+In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Most merciful Jesus, you have made this journey do die for love of us, and yet we so often have abandoned you. Forgive us and permit us to accompany you on this journey so that united to you in death we may rise with you to new life to the glory of God the Father. Amen.
The First Station: Jesus Institutes the Eucharist
V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
R. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it.” For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again.
— 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Stabat Mater
Near the cross his anguish sharing Stood the mother near despairing While her Son was hanging there
The Second Station: Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane
V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
R. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
Then, accompanied by the disciples, Jesus left the upstairs room and went as usual to the Mount of Olives. There he told them, “Pray that you will not give in to temptation.” He walked away, about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him. He prayed more fervently, and he was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood. At last he stood up again and returned to the disciples, only to find them asleep, exhausted from grief.
—Luke 22:39-45
Stabat Mater
Hers the soul so devastated Sorrowful and desolated That the sword to pierce did dare
The Third Station: Jesus is Sentenced to Death
V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
R. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
Then the high priest stood up before the others and asked Jesus, “Well, aren’t you going to answer these charges? What do you have to say for yourself?” But Jesus was silent and made no reply. Then the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?”
Jesus said, “I am. And you will see the Son of Man seated in the place of power at God’s right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven.” Then the high priest tore his clothing to show his horror and said, “Why do we need other witnesses? You have all heard his blasphemy. What is your verdict?” “Guilty!” they all cried. “He deserves to die!”
— Mark 14:60-64
Stabat Mater
O how sad and so dejected Was that mother so respected Of her sole-begotten one
The Fourth Station: Jesus is Scourged and Crowned with Thorns
V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
R. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
Pilate responded, “Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?”
They shouted back, “Crucify him!”
“Why?” Pilate demanded. “What crime has he committed?”
But the mob roared even louder, “Crucify him!”
Pilate saw that he wasn’t getting anywhere and that a riot was developing. So he sent for a bowl of water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. The responsibility is yours!”
And all the people yelled back, “We will take responsibility for his death—we and our children!”
So Pilate released Barabbas to them. He ordered Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip, then turned him over to the Roman soldiers to be crucified.
Some of the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into their headquarters and called out the entire regiment. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him. They wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head, and they placed a reed stick in his right hand as a scepter. Then they knelt before him in mockery and taunted, “Hail! King of the Jews!” And they spit on him and grabbed the stick and struck him on the head with it.
— Matthew 27:22-30
Stabat Mater
Holy Mother, tearful, doleful, Seeing all those wounds so woeful Of her own illustrious Son
The Fifth Station: Jesus Receives the Cross
V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
R. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
Then Pilate turned Jesus over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus away. Carrying the cross by himself, he went to the place called Place of the Skull (in Hebrew, Golgotha).
— John 19:16-17
Stabat Mater
Is there someone so uncaring As to shun that mother sharing In that monstrous punishment?
The Sixth Station: Jesus Falls Under the Weight of the Cross
V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
R. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.
— Isaiah 53:4-5
Stabat Mater
Who would fail to share the sorrow Son’s and mother’s grief to borrow In their sad abandonment?
The Seventh Station: Jesus is helped by Simon of Cyrene
V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
R. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
A passerby named Simon, who was from Cyrene, was coming in from the countryside just then, and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus’ cross. (Simon was the father of Alexander and Rufus.)
—Mark 15:21
Stabat Mater
For the sins of his own creatures Mary saw his anguished features As the scourges took their toll
The Eight Station: Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem
V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
R. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
A large crowd trailed behind, including many grief-stricken women. But Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For the days are coming when they will say, ‘Fortunate indeed are the women who are childless, the wombs that have not borne a child and the breasts that have never nursed.’ People will beg the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and plead with the hills, ‘Bury us.’ For if these things are done when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
— Luke 23:27-31
Stabat Mater
She beheld her Son and master Die in desolate disaster As he yielded up his soul
The Ninth Station: Jesus is Nailed to the Cross
V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
R. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
When they came to a place called The Skull, they nailed him to the cross. And the criminals were also crucified—one on his right and one on his left. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” And the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice. The crowd watched and the leaders scoffed. “He saved others,” they said, “let him save himself if he is really God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”
— Luke 23:33-35
Stabat Mater
Holy Mother, fount of gladness Make me feel the power of sadness So that I may grieve with Thee
Make my heart be ever burning For the love of Christ be yearning So I may his solace be
The Tenth Station: Jesus and the Penitent Thief
V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
R. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, “So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself—and us, too, while you’re at it!” But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
— Luke 23:39-43
Stabat Mater
Holy Mother, help me duly in my heart the wounds fix truly of the One that’s crucified
For my sake your Son in anguish Deigned upon the cross to languish All his pains with me divide
The Eleventh Station: Jesus entrusts Mary and John to each other
V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
R. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
Standing near the cross were Jesus’ mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary (the wife of Clopas), and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved, he said to her, “Dear woman, here is your son.” And he said to this disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from then on this disciple took her into his home.
— John 19:25-27
Stabat Mater
Let me join your pious weeping With the crucified one keeping Watch as long as I shall live
Near the cross to stand beside you And to share the grief inside you That is what I want to give
The Twelfth Station: Jesus Dies on the Cross
V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
R. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
Jesus knew that his mission was now finished, and to fulfill Scripture he said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of sour wine was sitting there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put it on a hyssop branch, and held it up to his lips. When Jesus had tasted it, he said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
— John 19:28-30
Stabat Mater
Virgin of all virgins splendid With me do not feel offended Let me weep along with you
Make me bear Christ’s crucifixion Share with him his dereliction And myself his wounds renew
The Thirteenth Station: Jesus is Laid in the Tomb
V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
R. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
As evening approached, Joseph, a rich man from Arimathea who had become a follower of Jesus, went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. And Pilate issued an order to release it to him. Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a long sheet of clean linen cloth. He placed it in his own new tomb, which had been carved out of the rock. Then he rolled a great stone across the entrance and left.
—Matthew 27:57-60
Stabat Mater
Make the scourges lacerate me Make his cross inebriate me Your Son’s blood upon me spray
Lest I burn in flames rejected, Virgin, let me be protected through you on the Judgement Day
The Fourteenth Station: Jesus Rises from the Dead
V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
R. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
Saturday evening, when the Sabbath ended, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome went out and purchased burial spices so they could anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on Sunday morning, just at sunrise, they went to the tomb. On the way they were asking each other, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” But as they arrived, they looked up and saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled aside. When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a white robe sitting on the right side. The women were shocked, but the angel said, “Don’t be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Look, this is where they laid his body. Now go and tell his disciples, including Peter, that Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you before he died.”
— Mark 16:1-7
Stabat Mater
Christ, when hence I’m called to meet Thee Let Thy Mother come to greet me With the palm of victory
When my body is arisen May my soul, all sins forgiven, Rest in Paradise with Thee. Amen.
Concluding Prayer
Father, you have willed to save us through the death of Christ your Son on the Cross.
Grant that we who have known his mystery of love on earth may enjoy the fruits of the redemption in heaven. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Let us pray for the intentions of the Pope:
Our Father…
Hail Mary…
Glory Be…
+May the Lord bless us, protect us from all evil, and bring us to everlasting life. Amen.
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Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Stabat Mater English translation by Desmond Fisher.
New Way of the Cross adapted from stations made popular in the Philippines.
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