Saturday, March 26, 2005
Holy Saturday: A Sermon By Monsignor Ronald Knox
Station Church:
St. Mary Major
Prayers, Readings, and Reflections for Holy Saturday
I would really like to introduce more Americans to the works of the late Monsignor Ronald Knox, who I consider the British Archbishop Fulton Sheen. Like Fulton Sheen and Cardinal Newman, I think there is a strong case that Knox ought to be raised to the altars of the Church. If more people become aware of him, perhaps more will pray for his intercession, and his cause can get started.
He was a great apologist, a convert himself like Newman, a winner of converts (including the atheist Arnold Lunn), translator of the Holy Bible, a first rate writer, friend of Evelyn Waugh (no mean feat of diplomacy, that). His sermon Holy Saturday, which I reproduce here as a teaser for his other writings, was published more than 50 years ago in The Tablet (April 12, 1952) and republished in the 1960 collection of his sermons, Pastoral Sermons, which I see is now in print again as Pastoral and Occasional Sermons, through the great good offices of Ignatius Press.
I urge everyone who can to buy a copy of these sermons and benefit from the thought of this great Catholic preacher and writer.
Please don't be put off by what we would regard as the over-use of commas and semi-colons. Now I understand why I had such a strong comma habit that my writing teachers in high school sought to break. I read a great deal of English prose, especially Churchill's History of the Second World War and History of the English-Speaking Peoples. If I were re-editing Knox today, a lot of the commas and semi-colons would disappear. But that task is beyond my paygrade.
"He went and preached to the spirits who lay in prison." 1 Peter 3:19
After the Mass of Holy Saturday, when you are sitting in your room, perhaps with some favorite book in front of you, there is a sudden knock at the door. "Come in", you shout cheerily, half turning to greet the visitor. The door is opened by a priest in cotta and stole, who, after a brief Latin salutation, sprinkles the treasured volume liberally with holy water, and withdraws. What sacred thoughts ought to be ours on this occasion?
For myself, I like to think of some old patriarch in Limbo, King David, let us say, waiting, through long centuries of twilight for his permit to enter heaven. Waiting, not under the stroke of divine chastisement, but with a patience beyond all our imagining; alone there, with his memories and his hopes, like a watchman waiting for the dawn. The Spirit of Christ is in him, making known to him the sufferings which Christ's cause brings with it, and the glory that crowns them; when is it to be? And how is the time of it to be recognized? All at once, the door of his prison springs open, and in a blaze of light he sees the figure so often, in his poetic imaginings, ah, how dimly foreshadowed, the martyred Christ, wounds shining on hands and feet! Christ is risen, and David, waking up after his likeness, finds there everlasting content.
Does prudence, does piety demand of us that we should think of our Lord's Passion as having availed a few, only a very few, of the men who died before him? That was not what medieval writers meant when they talked of the harrowing of Hell. They meant that a vast army of souls, we cannot tell how multitudinous, escaped in that hour from the grip in which the Devil seemed to hold them. And indeed, in the very passage from which I quoted, St. Peter gives a curious description of these souls to whom our Lord preached the message of his Resurrection. "Long before, they had refused belief...in the days of Noe (Noah)." It was not merely, as you might have expected, Noe and Sem and Cham and Japhet, with their wives, survivors of a drowned world, that rose to acclaim the risen Christ. No, even in the days of general corruption before the deluge, there were souls, strange to think of it, that belonged to Him. Their mortal natures paid the penalty in men's eyes, but in the sight of God their spirits were to live on. And so it was, doubtless, with all the great catastrophes that overtook mankind before the coming of our redemption. Always a proportion of the victims, by some merciful dispensation whose nature we cannot guess, had escaped Hell, had achieved the title to an immortal destiny. They only waited for Easter Day when, in their prison, the imprisoned Christ would come to them, and they would refuse belief no longer.
You and I, maybe, after death, will find ourselves in the twilight state known as Purgatory. Saved (please God) by faith in the risen Christ, we shall not yet be partakers in the glory of His Resurrection. Preachers who discuss the conditions of that intermediate state are apt to lay stress on the severity of the divine punishments. They may be right; it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Only, I dare to hope that the severity of it will be relieved by something we had no right to expect, something we had never been told about, the influence of our blessed Lord's passing, on Easter Eve, through the place of the departed spirits. The holy water still glistens on your table when the priest has come and gone; what if our Lord, on that first Holy Saturday, blessed it once for all with a lustration which time can never efface? I like to think of Purgatory, however long and however dreary it be, as consoled in some measure by the consciousness that He has been there before us; as a process of passing onwards from room to room, always with the sense that the presence of one we love has only just been withdrawn. Not strong enough, yet, to follow Him out into the sunlight, we shall follow Him eagerly through the dark. Is that fanciful?
At least let me say this; I think we do well, at Easter-tide, to remember our dead. No do not exclaim that I am a kill-joy, clouding your festival with sad thoughts.(GTF: my emphasis) True, it is life, not death that is uppermost in our thoughts; the spring air, the crisp, clean associations of the Easter liturgy, heal the mind with hopes of renewal. But consider, when you see our Lord represented as rising from the tomb with a banner in His hand, it is the symbol of a military penetration; He, the Victor, in rolling back the stone has made a breach in the enemy's lines, for what? So that the army of His redeemed may pour through at His heels. Or, if you will use St. Paul's metaphor, his is the first birth out of death; He has opened the barren womb of extinction, not for Himself only but so as to be the first-born of many brethren. Vidi aquam--our Lord's Resurrection is the opening of the springs; the full river has yet to flow. It broadens out, reaches its fulfillment, in ours.
To be sure, our bodies must await the day of judgment, buried in their native earth; only Himself and His Blessed Mother escape altogether from the primal curse. But Heaven, from hour to hour, is being peopled with spirits of just men made perfect, like the hedgerows yonder, that are silently bursting into bud. And shall we give no thought to those other spirits that are sill in prison, thwarted growths, the Gardener bestowed such pains on? Now, when the very air seems charged with paschal grace, it is but common charity that we should want to share it with them; now, while the spring grass is fresh over their graves, it is but seasonable that the memory of them should be renewed. More souls, this Easter morning, looking up to see the stone rolled away from their dungeon door, and a risen Master standing there in the daylight to welcome them: "Rise up, rise up quickly, and come with me! The winter is over now, the rain has passed by."
And can we, in these times, mention the very word "prison" without being reminded of other souls, still in the flesh, tens of thousands of them, held ina captivity which makes Purgatory seem like a welcome thought? Christian souls--have they still the means to reckon the calendar of Christendom? If so, you may picture them exchanging today, half ironically, the familiar greeting, "Christ is risen." Pro afflictis et captivis --how full of meaning these words sound in wartime, how lightly they cross our lips when our tiny corner of the world is at peace! Let us pray for them, too, bishops and priests and layfolk, forgotten heroes of Christendom; victims of that faith which you and I wear on our sleeves...Then, with slower step, but with undiminished courage, let us go back to keep the feast of our redemption.
What do we take from this sermon? A hope that, perhaps, those we love in Purgatory, surely the intermediate resting place for the vast majority of even believing Christians, are comforted by grace Christ left there as He passed through on that original Holy Saturday. Also, we are well reminded to pray for our dead, and all the dead, at Easter. Certainly, November is set aside in a special way to recall the dead. But when is it more appropriate to ask for the release of souls in Purgatory than on the anniversary of Christ's triumph over death and sin and Hell?
As so often happens during the Easter season, I have my own dead to pray for. April 10th, would have been my parents' 59th wedding anniversary. Dad died in 1989, and Mum in 1998. Also, my mother-in-law died 7 years ago April 4th.
God rest them and keep them. May they share his resurrection.
So may we all.
Happy Easter!!!
St. Mary Major
Prayers, Readings, and Reflections for Holy Saturday
I would really like to introduce more Americans to the works of the late Monsignor Ronald Knox, who I consider the British Archbishop Fulton Sheen. Like Fulton Sheen and Cardinal Newman, I think there is a strong case that Knox ought to be raised to the altars of the Church. If more people become aware of him, perhaps more will pray for his intercession, and his cause can get started.
He was a great apologist, a convert himself like Newman, a winner of converts (including the atheist Arnold Lunn), translator of the Holy Bible, a first rate writer, friend of Evelyn Waugh (no mean feat of diplomacy, that). His sermon Holy Saturday, which I reproduce here as a teaser for his other writings, was published more than 50 years ago in The Tablet (April 12, 1952) and republished in the 1960 collection of his sermons, Pastoral Sermons, which I see is now in print again as Pastoral and Occasional Sermons, through the great good offices of Ignatius Press.
I urge everyone who can to buy a copy of these sermons and benefit from the thought of this great Catholic preacher and writer.
Please don't be put off by what we would regard as the over-use of commas and semi-colons. Now I understand why I had such a strong comma habit that my writing teachers in high school sought to break. I read a great deal of English prose, especially Churchill's History of the Second World War and History of the English-Speaking Peoples. If I were re-editing Knox today, a lot of the commas and semi-colons would disappear. But that task is beyond my paygrade.
"He went and preached to the spirits who lay in prison." 1 Peter 3:19
After the Mass of Holy Saturday, when you are sitting in your room, perhaps with some favorite book in front of you, there is a sudden knock at the door. "Come in", you shout cheerily, half turning to greet the visitor. The door is opened by a priest in cotta and stole, who, after a brief Latin salutation, sprinkles the treasured volume liberally with holy water, and withdraws. What sacred thoughts ought to be ours on this occasion?
For myself, I like to think of some old patriarch in Limbo, King David, let us say, waiting, through long centuries of twilight for his permit to enter heaven. Waiting, not under the stroke of divine chastisement, but with a patience beyond all our imagining; alone there, with his memories and his hopes, like a watchman waiting for the dawn. The Spirit of Christ is in him, making known to him the sufferings which Christ's cause brings with it, and the glory that crowns them; when is it to be? And how is the time of it to be recognized? All at once, the door of his prison springs open, and in a blaze of light he sees the figure so often, in his poetic imaginings, ah, how dimly foreshadowed, the martyred Christ, wounds shining on hands and feet! Christ is risen, and David, waking up after his likeness, finds there everlasting content.
Does prudence, does piety demand of us that we should think of our Lord's Passion as having availed a few, only a very few, of the men who died before him? That was not what medieval writers meant when they talked of the harrowing of Hell. They meant that a vast army of souls, we cannot tell how multitudinous, escaped in that hour from the grip in which the Devil seemed to hold them. And indeed, in the very passage from which I quoted, St. Peter gives a curious description of these souls to whom our Lord preached the message of his Resurrection. "Long before, they had refused belief...in the days of Noe (Noah)." It was not merely, as you might have expected, Noe and Sem and Cham and Japhet, with their wives, survivors of a drowned world, that rose to acclaim the risen Christ. No, even in the days of general corruption before the deluge, there were souls, strange to think of it, that belonged to Him. Their mortal natures paid the penalty in men's eyes, but in the sight of God their spirits were to live on. And so it was, doubtless, with all the great catastrophes that overtook mankind before the coming of our redemption. Always a proportion of the victims, by some merciful dispensation whose nature we cannot guess, had escaped Hell, had achieved the title to an immortal destiny. They only waited for Easter Day when, in their prison, the imprisoned Christ would come to them, and they would refuse belief no longer.
