OPENING PRAYER
Pr.: Jesus came with his disciples to a country place
called Gethsemani, and he said to them, “Sit down
here, while I go over yonder and pray.” Then he
took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee,
and he began to be saddened and exceedingly troubled. He said to them, “My soul is sad, even unto
death. Wait here and watch with me.” He went
forward a little, and falling prostrate he prayed,
saying, “Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass
away from me; yet not as I will but as you will.”
(Mt. 26, 36 to 39)
(KNEEL)
All: Almighty and eternal Father, / accept our prayer
of thanksgiving for your Beloved Son, our Saviour
and Lord. / As we recall his Sacred Passion / send
the Spirit of Christ into our hearts, / we beg You,
/ so that whether we pray or work we might do all
in union with Christ our Redeemer. / Amen.
(STAND)
Sing: (to the tune of Stabat Mater)
Jesus, Lord, condemned, defiled,
May we too be meek and mild
As we tread your holy Way.
May we feel no bitter hatred,
When we too are persecuted,
Left alone to walk with You.
My people, what have I done to you?
How have I offended you? Answer me.
FIRST STATION
Jesus is condemned to death
Pr.: We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You.
(GENUFLECT)
All: Because by your holy Cross You have redeemed the
world.
Pr.: Again the high priest began to ask him, and said to
him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed
One?” And Jesus said to him, “I am. And you shall
see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the
Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.” But
the high priest tore his garments and said, “What
further need have we of witnesses? You have heard
the blasphemy. What do you think?” And they all
condemned him as liable to death. (Mark 14, 61
to 64)
All: (KNEEL AND PAUSE) The kings of the earth rise up /
and the princes conspire together against the Lord
and against his Anointed. / I will proclaim the
decree of the Lord; / the Lord said to me: / “You
are my Son; this day I have begotten you. / Ask of
me and I will give you the nations for an inheritance / and the ends of the earth for your possession.” (Psalm 2, 2 & 7-8)
Pr.: Let us pray. All-powerful and eternal God, for proclaiming the truth your Son, Jesus Christ, is condemned to death by crucifixion. Stir up your love
in our hearts so that we might be ever faithful to all
that You have told us and fear nothing more than
the loss of your friendship through sin.
All: Amen.
(STAND)
Sing: Now the Cross as Jesus bore it,
Has become for us who share it,
The jeweled Cross of Victory.
Yet it was our infirmities that he bore,
our sufferings that he endured,
while we thought of him as stricken,
as one smitten by God and afflicted.
(IS. 53, 4)
SECOND STATION
Jesus carries his Cross
Pr.: We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You.
(GENUFLECT)
All: Because by your holy Cross You have redeemed the
world.
Pr.: And Pilate said to the Jews, “Behold, your king!”
But they cried out, “Away with him! Away with
him! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I
crucify your king?” The chief priests answered,
“We have no king but Caesar.” Then he handed
him over to them to be crucified. And so they took
Jesus and led him away, bearing the cross for himself. (John 19, 14 to 17)
(KNEEL AND PAUSE)
All: Who would believe what we have heard? / To
whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? / He
grew up like a sapling before him, like a shoot
from the parched earth; / there was in him no
stately bearing to make us look at him, / no
appearance that would attract us to him. / He was
rejected and avoided by men, / a man of suffering,
accustomed to infirmity, / one of those from
whom men turn away, / and we held him in no
esteem. (Is. 53, 1 to 3)
Pr.: Let us pray. Father in heaven, your Son, Jesus
Christ, still carries his Cross in his persecuted
brothers and sisters throughout the world. Make
us feel the needs of all persons so that we might as
readily help them as we would help Jesus himself.
All: Amen.
(STAND)
Sing: Weakened, prodded, cursed, and fallen,
His whole Body bruised and swollen,
Jesus tripped and lay in pain.
Save me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked;
preserve me from violent men who plan to trip my feet
–– the proud who have hidden a trap for me.
(PS. 139, 5-6a)
THIRD STATION
Jesus falls the first time
Pr.: We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You.
(GENUFLECT)
All: Because by your holy Cross You have redeemed the
world.
