Prayers: April 2007

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Comments

Reviewing the feature of the site, I have found out that the comments have been restricted to members of the blogspot community. Sorry for not having seen this immediately. There are features that I have to open up so that anybody could post their comments. Comments, however are moderated, this is just to ensure that this site will focus more on prayers rather than of a debate. Discussion is highly encouraged but with civility.

Netizens' Prayer

Prayer for Bloggers

A BLogger's Prayer

So compassionate, so faithful, so loving You are Our Father.

We ask You to increase our faith and our love for You that we may use blogging as an instrument to fulfill Your purposes. May we become bloggers of truth and promoters of peace.

Help us to be steadfast in our Christian commitment that visitors may find in our blogs a source of encouragement and inspiration. Give us strength to proclaim Your word, that we may play our part in breaking down the walls of hostility in the world and use our blogs to strengthen the bonds of friendship, solidarity and love.

Make our hearts meek and humble
that we may treat our readers as friends, not as unique hits,
that we may strive to change ourselves for the better more often than we pimp our site templates,
that we may find more time to ease the pain of someone in our own home than to reply to comments left by strangers,
that we may interact with our next door neighbors as often as we chat with our blogrolled friends,
that we may be more concerned about helping the less privileged than about the number of subscribers to our RSS feeds.

Deliver us, Father, from spams and viruses, from pride and selfishness, and from the temptation to replicate images without permission and copy ideas without crediting the original authors.

May we always be united as a network of bloggers and friends working together in Your name. May our blogs lead us closer to You.

We ask all these through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.

__________________________

Composed by Rev. Fr. Stephen Cuyos, MSC. A Filipino MSC priest, who blogs & podcasts about his faith and ministry, as well as his advocacy for linux and the opensource.

As I browse the comments, it is note taking that some sectors of the society is already being to careful in using the word God in public prayer. Well part of the battle that the Pope Benedict XVI is waging to be included in the very constitution of the European Union. That history is clear that belief in God is part of the making of the European Union. Striking God out of the European union is a point of progress for atheists but not for those who believe that their is God.

It is nice to see that there are Filipino priest who are blogging. However, all of them have been exposed abroad maybe they know the importance of the use of internet. I think, I am the only one who have not left the country so far.

Many of my fellow priests in the diocese are not using the internet. It is not because they have no connection but simply they are not tune to it for the moment. I am already offering my service to post their materials online but until now there ae no takers. Some have given their consent but no material yet that they have sent.

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Chaplets

Blessings

Consecration

Litanies

Prefaces

Novena

Prayers of the Pope

Prayer For The Victims And Families of Virginia Massacre

Heavenly Father, the Giver of life, You in your Divine Love has shared with us the beauty of creation and have open us the door to participate in the nourishment of our natural life. May we constantly appreciate and value life as the fundamental gift and responsibility. May we work to enhance and defend the formidable basic human right, to live and to have a life.

God of life, today we pray to You, for our beloved loved ones who died in the Virgina Massacre. Though, it is painful to see them go, we lift them up to You because we affirm that You are the one who gave them the opportunity to experience being alive and you are also the one who could take it back.

Father of Jesus Christ, and our Father, you who sent Your only begotten Son, so that we may have a life fully alive and a life ever after. May we follow the footstep of Christ who has merciful heart so that we may learn how to forgive those who have hurt us. May we forgive Cho Seung-Hui, the gunman who have killed our beloved __________ . It is hard to forgive Lord God, but we pray to learn it to start the healing process. Your Son also forgives those who crucified and killed him. May we be like Him, the Divine Mercy. In forgiving Cho, we also become merciful like your Son and at the same time we do justice and mercy to ourselves.

God of the Breath of Life, you sent the Holy Spirit to renew the face of the earth. Give us light and strength to surpassed this dark moment of our lives. Give us light, wisdom to understand even if it might be beyond the realm of reason of the tragic event that ocured in the University. give us strength to be resilient so that we may not lose hope in You and in our society. May the Soul of our beloved ___________ be in communion with You in the eternal place along with the Blessed Virgin Mary, the apostles and the saints. Amen.

________________________

Practically, one of the reason why I started this blog is to help people to pray, and this include in the time of grief. I have contemplated for a long time whether I will pursue the idea of writing additional blog because I am managing several blogs already. Maybe I was just afraid that I might not been able to handle it properly because there is a lot of work in the parish. however, on my reflection i came into conclusion that this is part of my work, to pray and to lead others into pray-ers.

Rev. Fr. Jessie Somosierra, Jr.
I have posted other blogs concerning this matter log on the ff. sites:
http://frjessie.blogspot.com/2007/04/va-tech-gunman-sent-material-to-nbc.html
http://frjessie.blogspot.com/2007/04/gunman-kills-32-in-virginia-tech.html

Prayer For Victims of Massacre

Virginia Massacre

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Prayer Request

Please Post your Prayer Request to the Comments portion of this Post. Please do not forget to leave the intention, your name and your Email Address. Email Address is optional.

