Bring LENT Home

Lenten Traditions within the Home

How can families better live the spirit of Lent in their homes?

The Catholic Church has designated the liturgical season of Lent to be a period of fasting and self-denial in imitation of Christ’s fasting for forty days and forty nights (CCC, 538-40).  Through participation in Lenten Liturgies and pious customs, families enhance their experience of the glory of Easter.

“Either we live the liturgical year with its varying seasons of joy an sorrow, work and rest, or we follow the patters of the world.”  Writes Helen McLoughlin in Advent and Christmas in a Catholic Home, commenting on the challenge Catholics have to be “in the world but not of the world” throughout the year.

Because we both learn and express ourselves through our bodies, we subject ourselves to meaningful practices during Lent.  On Ash Wednesday, foreheads of the faithful are anointed with blessed ashes in the sign of the cross, while the priest pronounces the words, “Remember, man that thou art dust, and dust thou shalt return” (see Genesis 3:19).  Fridays and Ash Wednesday are obligatory days of penance.  Len is particularly appropriate for spiritual exercises, penitential liturgies, pilgrimages, voluntary self-denial (fasting and almsgiving), and fraternal sharing (charitable and missionary works). 

Within the home, families try ideas that may eventually become customs.  Here are a few suggestions:

FAMILY OFFERING: Decide as a family to give something up for Lent.  This could be anything from desserts or sweets to watching television.

LENTEN CANDELABRUM (Stations of the Cross):  Twelve wooden candleholders on a three-foot board, perhaps with small pictures for each station.  After each station extinguish a candle.  After the twelfth station it is dark—the Light of the World  is gone.  Finish the last two stations with a small flashlight.

LENTEN CENTERPIECE: Six candles on a cross of wood (perhaps two pieces of the trunk of the Christmas tree to symbolize the Incarnation), four on the vertical  and two on the horizontal.  Trim with a violet ribbon and place on a violet table runner.  As with an Advent wreath, light an additional candle each week.  The candles symbolize a growing light of the coming Resurrection.

READ SCRIPTURE TOGETHER: Read especially the Gospel accounts of Christ’s Passion.  Be forewarned that the children might raise questions.

VISIT THE SICK: If you don’t have an elderly family member nearby, visit a convalescent hospital and adopt an elderly person as a grandparent.

FAMILY PRAYER TIME: If you have given up the television or computer games, why not fill that time with conversation with Our Lord and Savior?  The children develop a true friendship with Christ; the reality of His life, Passion and Death becomes more real to them.

SING TOGETHER: Bring a missalette home and sing Lenten songs together.   Sacred music before, during or after any family prayer helps us to meditate on Lent and anticipate Easter.

PALM SUNDAY: Bring palms home from Mass and place them behind a crucifix or statue or in some other prominent place.

HOLY WEEK: Rally the troops to deep clean the home. Pack up unused clothing and toys and give them to the poor and needy.  Reflect on Christ’s Passion and death.

What will work well in your family and become a Lenten tradition?  Form a lasting impression on your children and teach the fundamentals of our rich Catholic Faith.

Taken from Faith Fact at www.cuf.org/FaithFacts/

 Prepare, Pray, Fast and Give this Lent

as you Walk through the Lenten Path Calendar.

 Print the Lent Calendar PDF and calendar marker template each onto an 8 ½” x 11” flexible magnetic sheet. Frame the Calendar without the glass and then cut the magnet markers with paper cutter or scissors. This was an easy project and a great way to help kids keep track day by day during the Lenten season.

http://gaelstreasures.blogspot.ca/2013/02/lentan-path-calendar-printable.html

The Stations of the Cross

Stations of the Cross 

by St. Alphonsus Liguori

The Way of the Cross (Via Dolorosa) is an ancient devotion commemorating the journey of Jeus Christ from the house of Pilate to Calvary.

Begin by making an Act of Contrition and form the intention of gaining the indulgences, whether for yourself or for the souls in purgatory.  

At each Station meditate devoutly on the mystery.  

Upon conclusion, say five Our Fathers, Hail Marys, Glory Bes in honour of the Passion of Jesus Christ.  

An Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be may also be said for the intentions of the pope.

More information on the origins of the Way of the Cross at http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/stations_of_the_cross_date_back_to_the_fourth_century/

First Station Jesus is Condemned

First Station   

Jesus is Condemned to Death

V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

R. Because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.

Consider how Jesus, after having been scourged and crowned with thorns, was unjustly condemned by Pilate to die on the Cross.

