We’ll be praying our way through Lent two Stations of the Cross at the time, using Stations of the Cross: In Light of the Work of the Society of St Vincent de Paul. These stations, inspired by the work of SVP, uniquely help us to walk not only with Jesus in His Passion and Cross, but also alongside our suffering brothers and sisters.
If you missed the previous two Stations, you can catch up here.
9th Station: Jesus falls the third time
We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.
Because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
Does this third fall of Jesus remind us that Peter denied Jesus three times? Would Peter have been aware of that? After the Resurrection Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved him, and three times he answered that he did love him. What matters is not the number of times we fall into sin; what matters is the number of times we lovingly return to Jesus.
Frédéric Ozanam understood that the life of faith involved both prayer and good works. Some people will devote themselves more to one area than another, but it is for all Christians to be involved to some extent with both.
I love you Jesus
my love above all things.
I repent with my whole heart for having offended you.
Never permit me
to separate myself from you again.
Grant that I may love you always
and then do with me what you will.
Holy Mother, pierce me through,
in my heart each wound renew
of my Saviour crucified.
10th Station: Jesus is stripped of his garments
We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.
Because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
This is an act of humiliation. Not satisfied with the torture they had inflicted upon Jesus, they also humiliated him. Any act of humiliating another human being is wrong. No matter the situation, there is never an excuse for it. It is an attack on their true dignity; it is an attack on the human person who has been made in the image and likeness of God.
Frédéric Ozanam, the founder of the Society of St Vincent de Paul, was a man deeply committed to his Catholic Faith. He knew that living the Faith could not be reduced to a few prayers. It meant, for him, the total commitment of his life to God — in his prayer, through his family, through his help for the poor.
I love you Jesus
my love above all things.
I repent with my whole heart
for having offended you.
Never permit me
to separate myself from you again.
Grant that I may love you always
and then do with me what you will.
Holy Mother, pierce me through,
in my heart each wound renew
of my Saviour crucified.
These Stations are extracted from our book Stations of the Cross: In Light of the Work of the Society of St Vincent de Paul. Walk alongside Jesus in his passion and Cross and be prepared to walk with compassion alongside our suffering brothers and sisters, with these meditations on the Way of the Cross in light of the work of the Society of St Vincent de Paul.
Pray these Stations at church, alone or with your parish, by ordering your copy of Stations of the Cross: In Light of the Work of the Society of St Vincent de Paul.