You and I, maybe, after death, will find ourselves in the twilight state known as Purgatory. Saved (please God) by faith in the risen Christ, we shall not yet be partakers in the glory of His Resurrection. Preachers who discuss the conditions of that intermediate state are apt to lay stress on the severity of the divine punishments. They may be right; it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Only, I dare to hope that the severity of it will be relieved by something we had no right to expect, something we had never been told about, the influence of our blessed Lord's passing, on Easter Eve, through the place of the departed spirits. The holy water still glistens on your table when the priest has come and gone; what if our Lord, on that first Holy Saturday, blessed it once for all with a lustration which time can never efface? I like to think of Purgatory, however long and however dreary it be, as consoled in some measure by the consciousness that He has been there before us; as a process of passing onwards from room to room, always with the sense that the presence of one we love has only just been withdrawn. Not strong enough, yet, to follow Him out into the sunlight, we shall follow Him eagerly through the dark. Is that fanciful?
At least let me say this; I think we do well, at Easter-tide, to remember our dead. No do not exclaim that I am a kill-joy, clouding your festival with sad thoughts.(GTF: my emphasis) True, it is life, not death that is uppermost in our thoughts; the spring air, the crisp, clean associations of the Easter liturgy, heal the mind with hopes of renewal. But consider, when you see our Lord represented as rising from the tomb with a banner in His hand, it is the symbol of a military penetration; He, the Victor, in rolling back the stone has made a breach in the enemy's lines, for what? So that the army of His redeemed may pour through at His heels. Or, if you will use St. Paul's metaphor, his is the first birth out of death; He has opened the barren womb of extinction, not for Himself only but so as to be the first-born of many brethren. Vidi aquam--our Lord's Resurrection is the opening of the springs; the full river has yet to flow. It broadens out, reaches its fulfillment, in ours.
To be sure, our bodies must await the day of judgment, buried in their native earth; only Himself and His Blessed Mother escape altogether from the primal curse. But Heaven, from hour to hour, is being peopled with spirits of just men made perfect, like the hedgerows yonder, that are silently bursting into bud. And shall we give no thought to those other spirits that are sill in prison, thwarted growths, the Gardener bestowed such pains on? Now, when the very air seems charged with paschal grace, it is but common charity that we should want to share it with them; now, while the spring grass is fresh over their graves, it is but seasonable that the memory of them should be renewed. More souls, this Easter morning, looking up to see the stone rolled away from their dungeon door, and a risen Master standing there in the daylight to welcome them: "Rise up, rise up quickly, and come with me! The winter is over now, the rain has passed by."
And can we, in these times, mention the very word "prison" without being reminded of other souls, still in the flesh, tens of thousands of them, held ina captivity which makes Purgatory seem like a welcome thought? Christian souls--have they still the means to reckon the calendar of Christendom? If so, you may picture them exchanging today, half ironically, the familiar greeting, "Christ is risen." Pro afflictis et captivis --how full of meaning these words sound in wartime, how lightly they cross our lips when our tiny corner of the world is at peace! Let us pray for them, too, bishops and priests and layfolk, forgotten heroes of Christendom; victims of that faith which you and I wear on our sleeves...Then, with slower step, but with undiminished courage, let us go back to keep the feast of our redemption.
What do we take from this sermon? A hope that, perhaps, those we love in Purgatory, surely the intermediate resting place for the vast majority of even believing Christians, are comforted by grace Christ left there as He passed through on that original Holy Saturday. Also, we are well reminded to pray for our dead, and all the dead, at Easter. Certainly, November is set aside in a special way to recall the dead. But when is it more appropriate to ask for the release of souls in Purgatory than on the anniversary of Christ's triumph over death and sin and Hell?
As so often happens during the Easter season, I have my own dead to pray for. April 10th, would have been my parents' 59th wedding anniversary. Dad died in 1989, and Mum in 1998. Also, my mother-in-law died 7 years ago April 4th.
God rest them and keep them. May they share his resurrection.
So may we all.
Happy Easter!!!
Friday, March 25, 2005
Conclusion of the Stations
Concluding Prayers
After this, return to the high altar and, to complete this devotion, say the:
Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be five times (each) in honor of the Passion of Jesus Christ.
Prayer To Be Said Kneeling Before the Crucifix:
Behold, O kind and most sweet Jesus, I cast myself upon my knees in Thy sight, and with the most fervent desire of my soul, I pray and beseech Thee that Thou wouldst impress upon my heart lively sentiments of faith, hope and charity, with true contrition for my sins and a firm purpose of amendment; while with deep affection and grief of soul I ponder within myself and mentally contemplate Thy five wounds, having before my eyes the words which David the prophet put on Thy lips concerning Thee: "They have pierced My hands and My feet, they have numbered all My bones" (Ps xxi, 17-18).
At the end, one Our Father and Hail Mary, at least, should be said for the intentions of the Sovereign Pontiff; this will fullfill the requirements for a plenary indulgence connected to this devotion -- so long as a person also fulfills the other requirements( be in a state of grace, make sacramental confession and Communion the same day).
Remainder of the Stabat Mater
Virgin of all virgins blest!,
Listen to my fond request:
Let me share thy grief divine;
Let me, to my latest breath,
In my body bear the death
Of that dying Son of thine.
Wounded with His every wound,
Steep my soul till it hath swooned,
In His very Blood away;
Be to me, O Virgin, nigh,
Lest in flames I burn and die,
In His awful Judgment Day.
Christ, when Thou shalt call me hence,
Be Thy Mother my defense,
Be Thy Cross my victory;
While my body here decays,
May my soul Thy goodness praise,
Safe in paradise with Thee.
Amen.
Virgo virginum praeclara,
mihi iam non sis amara,
fac me tecum plangere.
Fac, ut portem Christi mortem,
passionis fac consortem,
et plagas recolere.
Fac me plagis vulnerari,
fac me Cruce inebriari,
et cruore Filii.
Flammis ne urar succensus,
per te, Virgo, sim defensus
in die iudicii.
Christe, cum sit hinc exire,
da per Matrem me venire
ad palmam victoriae.
Quando corpus morietur,
fac, ut animae donetur
paradisi gloria.
Amen.
Let us pray:
Let intercession be made for us, we beseech Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, now and at the hour of our death, before the throne of Thy mercy, by the blessed Virgin Mary, Thy Mother, whose most holy soul was pierced by a sword of sorrow in the hour of Thy bitter Passion. Through Thee, Jesus Christ, Savior of the world, who with the Father and the Holy Ghost livest and reignest for ever and ever.
Amen.
Oremus:
Interveniat pro nobis, quaesumus, Domine Iesu Christe, nunc et in hora mortis nostrae, apud tuam clementiam beata Virgo Maria tua, cuius sacratissimam animam in hora tuae passionis doloris gladius pertransivit. Per te, Iesu Christe, Salvator mundi, qui cum Patre et Spiritu Sancto vivis et regnas in saecula saeculorum.
Amen.
The Devotion Concluded.
After this, return to the high altar and, to complete this devotion, say the:
Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be five times (each) in honor of the Passion of Jesus Christ.
Prayer To Be Said Kneeling Before the Crucifix:
Behold, O kind and most sweet Jesus, I cast myself upon my knees in Thy sight, and with the most fervent desire of my soul, I pray and beseech Thee that Thou wouldst impress upon my heart lively sentiments of faith, hope and charity, with true contrition for my sins and a firm purpose of amendment; while with deep affection and grief of soul I ponder within myself and mentally contemplate Thy five wounds, having before my eyes the words which David the prophet put on Thy lips concerning Thee: "They have pierced My hands and My feet, they have numbered all My bones" (Ps xxi, 17-18).
At the end, one Our Father and Hail Mary, at least, should be said for the intentions of the Sovereign Pontiff; this will fullfill the requirements for a plenary indulgence connected to this devotion -- so long as a person also fulfills the other requirements( be in a state of grace, make sacramental confession and Communion the same day).
Remainder of the Stabat Mater
Virgin of all virgins blest!,
Listen to my fond request:
Let me share thy grief divine;
Let me, to my latest breath,
In my body bear the death
Of that dying Son of thine.
Wounded with His every wound,
Steep my soul till it hath swooned,
In His very Blood away;
Be to me, O Virgin, nigh,
Lest in flames I burn and die,
In His awful Judgment Day.
Christ, when Thou shalt call me hence,
Be Thy Mother my defense,
Be Thy Cross my victory;
While my body here decays,
May my soul Thy goodness praise,
Safe in paradise with Thee.
Amen.
Virgo virginum praeclara,
mihi iam non sis amara,
fac me tecum plangere.
Fac, ut portem Christi mortem,
passionis fac consortem,
et plagas recolere.
Fac me plagis vulnerari,
fac me Cruce inebriari,
et cruore Filii.
Flammis ne urar succensus,
per te, Virgo, sim defensus
in die iudicii.
Christe, cum sit hinc exire,
da per Matrem me venire
ad palmam victoriae.
Quando corpus morietur,
fac, ut animae donetur
paradisi gloria.
Amen.
Let us pray:
Let intercession be made for us, we beseech Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, now and at the hour of our death, before the throne of Thy mercy, by the blessed Virgin Mary, Thy Mother, whose most holy soul was pierced by a sword of sorrow in the hour of Thy bitter Passion. Through Thee, Jesus Christ, Savior of the world, who with the Father and the Holy Ghost livest and reignest for ever and ever.
Amen.
Oremus:
Interveniat pro nobis, quaesumus, Domine Iesu Christe, nunc et in hora mortis nostrae, apud tuam clementiam beata Virgo Maria tua, cuius sacratissimam animam in hora tuae passionis doloris gladius pertransivit. Per te, Iesu Christe, Salvator mundi, qui cum Patre et Spiritu Sancto vivis et regnas in saecula saeculorum.
Amen.
The Devotion Concluded.
The Fourteenth Station
Jesus Is Laid In the Tomb
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee.
R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.
R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.
Consider how the disciples carried the body of Jesus to bury it, accompanied by His holy Mother who arranged it in the sepulcher with her own hands. They then closed the tomb, and all withdrew.
Considera quomodo discipuli exanimem Redemptorem ad locum sepulturae deferant. Moerens Mater eos comitatur, et propriis manibus corpus Filii sepulturae accommodat. Sepulchrum dein occluditur, et omnes a loco recedunt.
Oh, my buried Jesus, I kiss the stone that encloses Thee. But Thou didst rise again 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 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.
O sepulte Iesu, exosculor hunc, qui te recondit, lapidem; sed post triduum ex sepulcro resurges. Per tuam resurrectionem fac me, precor, extremo die gloriosum tecum resurgere, et venire in caelum, ubi tecum semper coniunctus, te laudabo et in aeternum amabo. Amo te, et doleo quod tibi displicui: ne sinas me iterum tibi displicere. Da mihi perpetuum amorem tui, et dein fac de me quidquid tibi placuerit.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
By the Cross with thee to stay,
There with thee to weep and pray,
Is all I ask of the to give.
Iuxta Crucem tecum stare,
et me tibi sociare
in planctu desidero.