My adorable Jesus, it was not Pilate, no, it was the merits that condemned you to die.  I beseech you, by the merit of this sorrowful journey to assist my soul in its journey towards eternity.  I love you, O Jesus, with my whole heart; I repent of having offended you.  Never permit me to offend you again. Grant that I may love you always and then do with me what you will.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be.

Second Station Jesus Carries His Cross

Second Station  

Jesus Carries His Cross

V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

R. 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 for us offered to His Father the death He was about to undergo.

My most beloved Jesus, I embrace all the tribulations you have destined for me until death.  I beseech you, by the merits of the pain you did suffer in carrying your Cross, to give me the necessary help to carry mine with perfect patience and resignation.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be

Third Station Jesus Falls the First Time

Third Station   

Jesus Falls the First Time

V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

R. 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.

My beloved Jesus, it is not the weight of the Cross, but my sins, which have made you suffer so much pain.  By the merits of this first fall, deliver me from the misfortune of falling into mortal sin.

Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be.

Fourth Station Jesus Meets His Sorrowful Mother

Fourth Station  

Jesus meets His Sorrowful Mother

V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

R. 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.

My most loving Jesus, by the sorrows you did experience in this meeting, grant me the grace of a truly devoted love for your most holy Mother.  AndYou, my Queen, who were overwhelmed with sorrow, obtain for me by your intercession a continual and tender remembrance of the Passion of your Son.

Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be.

Fifth Station Simon Helps Jesus Carry the Cross

Fifth Station  

Simon helps Jesus carry the Cross

V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

R. Because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.

Consider how at each step Jesus was on the point of expiring, and fearing that He would did on the way, when they wished Him to die the ignominious death of the Cross, they constrained Simon of Cyrenian to carry the Cross behind Our Lord.

My most sweet Jesus, I will not refuse the Cross, as the Cyrenian did; I accept it, I embrace it.  I accept in particular the death you have destined for me; with all the pains that may accompany it; I unite it to your death, I offer it to you.  Help me by your grace.

Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be.

Sixth Station Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus

 Sixth Station  

Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus

V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

R. 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 I sweat and blood, presented Him with a veil, which He wiped His adorable Face, leaving on it the impression of His Holy countenance.

My most beloved Jesus, my soul also was once beautiful, which it received your grace in Baptism; but I have disfigured it since by my sins; you alone, my Redeemer, can restore it to its former beauty.  Do this by your Passion, O Jesus.

Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be.

Seventh Station Jesus Falls the Second Time

Seventh Station  

Jesus Falls the Second Time

V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

R. 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 Sacred Head and members of Our afflicted Lord.

My most gentle Jesus, how many times you have pardoned me, and how many time have I fallen again, and begun again to offend you!  By the merits of this new fall, give me the necessary help to persevere in your grace until death.  Grant that in all temptations which assail me I may always commend myself to You.

Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be.

Eighth Station The Women Weep over Jesus

Eighth Station  

The Women Weep Over Jesus

V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

R. Because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.

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

My Jesus, laden with sorrows, I weep for the offences I have committed against You, because of the pains they have deserved, and still more because of the displeasure they have caused You, Who have loved me so much.  It is Your Love, more than the fear of hell, which causes me to weep for my sins.

Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be.

Ninth Station Jesus Falls the Third Time

Ninth Station  

Jesus Falls the Third Time

V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

R. 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 was excessive, who tried to hasten His steps when He had scarcely strength to move.

My exhausted Jesus, by the merits of the weakness You did suffer in going to Calvary, give me strength sufficient to conquer all human respect, and all my wicked passions, which have led me to despise Your friendship.

Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be.

Tenth Station Jesus is Stripped of His Garments

Tenth Station    

Jesus Is Stripped of His Garments

V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

R. Because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.

Consider the violence with which the executioners stripped Jesus.  His inner garments adhered to His lacerated fles, and they tore them off so rouchly that the skin came with them.  Compassionate Your Saviour thus cruelly treated, and say to Him:

My Innocent Jesus, by the merits of the torment You have felt, help me to strip myself of all affection for things of earth, in order that I may place all my love in YOU who are so worthy of my love.

Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be.

Eleventh Station Jesus is Nailed to the Cross

Eleventh Station  

Jesus is Nailed to the Cross

V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

R. 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 Corss, allowed Him to die with anguish on this infamous gibbet.

My Jesus! Loaded with contempt, nail my heart to Your Feet, that it may ever remain there, to love You, and never leave You again.

Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be.

Twelfth Station Jesus Dies on the Cross

Twelfth Station  

Jesus Dies on the Cross

V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

R. Because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.

Consider how your Jesus, after three hours’ Agony on the Cross, consumed at length with anguish, abandons Himself to the weight of His Body, bows His Head, and dies.

