From the earliest of days, followers of Jesus told the story of his passion, death and resurrection. When pilgrims came to see Jerusalem, they were anxious to see the sites where Jesus was. These sites become important holy connections with Jesus. Eventually, following in the footsteps of the Lord, along the way of the cross, became a part of the pilgrimage visit.
The stations, as we know them today, came about when it was no longer easy or even possible to visit the holy sites. In the 1500s, villages all over Europe started creating replicas of the way of the cross, with small shrines commemorating the places along the route in Jerusalem. Eventually, these shrines became the set of fourteen stations we now know and were placed in so many Churches in the world.
You can join us online in observing the fourteen stations, either on your own or with our vicar’s recordings guiding you.
The gathering
In the name of the Father,
and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Jesus told his disciples,
If any want to become my followers,
Matthew 16.24
let them deny themselves
and take up their cross and follow me.
For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.
The Lord be with you
And also with you
Let us pray.
A brief moment of silence follows.
Almighty and everlasting God, who in your tender love towards the human race sent your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ to take upon him our flesh and to suffer death on a cross: grant that we may follow the example of his patience and humility, and also be made partakers of his resurrection; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
Holy God, holy and strong, holy and immortal.
have mercy on us.
Holy God, holy and strong, holy and immortal.
have mercy on us.
The first station:
Jesus is condemned to die
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
Because by your holy cross
you have redeemed the world.
Jesus stands in the most human of places. He has already experienced profound solidarity with so many on this earth, by being beaten and tortured. Now he is wrongfully condemned to punishment by death. His commitment to entering our lives completely begins its final steps. He has said “yes” to God and placed his life in God’s hands. We follow him in this final surrender, and contemplate with reverence each place along the way, as he is broken and given for us.
As I view the scene,
I become moved by both outrage and gratitude.
I look at Jesus.
His face.
The crown of thorns.
The blood.
His clothes stuck to the wounds on his back.
Pilate washes his hands of the whole affair.
Jesus’ hands are tied behind his back.
This is for me.
That I might be free.
That I might have eternal life.
As the journey begins I ask to be with Jesus.
To follow his journey.
Silence is kept.
Holy God, holy and strong, holy and immortal.
have mercy on us.
Holy God, holy and strong, holy and immortal.
have mercy on us.
The second station:
Jesus carries His cross
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
Because by your holy cross
you have redeemed the world.
Jesus is made to carry the cross on which he will die. It represents the weight of all our crosses. What he must have felt as he first took it upon his shoulders! With each step, he enters more deeply into our human experience. He walks in the path of human misery and suffering and experiences its crushing weight.
I contemplate the wood of that cross.
I imagine how heavy it is.
I reflect upon all it means that Jesus is carrying it.
I look into his eyes.
Silence is kept.
Holy God, holy and strong, holy and immortal.
have mercy on us.
Holy God, holy and strong, holy and immortal.
have mercy on us.
The third station:
Jesus falls for the first time
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
Because by your holy cross
you have redeemed the world.
The weight is unbearable. Jesus falls under it. How could he enter our lives completely without surrendering to the crushing weight of the life of so many on this earth! He lays on the ground and knows the experience of weakness beneath unfair burdens. He feels the powerlessness of wondering if he will ever be able to continue. He is pulled up and made to continue.
I stare at the weakness in his eyes.
I can look at his whole body and see the exhaustion.
As I behold him there on the ground,
being roughly pulled up,
I know forever how profoundly
he understands my fatigue and my defeats.
Silence is kept.
Holy God, holy and strong, holy and immortal.
have mercy on us.
Holy God, holy and strong, holy and immortal.
have mercy on us.
The fourth station:
Jesus meets His mother
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
Because by your holy cross
you have redeemed the world.
Jesus’ path takes him to a powerful source of his strength to continue. All his life, his mother had taught him the meaning of the words, “Behold, the handmaid of the Lord.” Now they look into each other’s eyes. How pierced-through her heart must be! How pained he must be to see her tears! Now, her grace-filled smile blesses his mission and stirs his heart to its depth. Love and trust in God bind them together.
As I watch them in this place along the way,
I contemplate the mystery of love’s power to give strength.
She knows the sorrow in every mother’s heart,
who has lost a child to tragedy or violence.
