|
|
|
|
These beautiful Stations of the
Cross were brought to S Paul’s in 1972 from the church of S Peter
in Eastbourne, after its demolishion. |
They are thought to have come
from Oberamergau and to have been carved in German lime wood. |
|
|
|
|
X X X |
|
|
|
|
|
Prayer
of S Alphonsus |
|
|
|
|
|
O Jesus Christ, my Lord, with
what great love did you pass over the
painful road which led you to death; and I, how often have I abandoned you! But now I love you with my
whole soul, and because I love you, I am sincerely sorry for having offended
you. |
My Jesus, pardon me, and permit
me to accompany you in this journey. You are going to die for love of me, and
it is my wish also, my dearest Redeemer, to die for love of you. My Jesus, in
your love I wish to live. In your love I wish to die. Amen. |
|
|
|
|
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. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Second Station ~ Jesus
receives the Cross 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. |
|
|
|
|
Third Station ~ Jesus falls
for the first time Consider this first fall of Jesus
under His Cross. His flesh was torn by scourges, His head was crowned with
thorns; He had lost a great quantity of blood. So weakened He could scarsely
walk, He yet had to carry this great load upon his shoulders. The soldiers
struck Him rudely and he fell several times. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fourth Station ~ Jesus is
met by His Blessed Mother Consider the meeting of the Son
and the Mother, which took place on this journey. Their looks became like so
many arrows to wound those hearts which love each other so tenderly. |
|
|
|
|
Fifth Station ~ The Cross is
laid upon Simon of Cyrene Consider how His cruel
tormentors, seeing Jesus was on the point of expiring, and fearing He would
die on the way, whereas they wished Him to die the shameful death of the Cross,
constrained Simon of Cyrene to carry the Cross behind Our Lord. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sixth Station ~ Veronica
wipes the Face of Jesus Consider how the holy woman
named Veronica, seeing Jesus so ill-used, and bathed in sweat and blood,
wiped His face with a towel, on which was left the impression of His holy
countenance. |
|
|
|
|
Seventh Station ~ Jesus
falls the second time Consider the second fall of
Jesus under the Cross; a fall which renews the pain of all the wounds in His
head and members. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Eighth Station ~ The Women
of Jerusalem mourn for Our Lord Consider how these women wept
with compassion at seeing Jesus in such a pitiable state, streaaming with
blood as He walked along. ‘Daughters of Jerusalem’, He said, ‘weep not for
Me, but for yourselves and for your children’. |
|
|
|
|
Ninth Station ~ Jesus falls
the third time Consider the third fall of
Jesus Christ. His weakness was extreme, and the cruelty of His executioners,
who tried to hasten His steps when He could scarsely move. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tenth Station ~ Jesus is
stripped of His garments Consider the violence with
which Jesus was stripped by the executioners. His inner garments adhered to His
torn flesh, and they dragged them off so roughly that the skin came with
them. Feel compassion for your Saviour thus cruelly treated. |
|
|
|
|
Eleventh Station ~ Jesus is
nailed to the Cross Consider how Jesus, having been
placed upon the Cross, extended His hands, and offered to His Eternal Father
the sacrifice of His life for our salvation. Those barbarians fastened Him
with nails, and then, securing the Cross, allowed Him to die with anguish on
this infamous gibbet. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Twelfth Station ~ Jesus dies
on the Cross Consider how Jesus, being
consumed with anguish after three hours of agony on the Cross, abandoned
Himself to the weight of His body, bowed His head and died. |
|
|
|
|
Thirteenth Station ~ Jesus
is taken down from the Cross Consider how, after Our Lord
had expired, two of His disciples, Joseph of Arimathæa 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 bossom. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fourteenth Station ~ Jesus
is laid in the sepulchre Consider how the disciples,
accompanied by His holy Mother, carried the body of Jesus to bury it. They
closed the tomb and all came sorrowfully away. |
|
|
|
|
X X X |
|