V. Lord Jesus, crucified,
R. Have mercy on us!
Christ Laid In the Tomb by Titian, 1525.
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee.
R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.
R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.
Consider how the disciples carried the body of Jesus to bury it, accompanied by His holy Mother who arranged it in the sepulcher with her own hands. They then closed the tomb, and all withdrew.
Considera quomodo discipuli exanimem Redemptorem ad locum sepulturae deferant. Moerens Mater eos comitatur, et propriis manibus corpus Filii sepulturae accommodat. Sepulchrum dein occluditur, et omnes a loco recedunt.
Oh, my buried Jesus, I kiss the stone that encloses Thee. But Thou didst rise again 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 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.
O sepulte Iesu, exosculor hunc, qui te recondit, lapidem; sed post triduum ex sepulcro resurges. Per tuam resurrectionem fac me, precor, extremo die gloriosum tecum resurgere, et venire in caelum, ubi tecum semper coniunctus, te laudabo et in aeternum amabo. Amo te, et doleo quod tibi displicui: ne sinas me iterum tibi displicere. Da mihi perpetuum amorem tui, et dein fac de me quidquid tibi placuerit.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
By the Cross with thee to stay,
There with thee to weep and pray,
Is all I ask of the to give.
Iuxta Crucem tecum stare,
et me tibi sociare
in planctu desidero.
V. Lord Jesus, crucified,
R. Have mercy on us!
Christ Laid In the Tomb by Titian, 1525.
The Thirteenth Station
Jesus Is Taken Down From the Cross
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee.
R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.
R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.
Consider how, after the death of our Lord, 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.
Considera quomodo duo ex Iesu discipulis, Iosephus nempe et Nicodemus, eum exanimatum de cruce tollant et inter brachia perdolentis Matris reponant, quae mortuum Filium peramanter recipit et arcte complectitur.
O Mother of Sorrows, for the love of this 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 Thee and nothing more. I love Thee, my Jesus, and 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.
O moerens Mater, per amorem quo Filium tuum amas, accipe me in servum tuum et precare eum pro me. Tu vero, o mi Redemptor, quoniam pro me mortuus es, fac benigne ut amem te; te enim solum volo, nec extra te aliud quidpiam mihi opto. Amo te, o mi Iesu, paenitet me quod tibi displicui: ne sinas me iterum tibi displicere. Da mihi perpetuum amorem tui, et dein fac de me quidquid tibi placuerit.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
Let me mingle tears with thee,
Mourning Him who mourned for me,
All the days that I may live:
Fac me tecum pie flere,
crucifixo condolere,
donec ego vixero.
V. Lord Jesus, crucified,
R. Have mercy on us!
The Pieta by Bellini, painted in the 1470s.
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee.
R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.
R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.
Consider how, after the death of our Lord, 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.
Considera quomodo duo ex Iesu discipulis, Iosephus nempe et Nicodemus, eum exanimatum de cruce tollant et inter brachia perdolentis Matris reponant, quae mortuum Filium peramanter recipit et arcte complectitur.
O Mother of Sorrows, for the love of this 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 Thee and nothing more. I love Thee, my Jesus, and 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.
O moerens Mater, per amorem quo Filium tuum amas, accipe me in servum tuum et precare eum pro me. Tu vero, o mi Redemptor, quoniam pro me mortuus es, fac benigne ut amem te; te enim solum volo, nec extra te aliud quidpiam mihi opto. Amo te, o mi Iesu, paenitet me quod tibi displicui: ne sinas me iterum tibi displicere. Da mihi perpetuum amorem tui, et dein fac de me quidquid tibi placuerit.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
Let me mingle tears with thee,
Mourning Him who mourned for me,
All the days that I may live:
Fac me tecum pie flere,
crucifixo condolere,
donec ego vixero.
V. Lord Jesus, crucified,
R. Have mercy on us!
The Pieta by Bellini, painted in the 1470s.
The Twelfth Station
Jesus Dies Upon the Cross
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee.
R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.
R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.
Consider how thy 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.
Considera tuum cruci suffixum Iesum, qui post trium horarum cum morte luctam, doloribus tandem consumptus addicit corpus morti, et inclinato capite emittit spiritum.
O my dying Jesus, I kiss devoutly the Cross on which Thou did 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 for Thee, I yield my soul into Thy hands. I love Thee 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.
O mortue Iesu, exosculor, pietatis sensu intime commotus, hanc crucem in qua tu, mei causa, vitae tuae finem implevisti. Ob commissa peccata infelicem mihi mortem promerui; sed mors tua est spes mea. Per mortis tuae merita, concede mihi precor, ut in amplexu pedum tuorum extremum spiritum, tui amore flagrans, aliquando reddam. In manus tuas commendo spiritum meum. Amo te ex toto corde meo; paenitet me quod tibi displicui: ne sinas me iterum tibi displicere. Da mihi perpetuum amorem tui, et dein fac de me quidquid tibi placuerit.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
Let me share with thee His pain,
Who for all my sins was slain,
Who for me in torments died.
Tui Nati vulnerati,
tam dignati pro me pati,
poenas mecum divide.
V. Lord Jesus, crucified,
R. Have mercy on us!
The Death of the Lord Upon the Cross by Hans Baldung, 1512
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee.
R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.
R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.
Consider how thy 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.
Considera tuum cruci suffixum Iesum, qui post trium horarum cum morte luctam, doloribus tandem consumptus addicit corpus morti, et inclinato capite emittit spiritum.
O my dying Jesus, I kiss devoutly the Cross on which Thou did 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 for Thee, I yield my soul into Thy hands. I love Thee 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.
O mortue Iesu, exosculor, pietatis sensu intime commotus, hanc crucem in qua tu, mei causa, vitae tuae finem implevisti. Ob commissa peccata infelicem mihi mortem promerui; sed mors tua est spes mea. Per mortis tuae merita, concede mihi precor, ut in amplexu pedum tuorum extremum spiritum, tui amore flagrans, aliquando reddam. In manus tuas commendo spiritum meum. Amo te ex toto corde meo; paenitet me quod tibi displicui: ne sinas me iterum tibi displicere. Da mihi perpetuum amorem tui, et dein fac de me quidquid tibi placuerit.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
Let me share with thee His pain,
Who for all my sins was slain,
Who for me in torments died.
Tui Nati vulnerati,
tam dignati pro me pati,
poenas mecum divide.
V. Lord Jesus, crucified,
R. Have mercy on us!
The Death of the Lord Upon the Cross by Hans Baldung, 1512
The Eleventh Station
Jesus Is Nailed To the Cross
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee.
R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.
R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.
Consider how 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, leave Him to die with anguish on this infamous gibbet.
Considera quomodo Iesus in crucem coniciatur, et extensis brachiis, vitam suam in sacrificium pro nostra salute aeterno Patri offerat. Carnifices clavis eum affigunt, dein erigunt crucem, et infami patibulo suffixum saevae morti permittunt.
My Jesus!, loaded with contempt, nail my heart 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.
O contemptissime Iesu, affige pedibus tuis cor meum, ut amoris vinculo ligatum semper tecum remaneat, necque amplius a te avellatur. Amo te magis quam meipsum; paenitet me quod tibi displicui: ne permittas me iterum tibi displicere. Da mihi perpetuum amorem tui, et dein fac de me quidquid tibi placuerit.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
Holy Mother! pierce me through,
In my heart each wound renew
Of my Savior crucified:
Sancta Mater, istud agas,
crucifixi fige plagas
cordi meo valide.
V. Lord Jesus, crucified,
R. Have mercy on us!
Christ Nailed To the Cross (artist and date unknown to me)
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee.
R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.
R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.
Consider how 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, leave Him to die with anguish on this infamous gibbet.
Considera quomodo Iesus in crucem coniciatur, et extensis brachiis, vitam suam in sacrificium pro nostra salute aeterno Patri offerat. Carnifices clavis eum affigunt, dein erigunt crucem, et infami patibulo suffixum saevae morti permittunt.
My Jesus!, loaded with contempt, nail my heart 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.
O contemptissime Iesu, affige pedibus tuis cor meum, ut amoris vinculo ligatum semper tecum remaneat, necque amplius a te avellatur. Amo te magis quam meipsum; paenitet me quod tibi displicui: ne permittas me iterum tibi displicere. Da mihi perpetuum amorem tui, et dein fac de me quidquid tibi placuerit.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
Holy Mother! pierce me through,
In my heart each wound renew
Of my Savior crucified:
Sancta Mater, istud agas,
crucifixi fige plagas
cordi meo valide.
V. Lord Jesus, crucified,
R. Have mercy on us!
Christ Nailed To the Cross (artist and date unknown to me)
The Tenth Station
Jesus Is Stripped of His Garments
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee.
R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.
R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.
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. Compassionate your Savior thus cruelly treated, and say to Him:
Considera quam violenter Iesus vestimentis suis spolietur. Cum enim vestis interior arcte carni flagellis dilaniatae adhaereret, carnifices, avellendo vestem, cutem ei quoque avellunt. Subeat te commiseratio Domini tui, eumque sic alloquere:
My innocent Jesus, by the merits of the torments 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.
Innocentissime Iesu, per meritum doloris quem inter hanc spoliationem passus es, adiuva me, precor, ut omnem in res creatas affectum exuam, et tota voluntatis meae inclinatione ad te solum convertar, qui meo nimis dignus es amore. Amo te ex toto corde meo; paenitet me quod tibi displicui; ne sinas me iterum tibi displicere. Da mihi perpetuum amorem tui, et dein fac de me quidquid tibi placuerit.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
Make me feel as thou hast felt;
Make my soul to glow and melt
With the love of Christ my Lord.
Fac, ut ardeat cor meum
in amando Christum Deum
ut sibi complaceam.
V. Lord Jesus, crucified,
R. Have mercy on us!
The Spoliation by El Greco, painted between 1577-1579.
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee.
R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.
R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.
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. Compassionate your Savior thus cruelly treated, and say to Him:
Considera quam violenter Iesus vestimentis suis spolietur. Cum enim vestis interior arcte carni flagellis dilaniatae adhaereret, carnifices, avellendo vestem, cutem ei quoque avellunt. Subeat te commiseratio Domini tui, eumque sic alloquere:
My innocent Jesus, by the merits of the torments 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.
Innocentissime Iesu, per meritum doloris quem inter hanc spoliationem passus es, adiuva me, precor, ut omnem in res creatas affectum exuam, et tota voluntatis meae inclinatione ad te solum convertar, qui meo nimis dignus es amore. Amo te ex toto corde meo; paenitet me quod tibi displicui; ne sinas me iterum tibi displicere. Da mihi perpetuum amorem tui, et dein fac de me quidquid tibi placuerit.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
Make me feel as thou hast felt;
Make my soul to glow and melt
With the love of Christ my Lord.
Fac, ut ardeat cor meum
in amando Christum Deum
ut sibi complaceam.
V. Lord Jesus, crucified,
R. Have mercy on us!
The Spoliation by El Greco, painted between 1577-1579.
The Ninth Station
Jesus Falls the Third Time
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee.
R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.
R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.
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.
