St. Joseph's Corner: Stations of the Cross

The Virtues Jesus Teaches Us 

on the 

Way of Cross

My Lord, I greet You and look at You in wonder.  

I hope to learn Your virtues, how to value them, how to make them my own.

1st station -  Jesus is condemned to death

Your boundless submission to the will of Your Father - 

let me contemplate it in love; 

step by step, as Your child

My Lord Jesus Crucified, have mercy on me.

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2nd station - Jesus takes up His Cross

Your heroic love of the cross -

 let me follow Your path.

My Lord Jesus Crucified, have mercy on me.

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3rd station - Jesus falls the first time

Your uncomplaining patience - 

let me try to imitate it at every opportunity.

My Lord Jesus Crucified, have mercy on me.

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4th station - Jesus meets His afflicted Mother

Your complete renunciation of even Your holiest associates - 

I must do the same, in spirit.

My Lord Jesus Crucified, have mercy on me.

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5th station - Simon helps Jesus carry His Cross

Your divinely magnificent humility - 

let me be earnest in my attempt to grow like You.

My Lord Jesus Crucified, have mercy on me.

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6th station - Veronica wipes the Face of Jesus

The moving depths of Your gratitude - 

if only I could approach them.

My Lord Jesus Crucified, have mercy on me.

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7th station - Jesus falls the second time

Your unwavering determination in submitting to sacrifice - 

I shall form a like spirit.

My Lord Jesus Crucified, have mercy on me.

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8th station - Jesus speaks to the women of Jerusalem

Your tender understanding of others' needs - 

I must learn to sympathize in the same way.

My Lord Jesus Crucified, have mercy on me.

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9th station - Jesus falls the third time

Your faithfulness to a calling of sacrifice,

even when the storms heap up waves on every side - 

let me be just as loyal.

My Lord Jesus Crucified, have mercy on me.

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10th station - Jesus is stripped of His garments

Your complete detachment from every earthly thing, body and soul - 

let me be detached as well, from everything.

My Lord Jesus Crucified, have mercy on me.

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11th station - Jesus is nailed to the Cross

Your uncomplaining spirit of abandonment,

in the midst of deepest bodily pain and cruel treatment

and spiritual barrenness - 

let me be one with You.

My Lord Jesus Crucified, have mercy on me.

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12th station - Jesus dies on the Cross

Your generosity which knew no bounds - 

let my offer be equally boundless.

My Lord Jesus Crucified, have mercy on me.

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13th station - Jesus is taken down from the Cross

Your acceptance of the will of God in all its detail - 
let me accept all He sends.

My Lord Jesus Crucified, have mercy on me.

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14th station - Jesus is placed in the tomb

Your trust that all will not be in vain -
let despair never dampen my efforts toward sanctity.

My Lord Jesus Crucified, have mercy on me.


O Lord, I know that if I do not love You with all my heart,
 with all my mind, with all my soul, and with all my strength,
I shall love something else totally.
Grant that in putting You first in all my loving,
I may be free from all lesser loves and loyalties
and have You as my first love,
my chiefest good, and my final joy.
Amen.