O my dying Jesus, I kiss devoutly the Cross on which You died for love of me.  I have merited by my sins to die a miserable death; but Your Death is my hope.  By the merits of Your Death, give me grace to die, embracing Your Feet, and burning with love for You.  I surrender my soul into Your Hands.

Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be.

Thirteenth Station Jesus is Taken Down from the Cross

Thirteenth Station 
  

Jesus is Taken Down from the Cross

V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

R. Because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.

Consider how after the death of Our Lord, two of His disciples, Joseph 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 bosom.

O Mother of Sorrow, for the love of Your Son, accept me your servant, and pray to Him for me.  And you, my Redeemer, since you have died for me, permit me to love you, for I wish but you and nothing more.

Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be.

Fourteenth Station Jesus is Laid in the Sepulchre

Fourteenth Station  

Jesus is Laid in the Sepulchre

V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

R. 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 sepulchre with her own hands.  They then closed the tomb, and all withdrew.

Oh, my buried Jesus, I kiss the stone that has enclosed You.  But You did rise again the third day.  I beseech You, by Your resurrection, make me rise gloriously with You on the last day, to be always united with You in heaven, to praise and love you forever.

Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be.


Beautiful artwork borrowed from 
http://krilichmosaics.com/masterpieces/StationsCross/index.htm

What the Saints Say

Jesus told St. Faustina:  “There is more merit to one hour of meditation on My sorrowful Passion than there is to a whole year of flagellation that draws blood, the contemplation of My painful wounds is of great profit to you, and it brings Me great joy.”

St. Augustine writes that “there is no more profitable occupation for the soul than to meditate daily on the Passion of Our Lord.”

St. Alphonsus says that all the Saints become Saints by devotion to the Passion; there was no Saint who had not a great love of the Passion; from the crucifix they learned the art of loving God.

Our Lord revealed to several holy women: St. Bridget (pictured), St. Gertrude, St. Mechtilde, and St. Catherine of Siena, that they who meditate on His Passion are very dear to him.

St. Francis of Assisi’s preferred meditation was on the Passion of Jesus.  He wept so continually in meditating on the sufferings of Jesus Christ that he almost entirely lost his sight.

“The veneration of Christ’s Cross has shaped the history of Christian piety and has inspired the greatest saints emerging over the centuries from the heart of the Church.  All of them have become “lovers of the Cross of Christ”... there is no Christian holiness without devotion to the Passion.”  St. John Paul II

A plenary indulgence is granted to the faithful under the usual conditions for those devoutly perform the Way of the Cross before stations legitimately erected. The indulgence requires pious meditation on the Passion and Death of the Lord, as well as movement from one station to the next.  Those who are ‘impeded’ from performing the Way of the Cross can gain the same indulgence, if they spend at least one half an hour in pious reading and meditation on the Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ. (Enchridion Indulgenitarum, #63)

Stations of the Cross/Pope JP II PART 1 of 3

Pope John Paul II who is now considered Blessed and on to recognize him as a saint...He gave us these wonderful meditations on the Stations of the Cross... Soak in his words that have so much wisdom and know that the Holy Spirit was speaking through him.

STATIONS OF THE CROSS

POPE JOHN PAUL II

GOOD FRIDAY 2000 HOLY YEAR

MEDITATION AND PRAYERS

OF HIS HOLINESS

BLESSED POPE JOHN PAUL II

The Holy Father's profound words to meditate upon...

 If any man would come after me,

let him deny himself and take up his cross

and follow me

 Matthew 16:24

"For twenty centuries the Church has gathered on this evening to remember and to re-live the events of the final stage of the earthly journey of the Son of God.   Once again this year, the Church in Rome meets at the Colosseum, to follow the footsteps of Jesus, who “went out, carrying his cross, to the place called the place of the skull, which is called in Hebrew Golgotha” (Jn 19:17)."

"We are here because we are convinced

that the Way of the Cross

of the Son of God

was not simply a journey

to the place of

execution...

We believe
that every step

of the Condemned Christ,

every action

and every word,

as well as everything felt and done

by those who took part

in this tragic drama,

continues to speak to us."

"In his suffering and death too,

Christ reveals to us the truth about God and man."

 

"What does it mean

to have a part in the Cross of Christ?

It means to experience,

in the Holy Spirit,

the love hidden within
the Cross of Christ.

 


It means to  

recognize,

 in the light 

of this love,

OUR OWN CROSS

It means to take up that cross

once more and,

strengthened by this love,

to continue OUR journey...

