
Veronica wipes the face of Jesus
We pray for those who help us
recognise our true beauty and
dignity.
Veronica sees through the pain
and torture to recognise and love
the true face of the Saviour. She is
rewarded with the icon of his
suffering impressed upon the cloth
of her charity. Every time we
persevere in loving others we
recall her gesture.
Seventh Station:
Jesus falls the second time
We pray for all those beset by
fear.
Fear can affect us all: the fear of
loss, of failure, of death. Jesus
has taken all these fears upon
himself. He enters into them
with us. We are never alone in
the darkness of our fears.
Eighth Station:
Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem
We pray for the mothers of
Colombia and all women who
hope for a better life for their
children.
For the women of Jerusalem,
the meeting with Jesus is a
tearful moment. But amidst the
tears of the present, we are
called to look forward to the
hope of the resurrection.
Ninth Station:
Jesus falls the third time
We pray for those who cannot
trust in the rule of law.
In Jesus we see the suffering of all
those who are oppressed. Not
even he who is Truth can
withstand the wave of lies directed
against him. But he will lift up the
cause of righteousness on his
Cross. In a world of broken
promises, God is ever-faithful to
his covenant.
Tenth Station:
Jesus is stripped of his clothing
We pray for those who are
stripped of their rights and
dignity.
All that Jesus has is taken from
him: even the clothes he is
wearing. Every time the poor are
stripped, this scene is replayed.
When we work to restore the
rights of the vulnerable, we hope
to inherit the Kingdom of God.
Eleventh Station:
Jesus is crucified
We pray for those who feel they
no longer have the strength to
face the trials of life.
The tree of the cross is lifted up.
This fallen tree becomes the
source of life to all who share in
Christ’s sufferings. His weakness
fills us with strength, especially in
those moments when our
struggles seem beyond our
resources.
Twelfth Station:
Jesus dies on the cross
We pray for the dying.
The dying of Jesus rewrites the
story of death. When
confronted with our own death,
God is there. The Cross is
refashioned into his crook and
staff, signs of his loving
closeness. In the valley of
darkness, he is our Light.
Thirteenth Station:
Jesus is placed in the arms of his mother
We pray for all bereaved
mothers
The scene at the foot of the
cross revisits the scene at
Bethlehem, but here there is no
angel song, no gifts, no star –
only the sound of weeping. But
this, too, is the Mass of Christ: as
Mary receives the body of her
Son, her communion with him,
and us, is complete.
Fourteenth Station:
Jesus is laid in the tomb
We pray for all those preparing for
Easter.
What looks like an ending is, in fact,
a beginning. The death of Jesus
brings a new life for us. As St. Paul
says “when we were baptised we
went into the tomb with him and
joined him in death” (Romans 6: 4):
so too we believe that through his
death we share in his risen life.
Concluding Prayer
God our Father,
your Son suffered, died and was buried for us.
In our moments of darkness, sorrow and suffering,
shine in our hearts a ray of Easter light.
Make us witnesses of the Resurrection,
servants of justice,
worthy of our anointing as your children.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen
Photographs by Paul Smith, Sean Sprague and SCIAF staff
.
Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund
SCIAF is the official aid and development charity of the Catholic Church in Scotland
.
Registered Scottish Charity No: SC012302. Company No: SC197327. Tel: 0141 354 5555.
SCIAF, 19 Park Circus, Glasgow, G3 6BE
www.scaif.org.uk