I look at the two of them very carefully,
and long for such love and such peace.
Silence is kept.
Holy God, holy and strong, holy and immortal.
have mercy on us.
Holy God, holy and strong, holy and immortal.
have mercy on us.
The fifth station:
Simon helps Jesus carry his cross
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
Because by your holy cross
you have redeemed the world.
Jesus even experiences our struggle to receive help. He is made to experience the poverty of not being able to carry his burden alone. He enters into the experience of all who must depend upon others to survive. He is deprived of the satisfaction of carrying this burden on his own.
I look into his face and contemplate his struggle.
His weariness and fragility.
His powerlessness.
I see how he looks at Simon,
with utmost humility and gratitude.
Silence is kept.
Holy God, holy and strong, holy and immortal.
have mercy on us.
Holy God, holy and strong, holy and immortal.
have mercy on us.
The sixth station:
Veronica wipes the face of Jesus
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
Because by your holy cross
you have redeemed the world.
Jesus’ journey is at times brutal. He has entered into the terrible experiences of rejection and injustice. He has been whipped and beaten. His face shows the signs of his solidarity with all who have ever suffered injustice and vile, abusive treatment. He encounters a compassionate, loving disciple who wipes the vulgar spit and mocking blood from his face. On her veil, she discovers the image of his face – his gift to her. And, for us to contemplate forever.
What does the face of Jesus hold for me?
What do I see, as I look deeply into his face?
Can I try to comfort the agony and pain?
Can I embrace him, with his face so covered with his passion?
The veil I behold is a true icon of his gift of himself.
This is for me.
In wonder and awe,
I behold his face now wiped clean,
and see the depth of his suffering in solidarity with all flesh.
Silence is kept.
Holy God, holy and strong, holy and immortal.
have mercy on us.
Holy God, holy and strong, holy and immortal.
have mercy on us.
The seventh station:
Jesus falls for the second time
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
Because by your holy cross
you have redeemed the world.
Even with help, Jesus stumbles and falls to the ground. In deep exhaustion, he stares at the earth beneath him. “Remember, you are dust and to dust you will return.” He has seen death before. Now he can feel the profound weakness of disability and disease and ageing itself, there on his knees, under the weight of his cross.
I contemplate Jesus brought very low.
As I behold him there on the ground,
with all the agony taking its toll on him,
I let my heart go out to him.
I store up this image in my heart,
knowing that I will never feel alone in my suffering
or in any diminishment,
with this image of Jesus on the ground before me.
Silence is kept.
Holy God, holy and strong, holy and immortal.
have mercy on us.
Holy God, holy and strong, holy and immortal.
have mercy on us.
The eighth station:
Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
Because by your holy cross
you have redeemed the world.
The women of Jerusalem, and their children, come out to comfort and thank him. They had seen his compassion and welcomed his words of healing and freedom. He had broken all kinds of social and religious conventions to connect with them. Now they are here to support him. He feels their grief. He suffers, knowing he can’t remain to help them more in this life. He knows the mystery of facing the separation of death.
I look at their faces.
So full of love and gratitude,
loss and fear.
I contemplate what words might have passed between them.
I remember all his tender, compassionate,
merciful love for me.
I place myself with these women and children to support him.
Silence is kept.
Holy God, holy and strong, holy and immortal.
have mercy on us.
Holy God, holy and strong, holy and immortal.
have mercy on us.
The ninth station:
Jesus falls for the third time
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
Because by your holy cross
you have redeemed the world.
This last fall is devastating. Jesus can barely proceed to the end. Summoning all this remaining strength, supported by his inner trust in God, Jesus collapses under the weight of the cross. His executioners look at him as a broken man, pathetic yet paying a price he deserves. They help him up so he can make it up the hill of crucifixion.
I pause to contemplate him there on the ground.
The brokeness that makes me whole.
The surrender that gives me life.
I pause to experience and receive
how completely he loves me.
He is indeed completely poured out for me.
Silence is kept.
Holy God, holy and strong, holy and immortal.
have mercy on us.
Holy God, holy and strong, holy and immortal.
have mercy on us.
The tenth station:
Jesus is stripped
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
Because by your holy cross
you have redeemed the world.
I pause to watch the stripping.