Considera tertium Iesu Christi sub cruce lapsum. Procumbit quia nimia erat eius debilitas, et nimia saevitia carnificum, qui volebant ut gressum acceleraret, dum vix unum gradum facere posset.
Oh, 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, my beloved 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.
O inclementer habite Iesu, per meritum illius virium defectionis, qua in via ad Calvarium laborare voluisti, tanto, precor, me vigore conforta, ut nullum amplius ad humana iudicia respectum habeam, ac vitiosam meam naturam edomem: quod utrumque in causa fuit cur tuam olim amicitiam contempserim. Amo te, o Iesu, mi Amor, ex toto corde meo; paenitet me quod tibi displicui: ne sinas me iterum tibi displicere. Da mihi perpetuum amorem tui, et dein fac de me quidquid tibi placuerit.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
O thou Mother! fount of love!
Touch my spirit from above,
Make my heart with thine accord:
Eia, Mater, fons amoris
me sentire vim doloris
fac, ut tecum lugeam.
V. Lord Jesus, crucified,
R. Have mercy on us!
Jesus Falling On the Via Dolorosa by an unknown artist in the MS Monogram, painted between 1500-1510.
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee.
R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.
R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.
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.
Considera tertium Iesu Christi sub cruce lapsum. Procumbit quia nimia erat eius debilitas, et nimia saevitia carnificum, qui volebant ut gressum acceleraret, dum vix unum gradum facere posset.
Oh, 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, my beloved 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.
O inclementer habite Iesu, per meritum illius virium defectionis, qua in via ad Calvarium laborare voluisti, tanto, precor, me vigore conforta, ut nullum amplius ad humana iudicia respectum habeam, ac vitiosam meam naturam edomem: quod utrumque in causa fuit cur tuam olim amicitiam contempserim. Amo te, o Iesu, mi Amor, ex toto corde meo; paenitet me quod tibi displicui: ne sinas me iterum tibi displicere. Da mihi perpetuum amorem tui, et dein fac de me quidquid tibi placuerit.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
O thou Mother! fount of love!
Touch my spirit from above,
Make my heart with thine accord:
Eia, Mater, fons amoris
me sentire vim doloris
fac, ut tecum lugeam.
V. Lord Jesus, crucified,
R. Have mercy on us!
Jesus Falling On the Via Dolorosa by an unknown artist in the MS Monogram, painted between 1500-1510.
The Eighth Station
Jesus Consoles the Women of Jersusalem
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee.
R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.
R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.
Consider how those women wept with compassion at seeing Jesus in such a pitiable state, streaming with Blood, as He walked along. But Jesus said to them: "Weep not for Me, but for your children."
Considera quomodo mulieres, videntes Iesum lassitudine exanimatum et cruore inter eundum diffluentem, commiseratione permoveantur, lacrimasque profundant. Ad flentes autem conversus: "Nolite, inquit, flere super me, sed super vos ipsas flete et super filios vestros."
My Jesus, laden with sorrows, I weep for the offenses I have committed against Thee, because of the pains they have deserved, and still more because of the displeasure 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.
O perdolens Iesu, defleo mea in te peccata ob poenas quidem quibus me dignum reddiderunt, sed maxime ob molestiam quam tibi intulerunt, tibi qui me tantopere amasti. Ad fletum minus infernus quam amor tui me excitat. O mi Iesu, amo te magis quam meipsum; paenitet me quod tibi displicui; ne sinas me iterum tibi displicere. Da mihi perpetuum amorem tui, et dein fac de me quidquid tibi placuerit.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
For the sins of His own nation,
saw Him hang in desolation,
Till His spirit forth He sent.
Vidit suum dulcem Natum
moriendo desolatum,
dum emisit spiritum.
V. Lord Jesus, crucified,
R. Have mercy on us!
Jesus On the Road To Calvary With the Women of Jerusalem in the foreground by Claude Deruet in 1620
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee.
R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.
R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.
Consider how those women wept with compassion at seeing Jesus in such a pitiable state, streaming with Blood, as He walked along. But Jesus said to them: "Weep not for Me, but for your children."
Considera quomodo mulieres, videntes Iesum lassitudine exanimatum et cruore inter eundum diffluentem, commiseratione permoveantur, lacrimasque profundant. Ad flentes autem conversus: "Nolite, inquit, flere super me, sed super vos ipsas flete et super filios vestros."
My Jesus, laden with sorrows, I weep for the offenses I have committed against Thee, because of the pains they have deserved, and still more because of the displeasure 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.
O perdolens Iesu, defleo mea in te peccata ob poenas quidem quibus me dignum reddiderunt, sed maxime ob molestiam quam tibi intulerunt, tibi qui me tantopere amasti. Ad fletum minus infernus quam amor tui me excitat. O mi Iesu, amo te magis quam meipsum; paenitet me quod tibi displicui; ne sinas me iterum tibi displicere. Da mihi perpetuum amorem tui, et dein fac de me quidquid tibi placuerit.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
For the sins of His own nation,
saw Him hang in desolation,
Till His spirit forth He sent.
Vidit suum dulcem Natum
moriendo desolatum,
dum emisit spiritum.
V. Lord Jesus, crucified,
R. Have mercy on us!
Jesus On the Road To Calvary With the Women of Jerusalem in the foreground by Claude Deruet in 1620
The Seventh Station
Jesus Falls the Second Time
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee.
R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.
R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.
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.
Considera alterum Iesu Christi sub cruce lapsum, quo lapsu perdolenti Domino omnes venerandi capitis et totius corporis plagae recrudescunt, omnesque cruciatus renovantur.
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.
Mansuetissime Iesu, quam frequenter concessisti mihi veniam! Ego vero in eadem relapsus sum peccata, measque in te offensas renovavi. Per meritum novi huius tui lapsus adiuva me, ut in gratia tua usque ad obitum perseverem. Fac ut in omnibus, quae me invasurae sunt, tentationibus me tibi semper commendem. Amo te ex toto corde meo, o Iesu, mi Amor; paenitet me quod tibi displicui: ne sinas me iterum tibi displicere. Da mihi perpetuum amorem tui, et dein fac me quidquid tibi placuerit.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
Bruis'd, derided, curs'd, defil'd,
She beheld her tender child
All with bloody scourges rent.
Pro peccatis suae gentis
vidit Iesum in tormentis,
et flagellis subditum.
V. Lord Jesus, crucified,
R. Have mercy on us!
Jesus Falls on the Via Dolorosa engraved by Martin Schongauer between 1475-1480.
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee.
R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.
R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.
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.
Considera alterum Iesu Christi sub cruce lapsum, quo lapsu perdolenti Domino omnes venerandi capitis et totius corporis plagae recrudescunt, omnesque cruciatus renovantur.
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.
Mansuetissime Iesu, quam frequenter concessisti mihi veniam! Ego vero in eadem relapsus sum peccata, measque in te offensas renovavi. Per meritum novi huius tui lapsus adiuva me, ut in gratia tua usque ad obitum perseverem. Fac ut in omnibus, quae me invasurae sunt, tentationibus me tibi semper commendem. Amo te ex toto corde meo, o Iesu, mi Amor; paenitet me quod tibi displicui: ne sinas me iterum tibi displicere. Da mihi perpetuum amorem tui, et dein fac me quidquid tibi placuerit.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
Bruis'd, derided, curs'd, defil'd,
She beheld her tender child
All with bloody scourges rent.
Pro peccatis suae gentis
vidit Iesum in tormentis,
et flagellis subditum.
V. Lord Jesus, crucified,
R. Have mercy on us!
Jesus Falls on the Via Dolorosa engraved by Martin Schongauer between 1475-1480.
The Sixth Station
Jesus' Face Is Wiped By Veronica
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee.
R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.
R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.
Consider how the holy woman named 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.
Considera quomodo sancta illa femina Veronica, videns Iesum doloribus confectum eiusque vultum sudore ac sanguine madidum, porrigat ei linteolum in quo ipse, abstersa facie, sacram sui imaginem impressam relinquit.
My most beloved Jesus, Thy face was beautiful before, but in this journey it hast 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, can restore it to its former beauty. Do this by Thy Passion. 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.
O mi Iesu, formosa erat antea facies tua; verum hac in via non amplius formosa apparet, sed est vulneribus et cruore omnino deformis. Hei mihi! quam formosa quoque erat anima mea, cum gratiam tuam per baptismum recepisset: peccando eam postea deformem reddidi. Tu solus, mi Redemptor, pristinam venustatem ei restituere vales; quod ut facias, per tuae Passionis meritum te precor. Amo te Iesu, mi Amor; paenitet me quod tibi displicui; ne sinas me iterum tibi displicere. Da mihi perpetuum amorem tui, et dein fac de me quidquid tibi placuerit.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
Can the human heart refrain
From partaking in her pain,
In that Mother's pain untold?
Quis non posset contristari,
Christi Matrem contemplari
Dolentem cum Filio?
V. Lord Jesus, crucified,
R. Have mercy on us!
Veronica Offers Christ Her Veil by Jacopo Bassano, 1640.
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee.
R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.
R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.
Consider how the holy woman named 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.
Considera quomodo sancta illa femina Veronica, videns Iesum doloribus confectum eiusque vultum sudore ac sanguine madidum, porrigat ei linteolum in quo ipse, abstersa facie, sacram sui imaginem impressam relinquit.
My most beloved Jesus, Thy face was beautiful before, but in this journey it hast 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, can restore it to its former beauty. Do this by Thy Passion. 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.
O mi Iesu, formosa erat antea facies tua; verum hac in via non amplius formosa apparet, sed est vulneribus et cruore omnino deformis. Hei mihi! quam formosa quoque erat anima mea, cum gratiam tuam per baptismum recepisset: peccando eam postea deformem reddidi. Tu solus, mi Redemptor, pristinam venustatem ei restituere vales; quod ut facias, per tuae Passionis meritum te precor. Amo te Iesu, mi Amor; paenitet me quod tibi displicui; ne sinas me iterum tibi displicere. Da mihi perpetuum amorem tui, et dein fac de me quidquid tibi placuerit.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
Can the human heart refrain
From partaking in her pain,
In that Mother's pain untold?
Quis non posset contristari,
Christi Matrem contemplari
Dolentem cum Filio?
V. Lord Jesus, crucified,
R. Have mercy on us!
Veronica Offers Christ Her Veil by Jacopo Bassano, 1640.
The Fifth Station
Jesus Is Aided By Simon of Cyrene
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee.
R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.
R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.
Consider how the Jews, 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 shameful death of the Cross, constrained Simon the Cyrenian to carry the Cross behind our Lord.
Considera quomodo Iudaei, videntes Iesum ad quemlibet passum animam propemodum prae lassitudine efflantem, et timentes ex altera parte ne, quem crucis supplicio affectum volebant, in via moreretur, compellant Simonem Cyrenaeum ad baiulandam crucem post Dominum.
My most beloved Jesus, I will not refuse the Cross as the Cyrenian did; I accept it - I embrace it. I accept in particular the death 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 hast 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 offendThee again. Grant that I may love Thee always, and then do with me what Thou wilt.