Pr.: If the world hates you, know that it has hated me
before you. If you were of the world, the world
would love what is its own. Because you are not of
the world, but I have chosen you out of the world,
therefore the world hates you. Remember the word
that I have spoken to you: No servant is greater than
his master. If they have persecuted me, they will
persecute you also. (John 15, 18 to 20)
(KNEEL AND PAUSE)
All: Why are your clothes red, / and your garments like
those of the wine presser? / “The wine press I have
trodden alone, / and of my people there was no
one with me. / I trod them in my anger, and trampled them down in my wrath; / their blood spurted on my garments and I stained all my clothes. /
I looked about, but there was no one to help, / I
was appalled that there was no one to lend support;
/ so my own arm brought about the victory.” (Is.
63, 2 to 5)
Pr.: Let us pray. O God, to free us from sin and weakness your Son, Jesus Christ, embraced his fearful
passion and crucifixion. Strengthen us in our
baptismal resolutions by which we renounced sin
and Satan, so that through the passion of this life’s
sufferings we might rise to a new life of joyful service free of all selfishness.
All: Amen.
(STAND)
Sing: Jesus met his grieving Mother,
She who made the Lord our Brother;
Now the sword her heart has pierced.
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
between your seed and her seed;
he shall crush your head,
and you shall lie in wait for his heel.
(GEN. 3, 15)
FOURTH STATION
Jesus meets his afflicted mother
Pr.: We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You.
(GENUFLECT)
All: Because by your holy Cross You have redeemed the
world.
Pr.: Now there were standing by the cross of Jesus his
mother and his mother’s sister, Mary of Cleophas,
and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus, therefore, saw
his mother and the disciple standing by, whom he
loved, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your
son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your
mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her
into his home. (John 19, 25 to 27)
(KNEEL AND PAUSE)
All: To what can I compare you, O daughter Jerusalem?
/ What example can I show you for your comfort,
virgin daughter Sion? / For great as the sea is your
distress; / who can heal you? (Lam. 2, 13)
Pr.: Let us pray. O blessed Lord, at your passion a
sword of sorrow pierced the loving heart of your
mother as Simeon had foretold. Grant that we who
look back on her sorrows with compassion might
receive the healing fruits of your sufferings.
All: Amen.
(STAND)
Sing: Simon stopped in hesitation,
Not foreseeing his proud station,
Called to bear the Cross of Christ.
Can you drink of the cup
of which I am about to drink? . . .
We can.
(MT. 20, 22b)
FIFTH STATION
Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus to carry his Cross
Pr.: We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You.
(GENUFLECT)
All: Because by your holy Cross You have redeemed the
world.
Pr.: And when they had mocked Jesus, they took the
purple cloak off and put his own clothes on him,
and they led him out to be crucified. Then they
forced a certain passer-by, Simon of Cyrene, coming
from the country, to take up his cross. They
brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha, a name
meaning ‘the place of the skull.’ (Mk. 15, 20 to 22)
(KNEEL AND PAUSE)
All: With a loud voice I cry out to the Lord; / with a
loud voice I beseech the Lord. / My complaint I
pour out before him; before him I lay bare my distress. / When my spirit is faint within me, you
know my path. / In the way along which I walk
they have hid a trap for me. / I look to the right to
see, but there is no one who pays me heed. / I have
lost all means of escape; / there is no one who cares
for my life. (Ps. 141, 2 to 5)
Pr.: Let us pray. Lord Jesus Christ, help us to see in the
sufferings and shortcomings of our lives a share in
Your Cross; strengthen and console us in the belief
that we bear all things in union with You, who have
taken upon Yourself even our guilt.
All: Amen.
(STAND)
Sing: Brave but trembling came the woman,
None but she would flaunt the Roman,
Moved by love beyond her fear.
Though constantly I take my life in my hands,
yet I forget not your law.
(PS. 118, 109)
SIXTH STATION
Veronica wipes the face of Jesus
Pr.: We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You.
(GENUFLECT)
All: Because by your holy Cross You have redeemed the
world.
Pr.: “Lord, when did we see you hungry, and feed you;
or thirsty, and give you drink? And when did we see
you a stranger, and take you in; or naked, and
clothe you? Or when did we see you sick, or in
prison, and come to you?” And answering the king
will say to them, “Amen, I say to you, as long as you
did it for one of these, the least of my brethren, you
did it for me.” (Mt. 25, 37 to 40)
(KNEEL AND PAUSE)
All: A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter; / he who finds
one finds a treasure. / A faithful friend is beyond
price, no sum can balance his worth. / A faithful
friend is a life-saving remedy, such as he who fears
God finds; / for he who fears God behaves accordingly, / and his friend will be like himself. (Sirach
6, 14 to 17)
Pr.: Let us pray. Almighty and ever-loving God, we feel
your love and understanding in the consolation and
support we receive from one another. Give us, we
beg You, the courage and dedication to sacrifice and
suffer with those who are in need, the least of your
people.
