Stations of the Cross - Carmel Blessed Sacrament Chapel

 

 

Praying the Stations of the Cross at the
Blessed Sacrament Chapel
of the Carmel Mission Basilica


The Stations of the Cross is a devotion to the Sacred Passion, in which we accompany, in spirit, our Blessed Lord in His sorrowful journey from the house of Pilate to Calvary, and meditate on His sufferings and death.

Preparatory Prayer

 

My Lord Jesus Christ, You made this journey to die for me with unutterable love, and I have so many times unworthily abandoned You; but now I love You with my whole heart, and because I love You. I repent sincerely for ever having offended You,  Pardon me, my God and permit me to accompany You on this journey.  You go to die for love of me; I wish also my beloved Redeemer, to die for love of You,  My Jesus, I will live and die always united to You.

 

Before each Station say: We adore You O Christ, and we bless You. Because by Your holy Cross, You have redeamed the world.

After each Station say: One Our Father, One Hail Mary, One Glory Be

 

 

First Station
Jesus is Condemned to Death

 

Consider how Jesus, after having been scourged and crowned with thorns, was unjustly condemned by Pilate to die on the Cross.

 

Dear Jesus, it was not Pilate, but my sins that condemned You to die.  I ask You, by the merits of this sorrowful journey, to assist my soul in its journey towards eternity.  I repent with my whole heart for having offended you.  Never permit me to separate myself from You again.

 

Second Station
Jesus Accepts His Cross

 

Consider how Jesus, in making this journey with the Cross on His shoulders, thought of us, and offered to His Father, for us, the death He was about to undergo.

 

My most beloved Jesus, I embrace all the tribulations You have destined for me until death.  I implore You, by the pain You suffered in carrying Your Cross, to give me the necessary help to carry mine with perfect patience and resignation.  Grant that I may love You always; and then do with me as You will.

 

Third Station
Jesus Falls the First Time

 

Consider this first fall of Jesus under His Cross.  His flesh torn by the scourges, His head crowned with thorns, so weakened that he could scarcely walk, and yet he had to carry this great load upon His shoulders as the crowd and soldiers ridiculed Him.

 

My beloved Jesus, it is not the weight of the Cross, but my sins, which have made You suffer so much pain.  By the merits of this first fall, deliver me from the misfortune of falling into mortal sin.  Never permit me to separate myself from You again.  Grant that I may love You always; and then do with me as You will. 

 

Fourth Station
Jesus Meets His Sorrowful Mother

 

Consider the meeting of the Son and the Mother, which took place on the 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.

 

My most loving Jesus, by the sorrow You experience in this meeting, grant me the grace of  true devotion and love for Your most holy Mother.

 

Fifth Station
Simon Helps Jesus Carry the Cross

 

Consider how the soldiers, seeing that at each step Jesus, from weakness, was on the point of expiring, and fearing that He would die on the way, forced Simon the Cyrenian to carry the Cross behind our Lord.

 

Dear Jesus, help me by your grace to not refuse my cross, but to accept and embrace it.  I love you.  Never permit me to offend You again.  Grant that I may love You always; and then do with me as You will.

 

Sixth Station
Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus

 

Consider how the holy woman Veronica, seeing Jesus so afflicted, and His face bathed in sweat and blood, presented Him with a towel, with which He wiped His face, leaving on it the impression of His holy countenance.

 

Most beloved Jesus, Your face was beautiful before, but in this journey it has lost its beauty, and wounds and blood have disfigured it.  Regrettably, my soul also was once beautiful, when it received Your grace in Baptism; but I have disfigured it since with my sins.  You alone, my Redeemer, can restore my soul it to its former beauty.

 

 

Seventh Station
Jesus Falls the Second Time

 

Consider the second fall of Jesus under the Cross - a fall which renews the pain of all His wounds.

 

Dear Jesus, how many times You have pardoned me, and how many times have I fallen again.  By the merits of this new fall, give me the necessary help to persevere in Your grace until death,  Grant that in all temptations which beset me I may always commend myself to You. 

 

Eighth Station
Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem

 

Consider how those women wept with compassion at seeing Jesus in such a pitiable state.  But Jesus said to them:  "Weep not for Me, but for your children."

 

My Jesus, laden with sorrows, I weep for the offenses I have committed against You.  I repent of having offended You.  Never permit me to offend You again. 

 

Ninth Station

Jesus Falls a Third Time

 

Consider the third fall of Jesus.  His weakness was extreme, and the cruelty of His executioners excessive.

 

Dear Jesus, I love You and I repent of my sins.  Never permit me to offend You again.  Grant that I may love You always; and then do with me what You will. 

 

 

Tenth Station
Jesus is Stripped of His Garments

 

Consider the violence with which the executioners stripped Jesus.  His garments adhered to His torn flesh, and they dragged them off so roughly that the skin came off with the garments.  Comfort your Savior thus cruelly treated, and say to Him:

 

My Innocent Jesus, by the merits of the torments You endured, help me to strip myself of all affection to things of earth in order that I may place all my love in You, who are so worthy of my love.  I love You, O Jesus, with my whole heart.  I repent of having offended You.  Never permit me to offend You again.  Grant that I may love You always; and then do with me as You will. 



Eleventh Station
Jesus is Nailed to the Cross

 

Consider how Jesus, after being thrown on the Cross stretched out His arms, and offered to His eternal Father the sacrifice of His death for our salvation. 

 

My crucified Jesus, nail my heart to Your Cross, that I may ever remain there, to love You, and never leave You again.

 

 

Twelfth Station

Consider how Jesus, after three hours of agony on the Cross abandons Himself to the weight of His body, bows His head, and dies. 

 

 

O my dying Jesus, I kiss devoutly the Cross on which You died for love of me.  I deserve because of my sins, to die; but Your death is my hope.  By the merits of Your death, give me grace to die, embracing Your feet, and burning with love for You.  I yield my soul into Your hands. 

 

Thirteenth Station
Jesus is Taken Down from the Cross

 

Consider how, after the death of our Lord, two of His friends, Joseph and Nicodemus, took Him down from the Cross, and placed Him in the arms of His Mother.

 

O Mother of Sorrows, for the love of this Son, accept me for your servant, and pray to Him for me.  I love You my Jesus, and I repent of ever having offended You.  Never let me offend You again.  Grant that I may love you always; and then do with me as You will.   

 

Fourteenth Station
Jesus if Placed in the Tomb

 

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.

 

Oh, my buried Jesus, I repent of having ever offended you.  I love You.  Never permit me to offend You again.  Grant that I may love You always; and then do with me as You will. 

 

Fifteenth Station
Jesus Rises from the Dead

 

 



Some time during the night, Dear Jesus, You stepped out of the empty grave with the fire of victory in Your Heart and an unconquerable joy in Your Soul as You definitively triumphed over sin and death.  Jesus, thank You for living and dying for us, so that we who believe in and follow You will not die, but live in heaven forever with You.  Amen