Augustinian Way of the Cross
Introduction | First station | Second season | Third station | Fourth station | Fifth station | Sixth station | Seventh Station | Eighth station | Ninth station | Tenth station | Eleventh station | Twelfth station | Thirteenth station | Fourteenth station | Conclusion
INTRODUCTION
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Lord Jesus, you invite us to follow you on the way of the cross, of suffering and pain. You invite us to take up our cross behind you to walk in your footsteps. We, Lord, want to follow you with love, with faith, and with the certain hope that after the cross and death, there is life, resurrection and light. Today we also want to be particularly mindful of all those who share your cross in the world, the sick, the poor, the marginalized and all human beings who for one reason or another suffer. May your redeeming cross bring life where there is death, and give hope to those who suffer, so that following in your footsteps in pain and death we may reach the glory of the resurrection.
St. Augustine said that “it is not great to glory in the wisdom of Christ, but it is great to glory in his cross. Where the wicked finds reason to insult, and where the pious finds his glory” (s. 160, 5).
Grant us, Lord Jesus, a grateful and pious heart to walk your sorrowful way with devotion and love. Amen.
FIRST STATION
Jesus is condemned to death
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, for by your holy cross you redeemed the world.
A reading from the Gospel according to John 18:37-40.
Pilate said to him, “Then you are a king?” Jesus answered him, “You say, I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world: to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice”. Pilate said to him, “And what is truth?” When he had said this, he went out again to the Jews and said to them, “I find no fault in him. It is the custom among you that at Passover I set one free; do you want me to release the king of the Jews to you?” They shouted again: “Not that one, Barabbas”. This Barabbas was a bandit.
Reflection of St. Augustine
My kingdom is not of this world (…) Indeed, what is his kingdom but those who believe in him, who, though they are in the world, are not of the world, therefore Christ asks the Father for them, saying: “I pray not that thou withdraw them from the world, but that thou keep them from the evil” (Io. eu. tr. 115, 2).
Our Father
SECOND SEASON
Jesus with the cross on his shoulders
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, for by your holy cross you redeemed the world.
Reading of the Gospel according to St. John. 19, 6-7. 16-17
When the chief priests and the guards saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no fault in him.” The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he has become the Son of God.” Then [Pilato] handed him over to them to be crucified. They took Jesus, and, carrying the cross himself, he went out to the place called “the place of the Skull” (which in Hebrew is called Golgotha).
Reflection of St. Augustine
“Jesus was carrying his cross. Great show! But, if impiety contemplates it, great scorn; if piety, great mystery; if impiety contemplates it, great example of ignominy; if piety, great fortification of the faith; if impiety contemplates it, it laughs that (…) a king carries the wood of his torture; if piety, it sees a king who, to nail himself, carries on his back the wood that he was also going to fix on the foreheads of the kings (Io. eu. tr. 117, 3).
Our Father
THIRD STATION
Jesus falls for the first time
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, for by your holy cross you redeemed the world.
A reading from the Gospel according to St. Matthew. 11, 28-30
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear and my burden is light”.
Reflection of St. Augustine
“I will no longer say to you: “Seek the way. The way itself is the one who comes to you. Get up and walk. Walk with conduct, not with your feet. Many walk well with their feet and badly with their behavior”(s. 141, 4).
Our Father
FOURTH SEASON
Jesus meets his Mother
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, for by your holy cross you redeemed the world.
Reading of the Gospel according to St. John. 19, 25 – 27
Beside the cross of Jesus were his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary of Clopas, and Mary, the Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son. Then he said to the disciple, “There is your mother.” And from that hour, the disciple received it as his own.
Reflection of St. Augustine
“Therefore Mary was blessed, because she heard the word of God and kept it: she kept the truth in her mind better than the flesh in her womb. Truth is Christ, flesh is Christ; Christ Truth was in the mind of Mary, Christ flesh was in the womb of Mary: more is what is in the mind than what is carried in the womb” (s. 72A, 7= s. Caillau 2, 5, 7).
Our Father
FIFTH SEASON
The Cyrenean helps Jesus to carry the cross
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, for by your holy cross you redeemed the world.