To journey through life,

             in imitation of the one who...

“endured the cross,

despising the shame,

and is seated at the right hand

 of the throne of God”

Hebrews 12:2

 

FIRST STATION

Jesus is condemned to death

V/. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

R/. Because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.

“Are you the King of the Jews?” (Jn 18:33).

“My Kingdom is not of this world;

if my Kingdom were of this world,

my servants would fight,

that I might not be handed over

to the Jews; but my Kingdom

is not from the world”

Jn 18:36).

Pilate said to him:

“So you are a king?”

Jesus answered:

   "You say that I am

 a king.

For this I was born,

and for this

 I have come into

the world,

 to bear witness to

the truth.

Everyone

who is of the truth

hears my voice.” 

Pilate said in answer:

“What is truth?”

At this point, the Roman Procurator saw no need for further 

questions. He went to the Jews and told them: “I find no

crime in him” (cf. Jn 18:37-38).

"The tragedy of Pilate is hidden in the question:

What is truth?

This was no philosophical question about the nature of

truth, but an existential question about his own relationship

 with truth. It was an attempt to escape from the voice of

 conscience, which was pressing him to acknowledge the

 truth and follow it.

When someone refuses

to be guided by truth

he is ultimately ready even to condemn

an innocent person to death.

The accusers sense this weakness in Pilate and so do not yield. They relentlessly call for death by crucifixion.

Pilate’s attempts at half measures are of no avail. The cruel punishment of scourging inflicted upon the Accused is not enough.

When the Procurator brings Jesus, scourged and crowned with thorns, before the crowd, he seems to be looking for words which he thinks might soften the intransigence of the mob.

Pointing to Jesus he says:

Ecce homo! Behold the man!

But the answer comes back:

“Crucify him, crucify him!”

Pilate then tries to buy time:

“Take him yourselves and crucify him,

for I find no crime in him”

John 19:5-7

He is increasingly convinced that the Accused is innocent, but this is not enough for him to decide in his favour.

The accusers use their final argument: “If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar; everyone who makes himself a king sets himself against Caesar” (Jn 19:12).

This is clearly a threat. Recognizing the danger, Pilate finally gives in and pronounces the sentence. But not without the contemptuous gesture of washing his hands: “I am innocent of this ... blood; see to it yourselves!” (Mt 27:24).

Thus was Jesus, the Son of the living God, the Redeemer of

the world, condemned to death by crucifixion.

Over the centuries the

denial of truth

has spawned suffering

 and death.

It is the innocent

who pay the price of

 human hypocrisy.

Half measures

are never enough. 

Nor is it enough to 

wash one’s hands...

Responsibility for the blood

of the just remains.

This is why Christ prayed so fervently

for his disciples in every age:

Father,

“sanctify them in the truth;

your word is truth” (Jn 17:17).

PRAYER

Lord Jesus Christ, you accepted an unjust judgment.

Grant to us and to all the men and women of our time

the grace to remain faithful to the truth.

Do not allow the weight of responsibility

for the sufferings of the innocent

fall upon us and upon those who come after us.

To you, O Jesus, just Judge,

be honour and glory for ever and ever.

 

R. Amen.

 All:

Our Father...

Stabat Mater:

At the Cross her station keeping

stood the 

mournful Mother weeping, 

close to Jesus to

the last.

SECOND STATION

 

Jesus takes up his Cross

V/. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

R/. Because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.

  

The cross.

The instrument of a

shameful death.

It was not lawful to condemn a Roman citizen to death

by crucifixion: it was too humiliating.

The moment that Jesus of

 Nazareth took up the Cross

in order to carry it to Calvary

 marked a turning-point in the history of the cross.

The symbol of a shameful death,

reserved for the lowest classes,

the cross becomes a key.

From now on, with the help of this key,

man will open the door

of the deepest mystery of God.
 

Through Christ’s acceptance of the Cross,

the instrument of his own self-emptying,

men will come to know 

that

God is love.

Love without limits:

“God so loved the world that he gave 

his only Son,

that whoever believes in him

should not perish but have eternal life”

John 3:16

This truth about God

was revealed in the Cross.

          Could it not have been revealed

 in some other way?

      Perhaps... But God chose the Cross.

The Father chose the Cross for his Son,

and his Son shouldered it,

carried it to Mount Calvary and on it 

offered his life.

“In the Cross there is suffering,

in the Cross there is salvation,

in the Cross there is a lesson of love.

O God, he who once has understood you,

desires nothing else, seeks nothing else”

(Polish Lenten hymn). 

