II
We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee,
because by Thy holy cross, Thou hast redeemed the world.
Reflection
Large and heavy, edges rough,
weight unbearable, that cross has stood,
waiting the unfortunate, the criminal,
the victim of the court.
Firmly, silently, Jesus shouldered it.
The march began,
to Golgotha,
to Golgotha.
He struggled on, painfully, quietly,
alone.
Prayer
Jesus, our brother,
We watch you bear the cross
and do not understand.
Our hearts are hardened.
Everyone tells us that suffering is evil
and must be avoided at every cost.
We flee sickness, sorrow and pain.
Your carrying your cross
says something different about suffering.
Help us to follow you even when we
do not understand.
Now the Cross as Jesus bore it,
Has become for us who share it,
The jeweled Cross of Victory.
Jesus Christ, crucified, have mercy on us!
Sabat Mater
Through her heart, His sorrow sharing,
All His bitter anguish bearing,
Now at length the sword had passed.
III
We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee,
because by Thy holy cross, Thou hast redeemed the world.
Reflection
Here, here on Calvary's way
Jesus falls the first time.
Not yet exhausted,
still alert to every pain,
still quickened by the lash.
Tripped on a stone, perhaps.
Or stunned by a soldier's blow.
Jesus struggles, he stands,
he moves along.
Prayer
Jesus, our brother,
You have fallen with your cross.
We wonder if you have not fallen again today.
Everywhere we see signs of weakness:
in our church, in our nation,
in our world.
We see dissension, controversy, turmoil.
We are scandalized.
We do not understand.
Our faith begins to falter.
Help us to find you hidden in your weakness.
Help us to find you beneath the cross.
Weakened, prodded, cursed, and fallen,
His whole Body bruised and swollen,
Jesus tripped and lay in pain.
Jesus Christ, crucified, have mercy on us!
Sabat Mater
Oh, how sad and sore distressed
Was that Mother highly blessed
Of the sole-begotten One!
IV
We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee,
because by Thy holy cross, Thou hast redeemed the world.
Reflection
Mary, mothering her son in his last moments...
unable to touch,
save with saddened eyes.
Jesus, body torn, heart broken,
eyes on his mother,
comforted and comforting.
no word is spoken.
none is needed.
Jesus meets his mother.
Prayer
Jesus, our brother,
we are moved by Mary's love for you.
we are amazed by Mary's love for us.
it is hard to believe
she has not lost confidence in us.
but, we know she has not.
she saw beneath your grime and agony.
she saw your hidden beauty.
we trust she can do the same for us.
we need to be understood these days.
we so often feel alone.
Jesus met his grieving Mother,
she who made the Lord our brother;
now the sword her heart has pierced.
Jesus Christ, crucified, have mercy on us!
Sabat Mater
Christ above in torment hangs,
She beneath beholds the pangs
Of her dying, glorious Son.
V
We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee,
because by Thy holy cross, Thou hast redeemed the world.
Reflection
Strong and likely Simon stood,
chance watcher of that strange procession
on its way to Calvary.
Proud and from the countryside,
young and insecure.
"Carry the cross," they said;
Words empowered by whips, lances and numbers.
And, he did.
He shouldered the Cross.
And followed behind Jesus.
PRAYER
Jesus, our brother,
We have to admire Simon.
He took up your cross and followed you.
He had so little doubt, so little hesitation.
We see you suffering in all around us,
in the poor, in the powerless,
in the misunderstood.
We are so hesitant to come to your aid.
We find so many excuses.
We remain aloof.
Grant us the wisdom and the courage
to help the least of your brothers and sisters
and so help you.
Simon stopped in hesitation,
Not foreseeing his proud station,
Called to bear the Cross of Christ.
Jesus Christ, crucified, have mercy on us!
Sabat Mater
Is there one who would not weep
Whelmed in miseries so deep
Christ's dear Mother to behold?
VI
We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee,
because by Thy holy cross, Thou hast redeemed the world.
Reflection
His face blood-stained,
grime-weary, terrified and tired,
Jesus shuddered, step by step, along.
Veronica, hesitantly tender,
alive to opportunity,
from the shadows stepped
and with her woman's veil touched the face
and bathed the sorrow
to the flow of her tears.
Veronica, Veronica,
so tender, so alive.
Prayer
Jesus, our brother,
You rewarded Veronica for her courage.
You left your face upon her veil.
You will reward us for our courage,
you will leave the imprint of your face
upon our lives.
"By this will all know
that you are my disciples:
that you love one another."
Help us forget our fears and reach out
to serve our needy brothers and sisters.
Brave but trembling came the woman,
None but she would flaunt the Roman,
Moved by love beyond her fear.
Jesus Christ, crucified, have mercy on us!
Sabat Mater
Can the human heart refrain
From partaking in her pain,
In that Mother's pain untold?
VII
We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee,
because by Thy holy cross, Thou hast redeemed the world.
Reflection
Tired now, beaten, bruised, body-broken,
Jesus falls a second time.
Even without the cross,
the shoulders ache,
the head drops blood,
the knees buckle,
Jesus falls again.
A whip is lashed, a hard word is spoken,
a fist, a lance's blunt end.
Jesus rises, moves on again.
Prayer
Jesus, our brother,
You must have been discouraged
by your second fall.
We too, know discouragement.
Our best efforts end in failure.
Those we love, do not seem to love us.
Regardless of our efforts,
life does not bring peace.
What shall we do?
We will imitate your example and try again,
even in the face of futility.
Prostrate on the dust He crumbled,
Flogged in body he resembled
All our neighbors poor and scorned.
Jesus Christ, crucified, have mercy on us!
Sabat Mater
Bruised, derided, cursed, defiled,
She beheld her tender Child,
All with bloody scourges rent,
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