O dulcissime Iesu, nolo sicut Cyrenaeus, repudiare crucem, libenter eam amplector in meque recipio, amplector speciatim quam mihi praefiniisti mortem cum omnibus, quos haec secum adductura est, doloribus. Coniungo eam cum morte tua, sicque coniunctam eam in sacrificium tibi offero. Tu amore mei mortuus es; volo ego quoque mori amore tui, ea mente ut rem tibi gratam faciam. Tu vero adiuva me tua gratia. Amo te, o Iesu, mi Amor, paenitet me quod tibi displicui. Ne sinas me iterum tibi displicere. Da mihi perpetuum amorem tui, et dein fac de me quidquid tibi placuerit.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
Is there one who would not weep,
Whelm'd in miseries so deep
Christ's dear Mother to behold?
Quis est homo, qui non fleret,
Matrem Christi si videret I
n tanto supplicio?
V. Lord Jesus, crucified,
R. Have mercy on us!
Simon Is Forced To Take Up the Cross painted by Domenichino, 1610.
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee.
R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.
R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.
Consider how the Jews, 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 shameful death of the Cross, constrained Simon the Cyrenian to carry the Cross behind our Lord.
Considera quomodo Iudaei, videntes Iesum ad quemlibet passum animam propemodum prae lassitudine efflantem, et timentes ex altera parte ne, quem crucis supplicio affectum volebant, in via moreretur, compellant Simonem Cyrenaeum ad baiulandam crucem post Dominum.
My most beloved Jesus, I will not refuse the Cross as the Cyrenian did; I accept it - I embrace it. I accept in particular the death 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 hast 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 offendThee again. Grant that I may love Thee always, and then do with me what Thou wilt.
O dulcissime Iesu, nolo sicut Cyrenaeus, repudiare crucem, libenter eam amplector in meque recipio, amplector speciatim quam mihi praefiniisti mortem cum omnibus, quos haec secum adductura est, doloribus. Coniungo eam cum morte tua, sicque coniunctam eam in sacrificium tibi offero. Tu amore mei mortuus es; volo ego quoque mori amore tui, ea mente ut rem tibi gratam faciam. Tu vero adiuva me tua gratia. Amo te, o Iesu, mi Amor, paenitet me quod tibi displicui. Ne sinas me iterum tibi displicere. Da mihi perpetuum amorem tui, et dein fac de me quidquid tibi placuerit.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
Is there one who would not weep,
Whelm'd in miseries so deep
Christ's dear Mother to behold?
Quis est homo, qui non fleret,
Matrem Christi si videret I
n tanto supplicio?
V. Lord Jesus, crucified,
R. Have mercy on us!
Simon Is Forced To Take Up the Cross painted by Domenichino, 1610.
The Fourth Station
Jesus Meets His Afflicted Mother
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee.
R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.
R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.
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.
Considera qualis fuerit, in hac via, Filii et Matris occursus. Iesus et Maria se mutuo aspexerunt, mutuique eorum aspectus, fuerunt totidem sagittae, quibus amantia eorum pectora transverberabantur.
My most loving Jesus, by the sorrow that 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 was 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 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.
Amantissime Iesu, per acerbum dolorem, quem in hoc occursu expertus es, redde me, precor, sanctissimae Matri tuae vere devotum. Tu vero, perdolens mea Regina, intercede pro me, et obtine mihi talem cruciatum Filii tui memoriam, ut mens mea in pia illorum contemplatione perpetuo detineatur. Amo te, o Iesu, mi Amor; paenitet me quod tibi displicui. Ne sinas me iterum in te peccare. Da mihi perpetuum amorem tui, et dein fac de me quidquid tibi placuerit.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
Christ above in torment hangs;
She beneath beholds the pangs
Of her dying glorious Son.
Quem maerebat, et dolebat,
Pia Mater, dum videbat
Nati paenas inclyti.
V. Lord Jesus, crucified,
R. Have mercy on us!
Christ meets His Blessed Mother on the Via Dolorosa by Duccio di Buoninsegna between 1308-1311.
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee.
R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.
R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.
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.
Considera qualis fuerit, in hac via, Filii et Matris occursus. Iesus et Maria se mutuo aspexerunt, mutuique eorum aspectus, fuerunt totidem sagittae, quibus amantia eorum pectora transverberabantur.
My most loving Jesus, by the sorrow that 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 was 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 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.
Amantissime Iesu, per acerbum dolorem, quem in hoc occursu expertus es, redde me, precor, sanctissimae Matri tuae vere devotum. Tu vero, perdolens mea Regina, intercede pro me, et obtine mihi talem cruciatum Filii tui memoriam, ut mens mea in pia illorum contemplatione perpetuo detineatur. Amo te, o Iesu, mi Amor; paenitet me quod tibi displicui. Ne sinas me iterum in te peccare. Da mihi perpetuum amorem tui, et dein fac de me quidquid tibi placuerit.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
Christ above in torment hangs;
She beneath beholds the pangs
Of her dying glorious Son.
Quem maerebat, et dolebat,
Pia Mater, dum videbat
Nati paenas inclyti.
V. Lord Jesus, crucified,
R. Have mercy on us!
Christ meets His Blessed Mother on the Via Dolorosa by Duccio di Buoninsegna between 1308-1311.
The Third Station
Jesus Falls the First Time
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee.
R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.
R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.
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.
Considera primum hunc Iesu Christi sub cruce lapsum. Habebat carnem ex saeva flagellatione multifarie sauciam, caput redimitum spinarum corona: profuderat insuper cruorem in tanta copia, ut vix pedem prae virium defectione, movere posset. Et quoniam gravi crucis onere premebatur, et immisericorditer a militibus propellebatur, accidit ut pluries inter eundum humi procumberet.
My beloved Jesus, it is not the weight of the Cross, but my sins which hast made Thee suffer so much pain. By the merits of this first fall, deliver me from the misfortune of falling into mortal sin. I love Thee, 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.
O mi Iesu, non est onus crucis, sed peccatorum meorum pondus, quod tantis te afficit doloribus. Rogo te, per primum hunc tuum lapsum, ut ab omni in peccatum me lapsu tuearis. Amo te, o Iesu, ex toto corde meo; paenitet me quod tibi displicui. Ne sinas me iterum in peccatum prolabi. Da mihi perpetuum amorem tui, et dein fac de me quidquid tibi placuerit.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
Oh, how sad and sore distress'd
Was that Mother highly blest
Of the sole-begotten One !
O quam tristis et afflicta
Fuit illa benedicta
Mater Unigeniti!
V. Lord Jesus, crucified,
R. Have mercy on us!
Christ falling with Cross by Alanso Cano, 1635-1637
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee.
R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.
R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.
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.
Considera primum hunc Iesu Christi sub cruce lapsum. Habebat carnem ex saeva flagellatione multifarie sauciam, caput redimitum spinarum corona: profuderat insuper cruorem in tanta copia, ut vix pedem prae virium defectione, movere posset. Et quoniam gravi crucis onere premebatur, et immisericorditer a militibus propellebatur, accidit ut pluries inter eundum humi procumberet.
My beloved Jesus, it is not the weight of the Cross, but my sins which hast made Thee suffer so much pain. By the merits of this first fall, deliver me from the misfortune of falling into mortal sin. I love Thee, 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.
O mi Iesu, non est onus crucis, sed peccatorum meorum pondus, quod tantis te afficit doloribus. Rogo te, per primum hunc tuum lapsum, ut ab omni in peccatum me lapsu tuearis. Amo te, o Iesu, ex toto corde meo; paenitet me quod tibi displicui. Ne sinas me iterum in peccatum prolabi. Da mihi perpetuum amorem tui, et dein fac de me quidquid tibi placuerit.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
Oh, how sad and sore distress'd
Was that Mother highly blest
Of the sole-begotten One !
O quam tristis et afflicta
Fuit illa benedicta
Mater Unigeniti!
V. Lord Jesus, crucified,
R. Have mercy on us!
Christ falling with Cross by Alanso Cano, 1635-1637
The Second Station
Jesus Takes Up His Cross
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee.
R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.
R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.
Consider how Jesus, in making this journey with the Cross on His shoulders, thought of us, and offered for us to His Father the death He was about to undergo.
Considera quomodo Iesus Christus, portans humeris crucem, fuerit inter eundum, memor tui, offerendo pro te aeterno Patri mortem, quam erat obiturus.
My most beloved Jesus, I embrace all the tribulations Thou hast destined for me until death. I beseech Thee, by the merits of the pain Thou did 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 love Thee more than myself; 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.
Amabilissime Iesu, amplector omnes res adversas, quas mihi usque ad obitum tolerandas praefixisti, et, per durum illum, quem in portanda tua cruce pertulisti, laborem, precor te, ut vires mihi subministres, quibus ego quoque crucem meam, aequo ac patienti animo, portare valeam. Amo te, o Iesu, mi Amor, paenitet me quod tibi displicui. Ne sinas me iterum separari a te. Da mihi perpetuum amorem tui, et dein fac de me quidquid tibi placuerit.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
Through her heart, His sorrow sharing,
All His bitter anguish bearing,
Now at length the sword had pass'd.
Cujus animam gementem,
Contristatam et dolentem,
Pertransivit gladius.
V. Lord Jesus, crucified,
R. Have mercy on us!
Christ Taking Up the Cross by Michaelangelo (sculpted, 1500s)
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee.
R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.
R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.
Consider how Jesus, in making this journey with the Cross on His shoulders, thought of us, and offered for us to His Father the death He was about to undergo.
Considera quomodo Iesus Christus, portans humeris crucem, fuerit inter eundum, memor tui, offerendo pro te aeterno Patri mortem, quam erat obiturus.
My most beloved Jesus, I embrace all the tribulations Thou hast destined for me until death. I beseech Thee, by the merits of the pain Thou did 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 love Thee more than myself; 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.
Amabilissime Iesu, amplector omnes res adversas, quas mihi usque ad obitum tolerandas praefixisti, et, per durum illum, quem in portanda tua cruce pertulisti, laborem, precor te, ut vires mihi subministres, quibus ego quoque crucem meam, aequo ac patienti animo, portare valeam. Amo te, o Iesu, mi Amor, paenitet me quod tibi displicui. Ne sinas me iterum separari a te. Da mihi perpetuum amorem tui, et dein fac de me quidquid tibi placuerit.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
Through her heart, His sorrow sharing,
All His bitter anguish bearing,
Now at length the sword had pass'd.
Cujus animam gementem,
Contristatam et dolentem,
Pertransivit gladius.
V. Lord Jesus, crucified,
R. Have mercy on us!
Christ Taking Up the Cross by Michaelangelo (sculpted, 1500s)
The First Station
Jesus is Condemned to Death
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee.
R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.
R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.
Consider how Jesus, after having been scourged and crowned with thorns, was unjustly condemned by Pilate to die on the Cross.
Considera quomodo Iesus Christus, iam flagellatus et spinis coronatus, iniuste tandem a Pilato ad mortem crucis condemnetur.
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 ever 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.
