Episode 1876: Stations of the Cross - St. Alphonsus Liguori

The Stations of the Cross by St. Alphonsus LiguoriShow more

First Station: Jesus is Condemned to Death
We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You, because by Your holy Cross, You have redeemed the world.

Consider how Jesus Christ, after being scourged and crowned with thorns, was unjustly condemned by Pilate to die on the cross.

Second Station: Jesus Takes Up His Cross
We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You, because by Your holy Cross, You have redeemed the world.

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 that He was about to undergo.

Third Station: Jesus Falls the First Time
We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You, because by Your holy Cross, You have redeemed the world.

Consider this first fall of Jesus under His Cross. His flesh was torn by the scourges, His head crowned with thorns, and He had lost a great quantity of blood. He was so weakened that He could scarcely walk, and yet He had to carry this great load upon His shoulders. The soldiers struck Him rudely, and thus He fell several times in His journey.

Fourth Station: Jesus Meets His Blessed Mother
We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You, because by Your holy Cross, You have redeemed the world.

Consider the meeting of the Son and the Mother, which took place on this journey. Jesus and Mary looked at each other, and their looks became as so many arrows to wound those hearts which loved each other so tenderly.

Fifth Station: Simon of Cyrene Helps Jesus to Carry the Cross
We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You, because by Your holy Cross, You have redeemed the world.

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 ignominious death of the Cross, constrained Simon the Cyrenean to carry the Cross behind our Lord.

Sixth Station: Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus
We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You, because by Your holy Cross, You have redeemed the world.

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.

Seventh Station: Jesus Falls the Second Time
We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You, because by Your holy Cross, You have redeemed the world.

Consider the second fall of Jesus under the Cross, a fall which renews the pain of all the wounds of the head and members of our afflicted Lord.

Eighth Station: Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem
We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You, because by Your holy Cross, You have redeemed the world.

Consider how those women wept with compassion at seeing Jesus in so pitiable a state, streaming with blood as He walked along. Jesus said to them, "Weep not so much for Me, but rather for your children."

Ninth Station: Jesus Falls the Third Time
We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You, because by Your holy Cross, You have redeemed the world.

Consider the third fall of Jesus Christ. His weakness was extreme, and the cruelty of His executioners excessive, who tried to hasten His steps when He had scarcely strength to move.

Tenth Station: Jesus is Stripped of His Garments
We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You, because by Your holy Cross, You have redeemed the world.

Consider the violence with which Jesus was stripped of His clothes. His inner garments adhered to His lacerated flesh, and they dragged them off so roughly that the skin came with them. Have pity for your Savior so cruelly treated.

Eleventh Station: Jesus is Nailed to the Cross
We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You, because by Your holy Cross, You have redeemed the world.

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, left Him to die in anguish on this infamous gibbet.

Twelfth Station: Jesus Dies on the Cross
We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You, because by Your holy Cross, You have redeemed the world.

Consider how your 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.

Thirteenth Station: Jesus is Taken Down from the Cross
We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You, because by Your holy Cross, You have redeemed the world.

Consider how, after our Lord had died, He was taken down from the Cross by two of His disciples, Joseph and Nicodemus, and placed in the arms of His afflicted Mother, who received Him with unutterable tenderness and pressed Him to her bosom.

Fourteenth Station: Jesus is Laid in the Tomb
We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You, because by Your holy Cross, You have redeemed the world.

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.