Part of the indignity is to be crucified naked. Jesus is completely stripped of any pride. The wounds on his back are torn open again. He experiences the ultimate vulnerability of the defenceless. No shield or security protects him. As they stare at him, his eyes turn to heaven.
I contemplate all that is taken from him.
And, how he faces his death with such nakedness.
I reflect upon how much of himself
he has revealed to me.
Holding nothing back.
Silence is kept.
Holy God, holy and strong, holy and immortal.
have mercy on us.
Holy God, holy and strong, holy and immortal.
have mercy on us.
The eleventh station:
Jesus is nailed to the cross
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
Because by your holy cross
you have redeemed the world.
Huge nails are hammered through his hands and feet to fix him on the cross. He is bleeding much more seriously now. As the cross is lifted up, the weight of his life hangs on those nails. Every time he struggles to pull himself up to breathe, his ability to cling to life slips away.
I make myself watch the nails being driven through his flesh. And I watch his face.
I contemplate the completeness of his entry into our lives. Can there be any pain or agony he would not understand?
Silence is kept.
Holy God, holy and strong, holy and immortal.
have mercy on us.
Holy God, holy and strong, holy and immortal.
have mercy on us.
The twelfth station:
Jesus dies on the cross
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
Because by your holy cross
you have redeemed the world.
Between two criminals, a mocking title above his head, with only Mary and John and Mary Magdalene to support him, Jesus surrenders his last breath: “Into your hands I commend my spirit.”
I stand there, at the foot of the cross,
side by side with all of humanity,
and behold our salvation.
I carefully watch and listen to all that is said.
And then, I experience the one
who gives life pass from life to death, for me.
I console Mary and John and Mary.
And let them console me.
Silence is kept.
Holy God, holy and strong, holy and immortal.
have mercy on us.
Holy God, holy and strong, holy and immortal.
have mercy on us.
The thirteenth station:
Jesus is taken down from the cross
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
Because by your holy cross
you have redeemed the world.
What tender mourning! Jesus’ lifeless body lays in his mother’s arms. He has truly died. A profound sacrifice, complete.
I behold this scene at the foot of the cross.
I contemplate touching, caressing his body.
I remember all his hands have touched,
all who have been blessed by his warm embrace.
I pause to let it soak in.
He knows the mystery of death.
He has fallen into God’s hands.
For me.
Silence is kept.
Holy God, holy and strong, holy and immortal.
have mercy on us.
Holy God, holy and strong, holy and immortal.
have mercy on us.
The fourteenth station:
Jesus is laid in the tomb
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
Because by your holy cross
you have redeemed the world.
They take the body of Jesus to its resting place. The huge stone over the tomb is the final sign of the permanence of death. In this final act of surrender, who would have imagined this tomb would soon be empty or that Jesus would show himself alive to his disciples, or that they would recognize him in the breaking of bread? Oh, that our hearts might burn within us, as we realize how he had to suffer and die so as to enter into his glory, for us.
I pause to contemplate this act of closure on his life.
In solidarity with all humanity,
his body is taken to its grave.
I stand for a moment outside this tomb.
This final journey of his life has shown me
the meaning of his gift of himself for me.
This tomb represents every tomb I stand before with fear,
in defeat, struggling to believe it could ever be empty.
Silence is kept.
Holy God, holy and strong, holy and immortal.
have mercy on us.
Holy God, holy and strong, holy and immortal.
have mercy on us.
To conclude the Stations all say the Prayer of St Richard
Lord Jesus Christ, we thank you for all the benefits you have won for us, for all the pains and insults you have borne for us. Most merciful redeemer, friend and brother, may we know you more clearly, love you more dearly, and follow you more nearly, day by day.
Amen.
The conclusion
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, we pray you to set your passion, cross, and death between your judgment and our souls, now and in the hour of our death. Give mercy and grace to the living; pardon and rest to the dead; to your holy Church peace and concord; and to us sinners everlasting life and glory; for you live and reign now and for ever.
Amen.
Let us pray for the coming of the kingdom
in the words our Saviour taught us.
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
Most merciful God, who by the death and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ delivered and saved mankind: grant that by faith in him who suffered on the cross, we may triumph in the power of his victory; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Common Worship © The Archbishop’s Council.