Reading of the Gospel according to St. Luke. 23, 26
And as they led him away, they laid hold of a certain Simon of Cyrene, who was returning from the country, and loaded him with the cross, so that he might carry it behind Jesus.
Reflection of St. Augustine
The cross we take up when we follow the Lord is the one of which the Apostle says: “Those who belong to Jesus Christ have crucified their flesh with its passions and desires” (c. Adim. 21).
Our Father
SIXTH STATION
Veronica wipes Jesus’ face
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, for by your holy cross you redeemed the world.
A reading from the second letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians 4, 6.
For the God who said, “Let light shine out of the bosom of darkness” has shone in our hearts, so that the knowledge of the glory of God reflected in the face of Christ may shine forth.
Reflection of St. Augustine
The coin of Christ is man. In him is the image of Christ, in him the name of Christ, the gift of Christ, and the duties imposed by Christ (s. 90, 10).
Our Father
SEVENTH STATION
Jesus falls for the second time
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, for by your holy cross you redeemed the world.
Reading of the first letter of the Apostle Peter. 2, 21b-24
Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in his footsteps. He did not commit sin nor did they find deceit in his mouth. He did not return insult when insulted; suffering, he did not utter threats; but gave himself to him who judges righteously. He bore our sins in his body to the wood, so that, dead to sins, we might live for righteousness. With their wounds you were healed.
Reflection of St. Augustine
“Arise, walk; Christ, as man, is your way; as God, your homeland. Christ, as man, is our way: let us not abandon the way to reach the only-begotten Son of God, equal to the Father, transcendent to every creature, co-eternal with the Father, day without day and the architect of faith. Let us walk to touch him”. (s. 375C, 5 = s. Mai 95, 5).
Our Father
EIGHTH SEASON
Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem who mourn for him
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, for by your holy cross you redeemed the world.
Reading from the Gospel according to St. Luke. 23, 27 – 31.
He was followed by a large crowd of the people, and of women who beat their breasts and wailed for him. Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children, for behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that have not borne and the breasts that have not suckled.’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains: “Fall on us,” and to the hills, “Cover us”; for if they do this to the green wood, what will they do to the dry?”
Reflection of St. Augustine
And those women who were not close to Christ, when he was being led to the passion, also wept; to whom Jesus turned and said to them: Weep, yes, but for your sake, not for my sake. How is it, then, that he expected someone to be saddened and there was none. (…) Those of whom we have spoken were sorrowing bodily, for the life that was to be changed by death, and restored by resurrection. This is where that sadness came from. The sadness should have been for those who, blind, killed the doctor; who, feverish and frenzied, reviled the one through whom salvation was being offered. (in. Ps. 68, 2, 5).
Our Father
NINTH STATION
Jesus falls for the third time
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, for by your holy cross you redeemed the world.
Reading of the Gospel according to St. Luke. 22, 28-30a. 31-32.
“You are the ones who have persevered with me in my trials, and I prepare the kingdom for you as my Father prepared it for me, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom (…) Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has claimed you to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith may not be quenched. And you, when you are converted, strengthen your brothers.
Reflection of St. Augustine
Do not love the going down and despise the coming up; think continually of the going up, for he who was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho fell into the hands of robbers. (…) The priest passed by, and took no heed; the Levite passed by, and was not troubled, because the law could not heal. A certain Samaritan passed by, that is, our Lord Jesus Christ, (…) and showed him mercy. (…) he did not abandon us; he cured us, he put us on the donkey, on his flesh; he took us to the inn, that is, to the Church, and entrusted us to the innkeeper, that is, to the Apostle, and gave him two denarii to cure us, namely, the love of God and the love of neighbor, since the whole law and the prophets are summed up in these two precepts (in. Ps. 125, 15).
Our Father
TENTH STATION
Jesus is stripped of his clothes
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, for by your holy cross you redeemed the world.
Reading of the Gospel according to St. John. 19, 23 – 24
The soldiers (…) took his clothes, making four parts, one for each soldier, and set aside the tunic. It was a seamless tunic, woven all in one piece from top to bottom. And they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots to see whose turn it is.” Thus the Scripture was fulfilled: “They parted my garments and cast lots for my tunic”. This is what the soldiers did.