All: Amen.
(STAND)
Sing: Prostrate on the dust He crumbled,
Flogged in Body He resembled
All our brothers poor and scorned.
I am like water poured out; all my bones are racked.
My heart has become like wax . . .
My throat is dried up like baked clay.
(PS. 21, 15b-16a)
SEVENTH STATION
Jesus falls the second time
Pr.: We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You.
(GENUFLECT)
All: Because by your holy Cross You have redeemed the
world.
Pr.: It was our weaknesses that he carried, our sufferings
that he endured, while we thought of him as
stricken, as one struck by God and afflicted. But he
was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins;
upon him was the punishment that makes us whole,
by his stripes we were healed. We had all gone
astray like sheep, each following his own way; but
the Lord laid upon him the guilt of us all. (Is. 53,
4 to 6)
(KNEEL AND PAUSE)
All: Though he was harshly treated, / he submitted and
opened not his mouth; / like a lamb led to the
slaughter or a sheep before the shearers, / he was
silent and uttered no cry. / When he was cut off
from the land of the living, and smitten for the sin
of his people, / a grave was assigned him among
the wicked and a burial place with evildoers, /
though he had done no wrong nor spoken any falsehood. (Is. 53, 7 and 9)
Pr.: Let us pray. Lord Jesus Christ, You shared in our
weaknesses and accepted our guilt. Grant us the
favor of rejoicing over our human weaknesses, so
that in all we do, Your strength, dwelling in us, may
be shown to all others.
All: Amen.
(STAND)
Sing: May our sympathy for Jesus
Turn to those who here now need us,
May we see Christ bruised in them.
Hear me, you who know justice,
you people who have my teaching at heart:
fear not the reproach of men,
be not dismayed at their revilings.
(IS. 51, 7)
EIGHTH STATION
Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem
Pr.: We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You.
(GENUFLECT)
All: Because by your holy Cross You have redeemed the
world.
Pr.: There was following Jesus a great crowd of people,
and among them were some women who were
bewailing and lamenting him. Jesus turning to
them said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep
for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.” (Luke 23, 27-28)
(KNEEL AND PAUSE)
All: Come, all you who pass by the way, / look and see
whether there is any suffering like my suffering, /
suffering with which the Lord has afflicted me on
the day of his blazing wrath. / At this I weep, my
eyes run with tears: / far from me are all who could
console me, / far away are any who might revive
me. (Lam. 1, 12 and 16)
Pr.: Let us pray. Beloved Jesus, with tears of pity these
women of Jerusalem responded to You, broken,
bruised, and beaten, on the road to Calvary.
Deepen our faith, we beg You, so that we may see
You in our brothers and sisters, bruised by our envy,
beaten down by injustice, and broken by our greed
and our indifference.
All: Amen.
(STAND)
Sing: Jesus fell again in weakness,
Stumbling as we do, to lead us
Through our sorrow and our pain
. . . he shall take away the sins of many,
and win pardon for their offenses.
(IS. 53, 12b)
NINTH STATION
Jesus falls a third time
Pr.: We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You.
(GENUFLECT)
All: Because by your holy Cross You have redeemed the
world.
Pr.: I lie prostrate in the dust; give me life according to
your word. I declared my ways, and you answered
me; teach me your commands. Make me understand the way of your precepts, and I will meditate
on your wondrous deeds. My soul weeps for sorrow; strengthen me with your words. (Ps. 118, 25
to 28)
(KNEEL AND PAUSE)
All: The Lord is my light and my salvation; / whom
should I fear? / The Lord is my life’s refuge; / of
whom should I be afraid? / When evildoers come
at me to devour my flesh, / my foes and my enemies themselves stumble and fall. / Though an
army encamp against me, / my heart will not fear; /
though war be waged upon me, even then will I
trust. (Ps. 26, 1 to 3)
Pr.: Let us pray. Almighty and eternal God, You permitted your Son to be weakened, crushed, and
profaned so that He might rise from the dead freed
from the ravages of sin. Help us to accept our
weaknesses and failings as forerunners of our glorious resurrection in union with your Son.
All: Amen.
(STAND)
Sing: Stripped and jeered by his own nation,
Jesus stood in desolation,
Giving all He had to give.
All who see me scoff at me . . .