O adorande Iesu, non Pilatus, sed iniqua mea vita te ad mortem condemnavit. Per meritum laboriosissimi huius itineris, quod ad Calvariae montem instituis, precor te, ut me semper in via, qua anima mea in aeternitatem tendit, benigne comiteris. Amo te, o Iesu, mi Amor, magis quam meipsum, et ex intimo corde paenitet me quod tibi displicui. Ne sinas me iterum a te separari. Da mihi perpetuum amorem tui, et dein fac de me quidquid tibi placuerit. Quod tibi placitum est, hoc idem mihi est acceptum.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
At the cross her station keeping,
Stood the mournful Mother weeping,
Close to Jesus to the last.
Stabat Mater dolorosa
Juxta Crucem lacrimosa,
Dum pendebat Filius.
V. Lord Jesus, crucified,R. Have mercy on us!
The Condemnation by Pilate by Tintoretto, 1566-67.
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee.
R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.
R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.
Consider how Jesus, after having been scourged and crowned with thorns, was unjustly condemned by Pilate to die on the Cross.
Considera quomodo Iesus Christus, iam flagellatus et spinis coronatus, iniuste tandem a Pilato ad mortem crucis condemnetur.
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 ever 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.
O adorande Iesu, non Pilatus, sed iniqua mea vita te ad mortem condemnavit. Per meritum laboriosissimi huius itineris, quod ad Calvariae montem instituis, precor te, ut me semper in via, qua anima mea in aeternitatem tendit, benigne comiteris. Amo te, o Iesu, mi Amor, magis quam meipsum, et ex intimo corde paenitet me quod tibi displicui. Ne sinas me iterum a te separari. Da mihi perpetuum amorem tui, et dein fac de me quidquid tibi placuerit. Quod tibi placitum est, hoc idem mihi est acceptum.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
At the cross her station keeping,
Stood the mournful Mother weeping,
Close to Jesus to the last.
Stabat Mater dolorosa
Juxta Crucem lacrimosa,
Dum pendebat Filius.
V. Lord Jesus, crucified,R. Have mercy on us!
The Condemnation by Pilate by Tintoretto, 1566-67.
Via Crucis According To the Method of Saint Alphonsus Liguori
Let each one, kneeling before the high altar, make an Act of Contrition, and form the intention of gaining the indulgences connected to this devotion, whether for himself, or for the souls in Purgatory. Then say:
Preparatory Prayer
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.
Image of the Agony In the Garden of Gethsemene, painted 1615 by Giovanni Battista Caracciolo
From the Enchiridion of Indulgences:
63. EXERCISE OF THE WAY OF THE CROSS. PLENARY INDULGENCE.
A Plenary indulgence is granted to those who piously make the Way of the Cross. The gaining of the indulgence is regulated by the following rules:1. Must be done before stations of the cross legitimately erected.
2. 14 stations are required. Although it is customary for the icons to represent pictures or images, 14 simple crosses will suffice.
3. The common practice consists of fourteen pious readings to which some vocal prayers are added.. However, nothing more is required than a pious meditation on the Passion and Death of the Lord, which need not be a particular consideration of the individual mysteries of the stations.
4. A movement from one station to the next is required. But if the stations are made publicly and it is not possible for everyone taking part to go from station to station, it suffices if at least the one conducting the exercise goes from station to station, the others remaining in their places.
5. Those who are "impeded" can gain the same indulgence if they spend at least one half and hour in pious reading and meditation on the Passion and Death of our Lord Jesus Christ.
6. For those belonging to the Oriental rites, amongst whom this pious exercise is not practiced, the respective Patriarchs can determine some other pious exercise in memory of the Passion and Death for the gaining of this indulgence.
Praying an on-line version (or one from a pamphlet on your own at home) probably only gains a partial indulgence, as there is no physical movement between properly marked stations. But perhaps an expert has more insight.
Preparatory Prayer
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.
Image of the Agony In the Garden of Gethsemene, painted 1615 by Giovanni Battista Caracciolo
From the Enchiridion of Indulgences:
63. EXERCISE OF THE WAY OF THE CROSS. PLENARY INDULGENCE.
A Plenary indulgence is granted to those who piously make the Way of the Cross. The gaining of the indulgence is regulated by the following rules:1. Must be done before stations of the cross legitimately erected.
2. 14 stations are required. Although it is customary for the icons to represent pictures or images, 14 simple crosses will suffice.
3. The common practice consists of fourteen pious readings to which some vocal prayers are added.. However, nothing more is required than a pious meditation on the Passion and Death of the Lord, which need not be a particular consideration of the individual mysteries of the stations.
4. A movement from one station to the next is required. But if the stations are made publicly and it is not possible for everyone taking part to go from station to station, it suffices if at least the one conducting the exercise goes from station to station, the others remaining in their places.
5. Those who are "impeded" can gain the same indulgence if they spend at least one half and hour in pious reading and meditation on the Passion and Death of our Lord Jesus Christ.
6. For those belonging to the Oriental rites, amongst whom this pious exercise is not practiced, the respective Patriarchs can determine some other pious exercise in memory of the Passion and Death for the gaining of this indulgence.
Praying an on-line version (or one from a pamphlet on your own at home) probably only gains a partial indulgence, as there is no physical movement between properly marked stations. But perhaps an expert has more insight.
Stations of the Cross
I spent most of a day last year assembling the following Way of the Cross. I am using the Saint Alphonsus Liguori method. This method is, in my opinion, the most traditional. A booklet from TAN was the basis.
I was able to cut and paste from a number of sources, including the "Stations of the Cross" linked on the right since just before Lent started.
The Enchiridion of Indulgences (also linked at the right) provided the basic information on how to gain partial or plenary indulgences from the exercise.
The versicle and response at the end of each station is a Franciscan addition that is used in the TAN booklet. I liked it, and added it to this version.
Most of the art work is linked from Textweek Sacred Art Index, which is linked on the right, a wonderful resource that anyone doing similar work ought to consult. Catholic.com in its section on the Stations provided a couple of additional images.
One significant thing I noticed relates to the Stabat Mater translation. The translations for the 7th and 8th verses used with the 7th and 8th Stations seem to be partially transposed. "Pro peccatis suae gentis..." does not translate: "Bruised, derided..." but rather "the sins of his own nation." I consulted several printed and on-line translations of the Stabat Mater, and they all seem to have the mistake. Perhaps the idea is that the translation is not line-by-line, but done in this manner to keep the poetic sense in English. I have decided to leave it alone since I am not a poet, and can think of no way of of fixing it while keeping the poetic integrity intact. I hope these Stations will be of benefit to those who use them, and enhance their devotion to the Lord's Passion.
I was able to cut and paste from a number of sources, including the "Stations of the Cross" linked on the right since just before Lent started.
The Enchiridion of Indulgences (also linked at the right) provided the basic information on how to gain partial or plenary indulgences from the exercise.
The versicle and response at the end of each station is a Franciscan addition that is used in the TAN booklet. I liked it, and added it to this version.
Most of the art work is linked from Textweek Sacred Art Index, which is linked on the right, a wonderful resource that anyone doing similar work ought to consult. Catholic.com in its section on the Stations provided a couple of additional images.
One significant thing I noticed relates to the Stabat Mater translation. The translations for the 7th and 8th verses used with the 7th and 8th Stations seem to be partially transposed. "Pro peccatis suae gentis..." does not translate: "Bruised, derided..." but rather "the sins of his own nation." I consulted several printed and on-line translations of the Stabat Mater, and they all seem to have the mistake. Perhaps the idea is that the translation is not line-by-line, but done in this manner to keep the poetic sense in English. I have decided to leave it alone since I am not a poet, and can think of no way of of fixing it while keeping the poetic integrity intact. I hope these Stations will be of benefit to those who use them, and enhance their devotion to the Lord's Passion.
Psalm 21/22
My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?
Far from my salvation are the words of my sins.
O my God, I shall cry by day, and Thou wilt not hear: and by night, and it shall not be reputed as folly in me.
But Thou dwellest in the holy place, the praise of Israel.
In Thee have our fathers hoped: they have hoped, and Thou hast delivered them.
They cried to Thee, and they were saved: they trusted in Thee, and were not confounded.
But I am a worm, and not a man: the reproach of men, and the outcast of the people.
All they that saw me have laughed me to scorn: they have spoken with the lips, and wagged the head.
He hoped in the Lord, let Him deliver him: let Him save him, seeing He delighteth in him.
For Thou art he that hast drawn me out of the womb: my hope from the breasts of my mother.
I was cast upon Thee from the womb.
From my mother's womb Thou art my God, depart not from me.
For tribulation is very near: for there is none to help me.
Many calves have surrounded me: fat bulls have besieged me.
They have opened their mouths against me, as a lion ravening and roaring.
I am poured out like water; and all my bones are scattered.
My heart is become like wax melting in the midst of my bowels.
My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue hath cleaved to my jaws: and Thou hast brought me down into the dust of death.
For many dogs have encompassed me: the council of the malignant hath besieged me.
They have pierced my hands and feet.
They have numbered all my bones.
And they have looked and stared upon me.
They parted my garments amongst them; and for my vesture they cast lots.
But Thou, O Lord, remove not Thy help to a distance from me; look towards my defence.
Deliver, O God, my soul from the sword: my only one from the hand of the dog.
Save me from the lion's mouth; and my lowness from the horns of the buffalo.
I will declare Thy name to my brethren: in the midst of the church will I praise Thee.
Ye that fear the Lord, praise Him: all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify Him.
Let all the seed of Israel fear Him: because He hath not slighted nor despised the supplication of the poor man.
Neither hath He turned away his face from me: and when I cried to Him He heard me.
With Thee is my praise in a great church: I will pay my vows in the sight of them that fear Him.
The poor shall eat and shall be filled: and they shall praise the Lord that seek Him: their hearts shall live for ever and ever.
All the ends of the earth shall remember, and shall be converted to the Lord:
And all the kindreds of the Gentiles shall adore in His sight.
For the kingdom is the Lord's; and He shall have dominion over the nations.
All the fat ones of the earth have eaten and have adored: all they that go down to the earth shall fall before Him.
And in Him my soul shall live: and my seed shall serve Him.
There shall be declared to the Lord a generation to come: and the heavens shall shew forth His justice to a people that shall be born, which the Lord hath made.
Far from my salvation are the words of my sins.
O my God, I shall cry by day, and Thou wilt not hear: and by night, and it shall not be reputed as folly in me.
But Thou dwellest in the holy place, the praise of Israel.
In Thee have our fathers hoped: they have hoped, and Thou hast delivered them.
They cried to Thee, and they were saved: they trusted in Thee, and were not confounded.
But I am a worm, and not a man: the reproach of men, and the outcast of the people.
All they that saw me have laughed me to scorn: they have spoken with the lips, and wagged the head.
He hoped in the Lord, let Him deliver him: let Him save him, seeing He delighteth in him.
For Thou art he that hast drawn me out of the womb: my hope from the breasts of my mother.
I was cast upon Thee from the womb.
From my mother's womb Thou art my God, depart not from me.
For tribulation is very near: for there is none to help me.
Many calves have surrounded me: fat bulls have besieged me.
They have opened their mouths against me, as a lion ravening and roaring.
I am poured out like water; and all my bones are scattered.
My heart is become like wax melting in the midst of my bowels.
My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue hath cleaved to my jaws: and Thou hast brought me down into the dust of death.
For many dogs have encompassed me: the council of the malignant hath besieged me.
They have pierced my hands and feet.
