An Act of Contrition
My Lord Jesus Christ, / Thou hast made this journey / to die for me with love unutterable, / and I have so many times unworthily abandoned Thee; / but now I love Thee with my whole heart, / and because I love Thee / I repent sincerely for having ever offended Thee. / Pardon me, my God, / and permit me to accompany Thee / on this journey. / Thou goest to die for love of me; / I wish also, my beloved Redeemer, / to die for love of Thee. / My Jesus, I will live and die / always united to Thee.
THE FIRST STATION
JESUS CONDEMNED TO DEATH
We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee.
Because by Thy holy cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
Consider that Jesus, after having been scourged and crowned with thorns, was unjustly condemned by Pilate to die on the cross.
(silence)
My adorable Jesus, / it was not Pilate, / no, it was my sins, that condemned Thee to die. / I beseech Thee, / by the merits of this sorrowful journey, / to assist my soul in its journey toward eternity. / I love Thee, my beloved Jesus; / I love Thee more than myself; / I repent with my whole heart of having offended Thee. / Never permit me to separate myself from Thee again. / Grant that I may love Thee always; / and then do with me what Thou wilt.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father
THE SECOND STATION
JESUS CARRIS HIS CROSS
We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee.
Because by Thy holy cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
Consider that Jesus, in making this journey with the cross on His shoulders, thought of us, and offered for us, to His Father, the death that He was about to undergo.
(silence)
My most beloved Jesus, / I embrace all the tribulations / that Thou hast destined for me until death. / I beseech Thee, / by the merits of the pain Thou didst suffer / in carrying Thy cross, / to give me the necessary help / to carry mine with perfect patience and resignation. / I love Thee, / Jesus, my love, / I repent of having offended Thee. / Never permit me to separate myself from Thee again. / Grant that I may love Thee always, / and then do with me what Thou wilt.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father
THE THIRD STATION
JESUS FALLS THE FIRST TIME
We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee.
Because by Thy holy cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
Consider this first fall of Jesus under His cross. His flesh was torn by the scourges, His head crowned with thorns, and He had lost a great quantity of blood. He was so weakened that He could scarcely walk, and yet He had to carry this great load upon His shoulders. The soldiers struck Him rudely, and thus He fell several times in His journey.
(silence)
My beloved Jesus, / it is not the weight of the cross, / but of my sins, which has made Thee suffer so much pain. / Ah, by the merits of this first fall, / deliver me from the misfortune of falling into mortal sin. / I love Thee, O my Jesus, / with my whole heart; / I repent of having offended Thee. / Never permit me to offend Thee again. / Grant that I may love Thee always; / and then do with me what Thou wilt.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father
THE FOURTH STATION
JESUS MEETS HIS MOTHER
We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee.
Because by Thy holy cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
Consider the meeting of the Son and the Mother, which took place on this journey. Jesus and Mary looked at each other, and their looks became as so many arrows to wound those hearts which loved each other so tenderly.
(silence)
My most loving Jesus, / by the sorrow Thou didst experience in this meeting, / grant me the grace / of a truly devoted love for Thy most holy Mother. / And thou, my Queen, / who wast overwhelmed with sorrow, / obtain for me by thy intercession / a continual and tender remembrance of the Passion of thy Son. / I love Thee, Jesus, my love; / I repent of ever having offended Thee. / Never permit me to offend Thee again. / Grant that I may love Thee always, / and then do with me what Thou wilt.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father
THE FIFTH STATION
JESUS HELPED BY SIMON
We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee.
Because by Thy holy cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
Consider that His enemies, seeing that at each step Jesus, from weakness, was on the point of expiring, and fearing that He would die on the way when they wished Him to die the ignominious death of the cross, constrained Simon the Cyrenian to carry the cross behind Our Lord.