The Cross is the sign of a love 
without limits!

PRAYER

Lord Jesus Christ, 
who accept the Cross at the hands of men

to make of it the sign

of God’s saving love for humanity,

grant us and all the men and women of our time

the grace of faith in this infinite love.

By passing on to the new millennium

the sign of the Cross,

may we be authentic witnesses to the Redemption.

To you, O Jesus, Priest and Victim,

be praise and glory for ever.

                                                            R. Amen.

 

All:

Our Father...

Stabat Mater:

            Through her 

         heart, his 
    sorrow sharing,

 

      all his bitter 
 anguish bearing,

now at length

the sword had passed.

 
THIRD STATION

Jesus falls the first time

V/. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

R/. Because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.

  

“God laid on him the

the sins of us all”
(cf. Is 53:6).
 

“All we like sheep have gone astray;

we have turned every one to his own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

the iniquity of us all” (Is 53:6).

Jesus falls under the Cross. This will happen

three times

along the comparatively short stretch

of the "via dolorosa."

 

Exhaustion makes him fall.

His body is stained

with blood

from the scourging,

his head is crowned

 with thorns.

All this causes

 his strength to fail.

So he falls,

and the weight of the Cross

crushes him to the ground.

We must go back to the words of the Prophet,

who foresaw this fall centuries earlier.

It is as though he were contemplating it with his own eyes: seeing the Servant of the Lord, on the ground under the weight of the Cross,

he tells us the real cause of his fall.

It is this:

 “God laid on him the sins of us all”. 

It was OUR SINS

that crushed

the divine Condemned One

to the ground.

 

It was OUR SINS 


 that

determined

the weight of the

Cross

that he carries on

his shoulders.

It was OUR SINS

 that

made him fall.

With difficulty Christ 

gets up again to continue his journey.

The soldiers escorting him

urge him on with shouts and blows.

After a moment the procession sets out again.

Jesus falls and gets up again.

In this way, the

Redeemer

of the world

 

addresses in a

     wordless way

  all those who fall.

He exhorts them to get up again.

“He himself bore our sins in his body on the wood of the cross, that we might no longer live for sin but for righteousness – by his wounds we have been healed” (cf. 1 Pt 2:24).

All:

Our Father...

 

Stabat Mater:

 Oh, how sad and sore distressed

was that Mother highly blessed

of the sole begotten One!

FOURTH STATION

Jesus meets his Mother

V/. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

R/. Because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.

“Do not be afraid, Mary,

for you have found favour with God.

And behold, you will conceive in your womb and

bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.

He will be great, and will be called

the Son of the Most High;

and the Lord God will give to him

the throne of his father David,

and he will reign

over the house of Jacob for ever;

and his kingdom will have no end”
Lk 1:30-33

Mary remembered these words.

She often returned to them in the secret of her heart.

When she met her Son on the way of the Cross,

perhaps these very words came to her mind.

With particular force.

“He will reign... His kingdom will have no end”,

the heavenly messenger had said.

Now, as she watches her Son, condemned to death,

carrying the Cross on which he must die,

she might ask herself, all too humanly:

So how can these words be fulfilled?

In what way will he reign over the House of David?

And how can it be that his kingdom will have no end?

Humanly speaking, these are reasonable questions.

But Mary remembered that,

when she first heard the Angel’s message,

she had replied:

“Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.

May it be done to me according to your word”

(Lk 1:38).

Now she sees that her word

is being fulfilled

as the word of the Cross.

Because she is a mother,

Mary suffers deeply.

But she answers now as she had answered then,

at the Annunciation:

“May it be done to me

 according to your word”.

In this way, as a mother would,

she embraces the cross

together with the divine Condemned One.

On the way of the Cross Mary

shows herself to be the

Mother of the Redeemer of the world.

“All you who pass by the way,

look and see whether there is any suffering

like my suffering, which has been dealt me”

(Lamentations 1:12).

 

It is the Sorrowful Mother who speaks,

the Handmaid who is obedient to the last,

the Mother of the Redeemer of the world.

PRAYER

O Mary,

who walked the way of the Cross with your Son,

your mother’s heart torn by grief,

but mindful always of your fiat

and fully confident that He

to whom nothing is impossible

would be able to fulfil his promises,

implore for us and for the generations

yet to come the grace of surrender to God’s love.

Help us,

in the face of suffering,

rejection, and trial,

however prolonged and severe,

never to doubt his love. Jesus, your Son,

honour and glory for ever and ever.

R. Amen.

All:

Our Father ...

Stabat Mater:

Christ above in torment hangs,

she beneath beholds the pangs