Reflection of St. Augustine
Perhaps someone will ask what the division of the clothes into so many parts and the drawing of the tunic mean. The garments of the Lord Jesus Christ divided into four parts represent his Church divided into four parts, that is, spread over the whole orb of the earth, which consists of four parts, and distributed equally, that is, concordantly, in all these parts. (Io. eu. tr. 118, 4).
Our Father
ELEVENTH STATION
Jesus is nailed to the cross
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, for by your holy cross you redeemed the world.
Reading of the Gospel according to St. John. 19, 18-22
They crucified him and with him two others, one on each side, and in the middle, Jesus. And Pilate wrote a sign and put it on the cross; on it was written, “Jesus, the Nazarene, the king of the Jews.” Many Jews read the sign, because it was near the place where Jesus was crucified, and it was written in Hebrew, Latin and Greek. Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘This man said, ‘I am the King of the Jews.'” Pilate answered them, “As it is written, so it is written.”
Reflection of St. Augustine
Then the high priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but ‘He Himself said, ‘I am King of the Jews'”. Pilate replied, “What I have written I leave written.”. O ineffable force of divine action, even in the hearts of the ignorant! (…) But is Christ only the king of the Jews or also of the Gentiles? Rather, he is also king of the Gentiles. (Io. eu. tr. 117, 5).
Our Father
TWELFTH STATION
Jesus dies on the cross
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, for by your holy cross you redeemed the world.
Reading of the Gospel according to St. John. 19, 28 – 30
Knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, he said, “I thirst.” There was a jar full of vinegar there. And, holding a sponge soaked in vinegar to a hyssop reed, they brought it to his mouth. Jesus, when he took the vinegar, said, “It is finished.” And, bowing his head, he gave up the spirit.
Reflection of St. Augustine
Jesus said to him, “Give me a drink. (…) Now he who asked for a drink thirsted for the faith of that same woman. He asks for a drink and promises to drink. It needs as to receive, and it is abundant as to satisfy (Io. eu. tr. 119, 4).
Our Father
THIRTEENTH STATION
Jesus is taken down from the cross and handed over to his Mother
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, for by your holy cross you redeemed the world.
Reading of the Gospel according to St. John. 19, 32-35.38
The soldiers went and broke the legs of the first and then of the other who had been crucified with him; but when they came to Jesus, seeing that he was already dead, they did not break his legs, but one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. He who saw it testifies, and his testimony is true, and he knows that he speaks the truth, so that you also may believe. After this, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus although in hiding for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take the body of Jesus. And Pilate authorized it. He then went and took the body.
Reflection of St. Augustine
The evangelist has used a careful word, so as to say not “struck” or “wounded” his side, or anything else, but opened, so that the door of life might be opened there from where the sacraments of the Church have flowed, without which one does not enter into the life that is authentic life. That blood has been shed for the remission of sins; that water prepares the wholesome cup; it provides the bath and the drink. (Io. eu. tr. 120, 2).
Our Father
FOURTEENTH STATION
Jesus is laid in the tomb
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, for by your holy cross you redeemed the world.
Reading of the Gospel according to St. John. 19, 40-42
They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it in the linen cloths with the aromatics, according to the custom of burial among the Jews. There was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden, a new tomb where no one had yet been buried. And because it was Preparation Day for the Jews, and the tomb was near, they laid Jesus there.
Reflection of St. Augustine
In the place where he was crucified there was a garden and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had yet been laid.. As in the womb of the virgin Mary no one was conceived before him, no one after him; so in this tomb no one was buried before him, no one after him. (Io. eu. tr. 120, 5).
Our Father
CONCLUSION
Lord Jesus, we have followed in your footsteps along the way of sorrow, and we have accompanied you in your passion and death. Your passion is the passion of every man, for there is no other way of salvation than the way of the cross. Help us Lord to walk in your footsteps. Give us strength to carry our cross in your footsteps. It increases our hope in eternal life and resurrection. May the sufferings, tribulations and adversities of life never make us doubt your love, your grace and the fact that you call us to life and salvation. May the examples of your passion comfort and strengthen us in tribulation. We ask it of you who live and reign forever and ever.
Let us pray now for the intentions of the Roman Pontiff. Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be.