They have numbered all my bones.
And they have looked and stared upon me.
They parted my garments amongst them; and for my vesture they cast lots.
But Thou, O Lord, remove not Thy help to a distance from me; look towards my defence.
Deliver, O God, my soul from the sword: my only one from the hand of the dog.
Save me from the lion's mouth; and my lowness from the horns of the buffalo.
I will declare Thy name to my brethren: in the midst of the church will I praise Thee.
Ye that fear the Lord, praise Him: all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify Him.
Let all the seed of Israel fear Him: because He hath not slighted nor despised the supplication of the poor man.
Neither hath He turned away his face from me: and when I cried to Him He heard me.
With Thee is my praise in a great church: I will pay my vows in the sight of them that fear Him.
The poor shall eat and shall be filled: and they shall praise the Lord that seek Him: their hearts shall live for ever and ever.
All the ends of the earth shall remember, and shall be converted to the Lord:
And all the kindreds of the Gentiles shall adore in His sight.
For the kingdom is the Lord's; and He shall have dominion over the nations.
All the fat ones of the earth have eaten and have adored: all they that go down to the earth shall fall before Him.
And in Him my soul shall live: and my seed shall serve Him.
There shall be declared to the Lord a generation to come: and the heavens shall shew forth His justice to a people that shall be born, which the Lord hath made.
Good Friday, 1613, Riding Westward
by John Donne
Let mans Soule be a Spheare, and then, in this,
The intelligence that moves, devotion is,
And as the other Spheares, by being growne
Subject to forraigne motions, lose their owne,
And being, by others hurried every day,
Scarce in a yeare their naturall forme obey:
Pleasure or businesses so, our Soules admit
For their first mover, and are whirld by it.
Hence is't, that I am carryed towards the West
This day, when my Soules forme bends toward the East.
There I should see a Sunne, by rising set,
And by that setting endlesse day beget;
But that Christ on this Crosse, did rise and fall,
Sinne had eternally benighted all.
Yet dare I'almost be glad, I do not see
That spectacle of too much weight for mee.
Who sees Gods face, that is selfe life, must dye;
What a death were it then to see God dye?
It made his owne Lieutenant Nature shrinke,
It made his footstools crack, and the Sunne winke.
Could I behold those hands which span the Poles,
And tune all spheares at once, peirc'd with those holes?
Could I behold that endlesse height which is
Zenith to us, and our Antipodes,
Humbled below us? or that blood which is
The seat of all our Soules, if not of his,
Made durt of dust, or that flesh which was worne
By God, for his appare'l, rag'd, and torne?
If on these things I durst not looke, durst I
Upon his miserable mother cast mine eye,
Who was Gods partner here, and furnish'd thus
Halfe of that Sacrifice, which ransom'd us?
Though these things, as I ride, be from mine eye,
They'are present yet unto my memory,
For that looks towards them; and thou look'st towards mee,
O Saviour, as thou hang'st upon the tree;
I turne my backe to thee, but to receive
Corrections, till thy mercies bid thee leave.
O thinke mee worth thine anger, punish mee,
Burne off my rusts, and my deformity,
Restore thine Image, so much, by thy grace,
That thou may'st know mee, and I'll turne my face.
Let mans Soule be a Spheare, and then, in this,
The intelligence that moves, devotion is,
And as the other Spheares, by being growne
Subject to forraigne motions, lose their owne,
And being, by others hurried every day,
Scarce in a yeare their naturall forme obey:
Pleasure or businesses so, our Soules admit
For their first mover, and are whirld by it.
Hence is't, that I am carryed towards the West
This day, when my Soules forme bends toward the East.
There I should see a Sunne, by rising set,
And by that setting endlesse day beget;
But that Christ on this Crosse, did rise and fall,
Sinne had eternally benighted all.
Yet dare I'almost be glad, I do not see
That spectacle of too much weight for mee.
Who sees Gods face, that is selfe life, must dye;
What a death were it then to see God dye?
It made his owne Lieutenant Nature shrinke,
It made his footstools crack, and the Sunne winke.
Could I behold those hands which span the Poles,
And tune all spheares at once, peirc'd with those holes?
Could I behold that endlesse height which is
Zenith to us, and our Antipodes,
Humbled below us? or that blood which is
The seat of all our Soules, if not of his,
Made durt of dust, or that flesh which was worne
By God, for his appare'l, rag'd, and torne?
If on these things I durst not looke, durst I
Upon his miserable mother cast mine eye,
Who was Gods partner here, and furnish'd thus
Halfe of that Sacrifice, which ransom'd us?
Though these things, as I ride, be from mine eye,
They'are present yet unto my memory,
For that looks towards them; and thou look'st towards mee,
O Saviour, as thou hang'st upon the tree;
I turne my backe to thee, but to receive
Corrections, till thy mercies bid thee leave.
O thinke mee worth thine anger, punish mee,
Burne off my rusts, and my deformity,
Restore thine Image, so much, by thy grace,
That thou may'st know mee, and I'll turne my face.
Good Friday Prayers
Station Church:
S. Croce in Gerusalemme
Prayers, Readings, and Reflections for Good Friday
"O, my Lord Jesus, I hereby beg of Thee, by the merits of Thy Precious Blood, by Thy Divine Heart, and by the intercession of Thy Most Holy Death to assist me in this pressing necessity."
(To be said 33 times for each intention. It must be said during the hours of 12 noon and 3 PM on Good Friday).
And this prayer comes from the Roman Seraphic Missal (1965) and is repeated in various forms during Holy Week, including on Good Friday: "Oh God by Your mercy cleanse us of the deceitfulness of our old selves and enable us to increase in new holiness. (We ask this) Through Jesus Christ." The whole of Lent has been aimed at this.
S. Croce in Gerusalemme
Prayers, Readings, and Reflections for Good Friday
"O, my Lord Jesus, I hereby beg of Thee, by the merits of Thy Precious Blood, by Thy Divine Heart, and by the intercession of Thy Most Holy Death to assist me in this pressing necessity."
(To be said 33 times for each intention. It must be said during the hours of 12 noon and 3 PM on Good Friday).
And this prayer comes from the Roman Seraphic Missal (1965) and is repeated in various forms during Holy Week, including on Good Friday: "Oh God by Your mercy cleanse us of the deceitfulness of our old selves and enable us to increase in new holiness. (We ask this) Through Jesus Christ." The whole of Lent has been aimed at this.
Thursday, March 24, 2005
Stations of the Cross In Light of the Holy Shroud of Turin
A Eucharistic Way of the Cross
Cardinal Ratzinger is preparing meditations for the Way of the Cross that specifically link the Blessed Sacrament with the Passion. These will be used tomorrow in Rome.
Something I'd like to see and read.
Update:
And here they are.
There are so many ways to do the Stations. There is St. Alphonsus' original, which I like very much. One can utilize St. Josemaria Escriva's meditations, which are linked to as an E-text on the right, and today we have seen two additiional, good sets of reflections. Combining all of this good into a single, admittedly long, method would be great.
Something I'd like to see and read.
Update:
And here they are.
There are so many ways to do the Stations. There is St. Alphonsus' original, which I like very much. One can utilize St. Josemaria Escriva's meditations, which are linked to as an E-text on the right, and today we have seen two additiional, good sets of reflections. Combining all of this good into a single, admittedly long, method would be great.
Supremes Won't Hear Schiavo Appeal
And the culture of death gains a major triumph, unless the Florida legislature does what it ought to have done a long time ago, and strips custody from the "husband" via special legislation, and wicked fast.
March 25th Would Normally Be Lady Day
But of course this year, Good Friday falls on March 25th, so that Lady Day is the Monday after Divine Mercy (Low) Sunday.
Thanks to Michael Dubruiel for the details.
Thanks to Michael Dubruiel for the details.
Maundy Thursday
Station Church:
St. John Lateran
Prayers, Readings, and Reflections for today
Devotions for a Maundy Thursday Holy Hour
This is a day devoted to the Blessed Sacrament, so the focus shifts slightly from devotions that deal specifically with aspects of the Lord's Passion (His Seven Last Words, His Five Sacred Wounds, the Holy Cross, etc.) to the beginning of the sacrifice, the miracle of the Blessed Sacrament. The text of all the prayers, as well as the lyrics of all they hymns, can be found in the files of Recta Ratio: The Yahoo Group.
O Salutaris
The Jesus Prayer
Adoro Te Devote
Pange Lingua (minus the Tantum Ergo)
O Sacrum Convivium
Anima Christi
Panis Angelicus
The Divine Praises
Holy, Holy, Holy (hymn)
Spiritual Communion Prayer (or prayer before Communion) of St. Ambrose
" " of St. Thomas Aquinas
" " of St. Alphonsus Liguori
" " of St. Josemaria Escriva
Prayer After Communion of St. Pio
Ave Verum Corpus
Tantum Ergo
Holy God, We Praise Thy Name
Holy Thursday is known in the British Isles as Maundy Thursday. The name may come from one of two sources. The British monarch distributes maunds, or baskets of charity to the poor on Holy Thursday. But some believe the name comes from the Latin "mandatum," from the last commands the Lord gave the Apostles at the Last Supper.
The giving of maunds by the monarch is part of a ceremony at a cathedral. He provides coins to one elderly man and one elderly woman for each year of his reign. The monarch also used to copy the priestly function of washing the feet of the same people. The washing of the feet is, of course, the symbolic embodiment of the function of priesthood. Maundy Thursday is the anniversary of not just the institution of the Holy Eucharist, but also of the priesthood. The two are, of course linked. Without a priesthood legitimately tracing its lineage to Peter and the other Apostles, there is no Eucharist.
However, in pre-Reformation England, the day was also known as "Sheer Thursday," "Sharp Thursday," "Char Thursday," or "Shrift Thursday" because, as part of a process of personal renewal, men typically cut their beards or hair on this day to look their best on Easter Sunday. In the Church, those notorious sinners who had been excluded from church during Lent were now re-admitted on confession.
Bishops blessed oil for use in providing Extreme Unction to the dying, and to anoint the newly ordained for the coming year. Altars were cleaned (after all, they would be stripped after the Mass of the Lord's Supper). After the final Mass for the day, the Holy Eucharist would be carried in solemn procession to a tabernacle of repose, much as we do today. In pre-Reformation England, the custom was to fashion something that would resemble the Lord's tomb, and to place the Eucharist there until the Vigil Mass on Holy Saturday Night.
St. John Lateran
Prayers, Readings, and Reflections for today
Devotions for a Maundy Thursday Holy Hour
This is a day devoted to the Blessed Sacrament, so the focus shifts slightly from devotions that deal specifically with aspects of the Lord's Passion (His Seven Last Words, His Five Sacred Wounds, the Holy Cross, etc.) to the beginning of the sacrifice, the miracle of the Blessed Sacrament. The text of all the prayers, as well as the lyrics of all they hymns, can be found in the files of Recta Ratio: The Yahoo Group.