(silence)
My most sweet Jesus, / I will not refuse the cross as the Cyrenian did; / I accept it, / I embrace it. / I accept in particular / the death that Thou hast destined for me / with all the pains which may accompany it; / I unite it to Thy death, / I offer it to Thee. / Thou has died for love of me, / I will die for love of Thee, / and to please Thee. / Help me by Thy grace. / I love Thee, Jesus, my love; / I repent of having offended Thee. / Never permit me to offend Thee again. / Grant that I may love Thee always, / and then do with me what Thou wilt.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father
THE SIXTH STATION
VERONICA WIPES THE FACE OF JESUS
We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee.
Because by Thy holy cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
Consider that the holy woman Veronica, seeing Jesus so afflicted, and His face bathed in sweat and blood, presented Him with a towel with which He wiped His adorable face, leaving on it the impression of His holy countenance.
(silence)
My most beloved Jesus, / Thy face was beautiful before, / but in this journey it has lost all its beauty, / and wounds and blood have disfigured it. / Alas! my soul also was once beautiful, / when it received Thy grace in Baptism; / but I have disfigured it since by my sins. / Thou alone, my Redeemer, / canst restore it to its former beauty. / Do this by Thy Passion, O Jesus. / I repent of having offended Thee. / Never permit me to offend Thee again. / Grant that I may love Thee always, / and then do with me what Thou wilt.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father
THE SEVENTH STATION
JESUS FALLS THE SECOND TIME
We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee.
Because by Thy holy cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
Consider the second fall of Jesus under the cross—a fall which renews the pain of all the wounds of the head and members of our afflicted Lord.
(silence)
My most gentle Jesus, / how many times Thou hast pardoned me, / and how many times have I fallen again, / and begun again to offend Thee! / Oh, by the merits of this new fall, / give me the necessary helps / to persevere in Thy grace until death. / Grant that in all temptations which assail me / I may always commend myself to Thee. / I love Thee, Jesus, my love, / with my whole heart; / I repent of having offended Thee. / Never permit me to offend Thee again. / Grant that I may love Thee always; / and then do with me what Thou wilt.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father
THE EIGHTH STATION
JESUS CONSOLES THE WOMEN
We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee.
Because by Thy holy cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
Consider that those women wept with compassion at seeing Jesus in so pitiable a state, streaming with blood, as He walked along. But Jesus said to them, “Weep not for Me but for your children.”
(silence)
My Jesus, laden with sorrows, / I weep for the offenses that I have committed against Thee, / because of the pains which they have deserved, / and still more because of the displeasure / which they have caused Thee, / Who hast loved me so much. / It is Thy love, / more than the fear of hell, / which causes me to weep for my sins. / My Jesus, I love Thee more than myself; / I repent of having offended Thee. / Never permit me to offend Thee again. / Grant that I may love Thee always; / and then do with me what Thou wilt.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father
THE NINTH STATION
JESUS FALLS THE THIRD TIME
We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee.
Because by Thy holy cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
Consider the third fall of Jesus Christ. His weakness was extreme, and the cruelty of His executioners excessive, who tried to hasten His steps when He had scarcely strength to move.
(silence)
Ah, my outraged Jesus, / by the merits of the weakness Thou didst suffer / in going to Calvary, / give me strength / sufficient to conquer all human respect / and all my wicked passions, / which have led me to despise Thy friendship. / I love Thee, Jesus, my love, with my whole heart; / I repent of having offended Thee. / Never permit me to offend Thee again. / Grant that I may love Thee always; / and then do with me what Thou wilt.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father
THE TENTH STATION
JESUS STRIPPED OF HIS GARMENTS
We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee.
Because by Thy holy cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
Consider the violence with which the executioners stripped Jesus. His inner garments adhered to His torn flesh and they dragged them off so roughly that the skin came with them.
(silence)
My innocent Jesus, / by the merits of the torment which Thou hast felt, / help me to strip myself of all affection to things of earth, / in order that I may place all my love in Thee, / Who art so worthy of my love. / I love Thee, O Jesus, with my whole heart: / I repent of having offended Thee. / Never permit me to offend Thee again. / Grant that I may love Thee always; / and then do with me what Thou wilt.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father
THE ELEVENTH STATION
JESUS NAILED TO THE CROSS
We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee.