(PS. 21, 8)
TENTH STATION
Jesus is stripped of his clothes
Pr.: We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You.
(GENUFLECT)
All: Because by your holy Cross You have redeemed the
world.
Pr.: They gave Jesus wine to drink mixed with gall; but
when he had tasted it, he would not drink. Then
after they had crucified him, they divided his
clothes, casting lots, to fulfill what was spoken
through the prophet, “They divided my clothes
among them, and upon my garments they cast
lots.” (Mt. 27, 34-35)
(KNEEL AND PAUSE)
All: Happy is the man whom God chastises! / Do not
reject the punishment of the almighty. / For he
wounds, but he binds up; he smites, but his hands
give healing. / Insult has broken my heart, and I
am weak; / I looked for comforters, and I found
none. / Rather they put gall in my food, and in my
thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. (Job 5, 17 &
18; Ps. 68, 21 & 22)
Pr.: Let us pray. Lord Jesus Christ, stripped of everything, You stood exposed to the jeers and contempt
of the people whom You loved. Clothe us with genuine love of others, so that nothing we suffer may
ever fill our hearts with hatred or bitterness.
All: Amen.
(STAND)
Sing: Pierced the hands that blessed and cured us,
Pierced the feet that walked to free us,
Walked the hill of Calvary.
. . .they have pierced my hands and my feet:
I can count all my bones.
They look on and gloat over me: . . .
(PS. 21, 17b-18a)
ELEVENTH STATION
Jesus is nailed to the Cross
Pr.: We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You.
(GENUFLECT)
All: Because by your holy Cross You have redeemed the
world.
Pr.: When they came to Golgotha, the place called the
Skull, they crucified Jesus and the robbers, one on
his right and other on his left. And Jesus said,
“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what
they are doing.” (Lk. 23, 33-34; Jn. 19,18)
(KNEEL AND PAUSE)
All: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me, /
far from my prayer, far from the words of my cry? /
O my God, I cry out by day, and you answer not; /
I cry out by night, and there is no relief for me. /
All my bones are racked. / My heart has become
like wax melting away within my chest. / My
throat is dried up like baked clay, my tongue cleaves
to my jaws; / they have pierced my hands and my
feet; / I can count all my bones. (Ps. 21, 2-3, 15-
16, 17b)
Pr.: Let us pray. Lord and Saviour, You have told us that
we too must accept crucifixion if we are to accept
resurrection with You. Help us to rejoice in the sufferings that come with the fulfillment of our daily
duties, seeing in them the royal road of the cross to
the resurrection.
All: Amen.
(STAND)
Sing: Life eternal, death defiant,
Bowed his head – – the world was silent,
Through his death came life anew.
Just as by the disobedience of one man
the many were constituted sinners,
so also by the obedience of the one
the many will be constituted just.
(ROM. 5, 19)
TWELFTH STATION
Jesus dies on the Cross
Pr.: We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You.
(GENUFLECT)
All: Because by your holy Cross You have redeemed the
world.
Pr.: It was now about the sixth hour, and there was
darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.
And the sun was darkened, and the curtain of the
temple was torn in the middle. Jesus cried out with
a loud voice and said, “It is finished. Father, into
your hands I commend my spirit.” Then, bowing
his head, he died. (Lk. 23, 44 to 46; Jn. 19, 30b)
(KNEEL AND PAUSE)
All: My people, what have I done to you? / or in what
have I offended you? / Answer me. / What more
should I have done, and did not do? / I led you
out of the land of Egypt, and you prepared a cross
for me. / I opened the Red Sea before you, and
you opened my side with a lance. / I gave you a
royal sceptre, and you have given me a crown of
thorns. / With great power I lifted you up, and
you have hung me upon a cross. / My people,
what have I done to you, or in what have I offended you? / Answer me. (from the Reproaches of
Good Friday)
All: Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be thy
name. / Thy kingdom come, / Thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven. / Give us this day our
daily bread, / and forgive us our trespasses, as we
forgive those who trespass against us. / And lead
us not into temptation, / but deliver us from evil.
Amen.
(STAND)
Sing: Stunned and stricken, Mary, Mother
In your arms was placed our Brother,
“Full of grace” now filled with grief.
Jesus, when delivered up by the settled purpose
and foreknowledge of God,
you have crucified and slain by the hands of wicked men.
(ACTS 2, 23)
THIRTEENTH STATION
The body of Jesus is taken down from the Cross
Pr.: We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You.