O Salutaris
The Jesus Prayer
Adoro Te Devote
Pange Lingua (minus the Tantum Ergo)
O Sacrum Convivium
Anima Christi
Panis Angelicus
The Divine Praises
Holy, Holy, Holy (hymn)
Spiritual Communion Prayer (or prayer before Communion) of St. Ambrose
" " of St. Thomas Aquinas
" " of St. Alphonsus Liguori
" " of St. Josemaria Escriva
Prayer After Communion of St. Pio
Ave Verum Corpus
Tantum Ergo
Holy God, We Praise Thy Name
Holy Thursday is known in the British Isles as Maundy Thursday. The name may come from one of two sources. The British monarch distributes maunds, or baskets of charity to the poor on Holy Thursday. But some believe the name comes from the Latin "mandatum," from the last commands the Lord gave the Apostles at the Last Supper.
The giving of maunds by the monarch is part of a ceremony at a cathedral. He provides coins to one elderly man and one elderly woman for each year of his reign. The monarch also used to copy the priestly function of washing the feet of the same people. The washing of the feet is, of course, the symbolic embodiment of the function of priesthood. Maundy Thursday is the anniversary of not just the institution of the Holy Eucharist, but also of the priesthood. The two are, of course linked. Without a priesthood legitimately tracing its lineage to Peter and the other Apostles, there is no Eucharist.
However, in pre-Reformation England, the day was also known as "Sheer Thursday," "Sharp Thursday," "Char Thursday," or "Shrift Thursday" because, as part of a process of personal renewal, men typically cut their beards or hair on this day to look their best on Easter Sunday. In the Church, those notorious sinners who had been excluded from church during Lent were now re-admitted on confession.
Bishops blessed oil for use in providing Extreme Unction to the dying, and to anoint the newly ordained for the coming year. Altars were cleaned (after all, they would be stripped after the Mass of the Lord's Supper). After the final Mass for the day, the Holy Eucharist would be carried in solemn procession to a tabernacle of repose, much as we do today. In pre-Reformation England, the custom was to fashion something that would resemble the Lord's tomb, and to place the Eucharist there until the Vigil Mass on Holy Saturday Night.
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
The Schiavo Tragedy Deepens
The entire 11th Circuit refuses to rehear the case.
This is being done in our name.
A line from the musical 1776 comes to mind, when political expediency requires a Delaware member of Congress to ride post-haste to drag back a dying pro-independence delegate to swing Delaware into line:
"What a bastardly bunch we are."
So far, only the Governor of Florida, the US Congress, and the President come out with any credit.
But more importantly, a helpless woman is being starved and butchered in our name, as a matter of public policy, carried out by order of the courts of the state and abetted by the federal courts.
This is being done in our name.
A line from the musical 1776 comes to mind, when political expediency requires a Delaware member of Congress to ride post-haste to drag back a dying pro-independence delegate to swing Delaware into line:
"What a bastardly bunch we are."
So far, only the Governor of Florida, the US Congress, and the President come out with any credit.
But more importantly, a helpless woman is being starved and butchered in our name, as a matter of public policy, carried out by order of the courts of the state and abetted by the federal courts.
Spy Wednesday
Station Church:
St. Mary Major
Prayers, Readings, and Reflections for today
My devotions for a Lenten Wednesday Holy Hour
Dies Irae
Divine Mercy Chaplet
Seven Penitential Psalms
Prayer of Saint Thomas More
Threnus Prayer of Saint Augustine (scroll down)
Seven Prayers of Saint Gregory
"Still, as of old, man by himself is priced;
For thirty pieces Judas sold himself, not Christ"
Traditionally today is observed as the day Judas went to the high priest to offer to betray the Lord. Of course, he could have done so at any time, perhaps early on Maundy Thursday. I'm sure that the other Apostles did not get an opportunity to question him on Good Friday morning, or the high priest, for that matter, to get all the details. But traditionally, his betrayal is recognized on this day.
The only custom specific to Spy Wednesday that I am aware of comes from Poland. There, the young people throw an effigy of Judas from the top of a church steeple. Then it is dragged through the village while sticks and stones are hurled at it. What remains of the effigy is then thrown into a nearby stream or pond, symbolically drowning it.
The Tenebrae is chanted for the first time tonight. Tonight's Tenebrae consists of the combined office of Matins and Lauds for Maundy Thursday. Tomorrow's Tenebrae is Matins and Lauds for Good Friday. Good Friday's Tenebrae is the combined Matins and Lauds for Holy Saturday.
Matins was traditionally chanted at midnight, but has slipped into the just-pre-dawn hours for the convenience of the monks and nuns. Lauds used to be just after dawn. But there is a tradition going back before the protestant rebellion of chanting these offices in the relatively-early evening of the day before for the Triduum, so that locals could attend.
This has always been a good day for confession and house cleaning in preparation for Easter.
St. Mary Major
Prayers, Readings, and Reflections for today
My devotions for a Lenten Wednesday Holy Hour
Dies Irae
Divine Mercy Chaplet
Seven Penitential Psalms
Prayer of Saint Thomas More
Threnus Prayer of Saint Augustine (scroll down)
Seven Prayers of Saint Gregory
"Still, as of old, man by himself is priced;
For thirty pieces Judas sold himself, not Christ"
Traditionally today is observed as the day Judas went to the high priest to offer to betray the Lord. Of course, he could have done so at any time, perhaps early on Maundy Thursday. I'm sure that the other Apostles did not get an opportunity to question him on Good Friday morning, or the high priest, for that matter, to get all the details. But traditionally, his betrayal is recognized on this day.
The only custom specific to Spy Wednesday that I am aware of comes from Poland. There, the young people throw an effigy of Judas from the top of a church steeple. Then it is dragged through the village while sticks and stones are hurled at it. What remains of the effigy is then thrown into a nearby stream or pond, symbolically drowning it.
The Tenebrae is chanted for the first time tonight. Tonight's Tenebrae consists of the combined office of Matins and Lauds for Maundy Thursday. Tomorrow's Tenebrae is Matins and Lauds for Good Friday. Good Friday's Tenebrae is the combined Matins and Lauds for Holy Saturday.
Matins was traditionally chanted at midnight, but has slipped into the just-pre-dawn hours for the convenience of the monks and nuns. Lauds used to be just after dawn. But there is a tradition going back before the protestant rebellion of chanting these offices in the relatively-early evening of the day before for the Triduum, so that locals could attend.
This has always been a good day for confession and house cleaning in preparation for Easter.
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Spanish Penitents, Not the KKK
Mark Sullivan has some links up to interesting photos of Spanish Holy Week processions in which penitents wear white hoods that make them look, for all the world, like members of the KKK.
I was talking to someone else this morning about Holy Week processions in the Philippines.
American Catholics, here in our formatively protestant, and overwhelming secular culture miss so much of authentic traditional Catholic culture. Processions like this, not so much during Holy Week, but at many times of the year, were common in England before the Reformation. About the closest thing we have to that today are the North End festivals during the summer.
We celebrate our Easter at Church, then scuttle furtively home for our Easter Egg hunts and Easter dinner. But there is no real communal celebration, because ours is not a Catholic community.
Question: Through the use of gated communities, could such a Catholic community be created? What would it be like? Whose Catholic customs would be incorporated, in a community made up of Catholics whose ancestors came from from South and Central America, Italy, Ireland, the Philippines, Austria, Bavaria, France, Spain, Portugal, etc.? Tom Monaghan is trying something like this based around Ave Maria University. But will it work, or will it seem artificial, contrived, made up?
I was talking to someone else this morning about Holy Week processions in the Philippines.
American Catholics, here in our formatively protestant, and overwhelming secular culture miss so much of authentic traditional Catholic culture. Processions like this, not so much during Holy Week, but at many times of the year, were common in England before the Reformation. About the closest thing we have to that today are the North End festivals during the summer.
We celebrate our Easter at Church, then scuttle furtively home for our Easter Egg hunts and Easter dinner. But there is no real communal celebration, because ours is not a Catholic community.
Question: Through the use of gated communities, could such a Catholic community be created? What would it be like? Whose Catholic customs would be incorporated, in a community made up of Catholics whose ancestors came from from South and Central America, Italy, Ireland, the Philippines, Austria, Bavaria, France, Spain, Portugal, etc.? Tom Monaghan is trying something like this based around Ave Maria University. But will it work, or will it seem artificial, contrived, made up?
Feeling A Little Better
My fever broke last night, and I might venture to try solid food this evening. Forty-eight hours with nothing but water and juice is rough, especially with the hard fast of the Triduum coming up in just a few days.
A Shrine To "Saint" Judas
In Linz, Austria.
Gillibrand at Catholic Church Conservation has the appalling details, here.
Maybe Judges Greer and Wittenmore worship there.
Gillibrand at Catholic Church Conservation has the appalling details, here.
Maybe Judges Greer and Wittenmore worship there.
Tuesday In Holy Week
Station Church:
S. Prisca all'Aventino
Prayers, Readings, and Reflections for today
My devotions for a Lenten Tuesday Holy Hour
Dies Irae
Divine Mercy Chaplet
Seven Penitential Psalms
Prayer of Saint Thomas More
Threnus Prayer of Saint Augustine (scroll down)
Devotion of the Seven Last Words
S. Prisca all'Aventino
Prayers, Readings, and Reflections for today
My devotions for a Lenten Tuesday Holy Hour
Dies Irae
Divine Mercy Chaplet
Seven Penitential Psalms
Prayer of Saint Thomas More
Threnus Prayer of Saint Augustine (scroll down)
Devotion of the Seven Last Words
The News On Terri Is All Bad
The case was heard by a Clinton appointee. Outcome, an inevitable victory for the culture of death. Appeals ongoing. But I would say the hope is small now. To say that this is a bitter disappointment, and that valuable time is being wasted would be the understatement of the century.
Just keep praying.
Just keep praying.
Monday, March 21, 2005
Monday In Holy Week
Station Church:
S. Prassede all'Esquilino
Prayers, Readings, and Reflections for today
My devotions for a Lenten Monday Holy Hour
Dies Irae
Divine Mercy Chaplet
Seven Penitential Psalms
Prayer of St. Thomas More
Threnus Prayer of Saint Augustine (scroll down)
Devotion of the Five Sacred Wounds
S. Prassede all'Esquilino
Prayers, Readings, and Reflections for today
My devotions for a Lenten Monday Holy Hour
Dies Irae
Divine Mercy Chaplet
Seven Penitential Psalms
Prayer of St. Thomas More
Threnus Prayer of Saint Augustine (scroll down)
Devotion of the Five Sacred Wounds
I'm Very Much Under the Weather
Having a hard time even keeping my eyes focused. Hopefully, this stomach virus will pass before week's end, as my catechumen is being confirmed and receiving first Communion on Saturday.
Sunday, March 20, 2005
Palm Sunday
Station Church:
St. John Lateran
Prayers, Readings, and Reflections for today
My devotions for a Lenten Sunday Holy Hour
Divine Mercy Chaplet
Seven Penitential Psalms
Prayer of St. Thomas More
Psalter of St. Jerome
Threnus Prayer of St. Augustine (Included as conclusion to above)
St. John Lateran
Prayers, Readings, and Reflections for today
My devotions for a Lenten Sunday Holy Hour
Divine Mercy Chaplet
Seven Penitential Psalms
Prayer of St. Thomas More
Psalter of St. Jerome
Threnus Prayer of St. Augustine (Included as conclusion to above)