Because by Thy holy cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
Consider that Jesus, after being thrown on the cross, extended His hands, and offered to His eternal Father the sacrifice of His life for our salvation. These barbarians fastened Him with nails; and then, raising the cross, left Him to die with anguish on this infamous gibbet.
(silence)
My Jesus, / nail my heart loaded with contempt / to Thy feet, / that it may ever remain there to love Thee, / and never quit Thee again. / I love Thee more than myself; / I repent of having offended Thee. / Never permit me to offend Thee again. / Grant that I may love Thee always; / and then do with me what Thou wilt.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father
THE TWELFTH STATION
JESUS DIES ON THE CROSS
NOTE: Traditionally, penitents kneel throughout this Station. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee.
Because by Thy holy cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
Consider how Jesus, after three hours of agony on the cross, consumed at length with anguish, abandons Himself to the weight of His body, bows His head, and dies.
(silence)
O my dying Jesus, / I kiss devoutly the cross / on which Thou didst die for love of me. / I have merited by my sins to die a miserable death, / but Thy death is my hope. / Ah, by the merits of Thy death, / give me grace to die, / embracing Thy feet / and burning with love of Thee. / I commit my soul into Thy hands. / I love Thee with my whole heart; / I repent of ever having offended Thee. / Never permit me to offend Thee again. / Grant that I may love Thee always; / and then do with me what Thou wilt.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father
THE THIRTEEN STATION
JESUS TAKEN FROM THE CROSS
We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee.
Because by Thy holy cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
Consider that, our Lord having expired, two of His disciples, Joseph and Nicodemus, took Him down from the cross, and placed Him in the arms of His afflicted Mother, who received Him with unutterable tenderness, and pressed Him to her bosom.
(silence)
O Mother of Sorrow, / for the love of this thy Son, / accept me for thy servant / and pray to Him for me. / And Thou, my Redeemer, / since Thou hast died for me, / permit me to love Thee; / for I wish but to love Thee, my Jesus, / and I repent of ever having offended Thee. / Never permit me to offend Thee again. / Grant that I may love Thee always; / and then do with me what Thou wilt.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father
THE FOURTEENTH STATION
JESUS LAID IN THE SEPLUCHRE
We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee.
Because by Thy holy cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
Consider that the disciples carried the body of Jesus to bury it, accompanied by His holy Mother, who arranged it in the sepulchre with her own hands. They then closed the tomb and all withdrew.
(silence)
Ah, my buried Jesus, / I kiss the stone that encloses Thee. / But Thou didst rise again on the third day. / I beseech Thee, by Thy resurrection, / make me rise glorious with Thee at the last day, / to be always united with Thee in heaven, / to praise Thee and love Thee forever. / I love Thee, and I repent of ever having offended Thee. / Never permit me to offend Thee again. / Grant that I may love Thee always; / and then do with me what Thou wilt.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father
The Way of the Cross: Modern Meditations
by Father Stefano Penna
“We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake, he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:20a-21).
He “who knew no sin” became Emmanuel, “God with us”: God with us wherever we are in our flesh, wherever we struggle in our spirit, wherever we are in our joy, wherever we are in our sin. In Christ Jesus, God embraced our humanity: not just the best part of our nature, but the worst part. Christ became one with us who were in the ruin and rubble of our sin so that we could be one with Him in the Tabernacle of His glory.
The Way of the Cross turns all other ways inside out and upside down. For from the sin that fashions the crossbeam, from the hatred that drives the nails, from the violence that hoists nakedness up to ridicule, and from the abyss of loneliness that echoes in the words “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34) —from the misshapen ways of the world springs a new voice of victory, a new song of peace, a new promise of love, and a new and living Body of holiness.
“Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Romans 5:20a). This is the inside-out way of the Cross.
Prayers and Meditation take from:
The Way of the Cross - Traditional and Modern Meditations (English)
El Camino de la Cruz: Meditaciones tradicionales y modernas (Espanol)
Veritas Series - Catholic Information Service of the Knights of Columbus