(GENUFLECT)
All: Because by your holy Cross You have redeemed the
world.
Pr.: When the soldiers came to Jesus, they saw that he
was already dead so that they did not break his legs,
but one of them opened his side with a lance, and
immediately there came out blood and water.
Joseph of Arimathea, because he was a disciple of
Jesus (although a secret one for fear of the Jews),
besought Pilate that he might take away the body
of Jesus. And Pilate gave permission. (Jn. 19,
33-34, 38a.)
(KNEEL AND PAUSE)
All: O my people, I will open your graves and have you
rise from them, / and I will bring you back to your
land. / Then you shall know that I am the Lord.
/ O my people! I will put my spirit in you that
you may live. / You shall know then that I am the
Lord. / I have promised it, / and I will do it, says
the Lord. (Ezechiel 37, 12-14)
Pr.: Let us pray. Beloved Saviour, You returned to the
Father all that He had given You, so that He might
restore all to You a hundred-fold in the glorious
resurrection. Help us, we beg You, to give generously of ourselves in all that we do for You, so that
like You we might be made perfect in a new
resurrection.
All: Amen.
(STAND)
Sing: Jesus, Lord, your gift accepted,
In three days You resurrected,
You did first what we shall do.
My heart is glad and my soul rejoices,
my body, too, abides in confidence;
because you will not abandon my soul to the nether world,
nor will you allow your faithful one to undergo corruption.
(PS. 15, 9-10)
FOURTEENTH STATION
Jesus is laid in the tomb
Pr.: We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You.
(GENUFLECT)
All: Because by your holy Cross You have redeemed the
world.
Pr.: Joseph of Arimathea took the body of Jesus, and
wrapping it in a clean linen cloth he laid it in his
new tomb, which he had hewn out of rock. Then
he rolled a large stone against the entrance of the
tomb and departed. (Mt. 27, 59-60)
(KNEEL AND PAUSE)
All: I will praise you, O Lord, for you drew me clear
and did not let my enemies rejoice over me. / O
Lord, my God, I cried out to you and you healed
me. / O Lord, you brought me up from the lower
world; / you preserved me from among those
going down into the pit. / Sing praise to the Lord,
you his faithful ones, and give thanks to his holy
name. / For his anger lasts but a moment; his good
will is for a lifetime. / At nightfall, weeping enters
in, but with dawn comes rejoicing. (Ps. 29, 2 to 6)
Pr.: Let us pray. Almighty and eternal God, on the
edge of sadness when all seemed lost, You restored
to us the Saviour we thought defeated and conquered. Help us, we beg You, so to empty ourselves
of self concern that we might see your hand in
every failure and your victory in every defeat.
These things we ask in the name of your Son, Jesus
Christ, who lives and reigns forever with You in the
unity of the Holy Spirit.
All: Amen.
(STAND)
Sing: Jesus, Risen, be our lover
In your Food and in our brother.
Lead us home to heaven with You
Every eye shall see him, and they also who pierced him….
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,
the beginning and the end, …
who is and who was and who is coming, the Almighty.”
(APOC. 1, 7-8)
CLOSING PRARYER
The Resurrection of Jesus
Pr.: We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You.
(GENUFLECT)
All: Because by your holy Cross You have redeemed the
world.
Pr.: When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene,
Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought
spices that they might go and anoint Jesus. Very
early on the first day of the week, when the sun
had just risen, they came to the tomb. They were
saying to one another, “Who will roll the stone
back from the entrance of the tomb for us?” for it
was very large. But looking up they saw that the
stone had been rolled back, and upon entering the
tomb they were amazed to see a young man sitting at
the right side and clothed in a white robe. He
said to them, “Do not be terrified. You are looking for
Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen, he
is not here. Behold the place where they laid him.”
(Mk. 16, 1 to 6) (REMAIN STANDING)
All: I believe in God, the Father almighty, / Creator of
heaven and earth, / and in Jesus Christ, his only Son,
Our Lord, / who was conceived by the / Holy
Spirit, / born of the Virgin Mary, / suffered under
Pontius Pilate, / was crucified, died, and was
buried; / he descended into hell; / on the third day
he rose again from the dead; / he ascended into
heaven, / and is seated at the right hand of / God the
Father almighty; / from there he will come to judge
the / living and the dead. / I believe in the Holy
Spirit, / the holy catholic Church, / the communion of saints, / the forgiveness of sins, / the resurrection of the body, / and life everlasting. / Amen