Our Father

Our Father, Who are in heaven,
Holy be Your Name.
Your Kingdom come.
Your Will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins,
as we forgive those who sinned us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Filipino

Ama Namin
Ama namin sumasalangit ka, sambahin ang ngalan mo, mapasaamin ang kaharian mo. Sundin ang Loob mo dito sa Lupa para ng sa langit, Bigyan mo kami ng aming kakanin sa araw-araw. Patawarin mo kami sa aming mga kasalanan para ng pagpapatawad namin sa nagkakasala sa amin. At ilayo mo kami mo kami sa lahat ng masasama. Amen

Bagama't ang salitang Latin oratio dominica ay matagal ng ginagamit, ang Lord's Prayer" ay hindi naging pamiliar sa England bago mag reformation, Noong Middle Ages ang Ama namin ay palaging dinadasal sa Latin kahit na ng hindi nakapag-aral. Ito ay higit na kilala sa tawag na Pater noster. Ang pangalang "Lord's Prayer" ay inilapi rito dahil ginamit ito ni Jesu Kristo sa kanyang panalangin (bilang paghingi ng kapatawaran ng kasalanan) upang ituro ito sa kanyang mga disipulo.

Maraming pagpahayag at puntos sa kasaysayan at paggamit ng panalanging ito. Sa paggamit ng Ingles na texto na ginagamit ng mga Katoliko, ito ay hindi mula sa Rheims Testament kundi sa sipi na ipinag-utos sa England sa panahon ng paghahari ni Henry VIII, noong 1549-1552 sa pagninilay sa "Libro ng Pangkaraniwang Panalangin" ( Book of Common Prayer). Mula rito ang siping Katoliko ay nagkakaiba laman sa dalawang particular na pagkakataon: "Which art" ay ginawang moderno "who art", and "in earth" into "on earth".

Ang sipi ay malapit sa pagsasalin ni Tyndale sa Bagong Tipan (Tyndale's New Testament) ay naging katanggap-tanggap sa ordinansa ng 1541. Ang ordinansang ito ay udyok ng maraming uri ng salin o version ng Pater noster, Ave, Sumasampalataya(Creed) at iba pa. Ito ang naging pamantayan (caused) sa utos ng hari upang ang lahat ng mamamayan, vicario (vicars) at kura paroko (curates), na basahin at ituro ang nasabing version. Kaya ang nasabing version ay naging pangkalahatan sa buong bansa sa kanilang panalangin maging sa mga protestante at katoliko kahit na ang Rheims Testament, noong 1581 at King James's translators, in 1611, ay may pagkakaiba sa pagsasalin ng Mateo 6:9-13,

Ang panalanging ito na mula kay San Lukas 11:2-4 ay ibinigay ni Kristo bilang sagot sa kahilingan ng mga disipulo ay may kaunting pagkakaiba kay San Mateo 6:9-15 na kung saan ipinapakilala sa gitna ng Sermon sa Bundok, ngunit wala naman itong ibang dahilan upang sabihin na ang dalawang ito ay hindi magkatulad. Malaki ang posibilidad na itinuro ni Kristo itong panalangin nang ilang ulit. Mas malapit sa katotohanan na ang Ama namin na makikita sa "Didache" ay katulad ng kay San Mateo na ginamit ng simbahan sa kanyang liturhiya. Walang nakikitang malaking kahalagahan upang sabihin na nagopya ang mga Kristiyano sa panalangin ng mga Hudyo dahil makikita rin ang mga nasasaad dito sa ibang mga panalangin ng mga Hudyo. Dahil sa, una, maliit lamang ang pagkatulad nito at pangalawa, walang maliwanag na ebidensya na ang panalangin ng mga Hudyo ay higit na una kaysa sa turo ni Kristo

Naging pangkaraniwang gamit ito at maraming naisulat sa larangan ng usapin sa panalangin ng Ama namin, kahit na ito simple at natural. Isang malawak na komentaryo rito ay mula sa quasi-official "Catechismus ad parochos", na isinulat noong 1564 sangayon sa batas ng Council of Trent, tungkol sa Ama namin na siyang basehan ng pagsusuri sa lahat ng katolikong katesismo. Maraming puntos ang binigyan pansi tulad ng "Dito sa lupa para ng sa langit" ay hindi lamang nagngahulugan ng isang paghingi upang "mangyari ang Iyong kalooban", ito ay tumutukoy rin sa dalawang bagay na "sambahin ang ngalan Mo" at "mapasaamin ang Kaharian Mo"

Ang kahulugan ng huling kahilingang ito ay lubos na binigyan ng liwanag. Isa kasi sa problema sa pagsasalin ay ang mga salitang artos epiousios na sangayon sa Vulgate mula kay San Lukas ay isinaling "aming kakanin araw-araw", St. Jerome, sa kanyang di malaman na pagkakamali ay binago ang salitang quotidianum sa supersubstantialem ni San Mateo pero iniwan ang quotidianum kay San Lucas. Ang opinyon ng mga makabagong escholar ay ang bagong sipi ay makikita ang salin bilang araw-araw ngunit may komentaryo ito sa panggilid "aming pagkain sa susunod na araw. Habang ang Komite ng mga Amerikano (American Committee) ay nagnais magdagdag ng "aming pangangailangang pagkain". Sa katapusan, ang mas nakakaraming opinyon ay ang pagpahayag na ang huling mga salita ay dapat "iadya mo kami sa masama, ang pagbabagona ngangailangan ng "ngunit"sa halip na "at" na nagsasama sa dalwang kahilingan bilang isa. The doxolohiya "sapagkat sa iyo ang kaharian", etc., ay matatagpuan sa Griegong in textus receptus ay dagdag na lamang sa mga sumunod na salin na siyang ginamit sa salin ng ns of the "Boo of Common Prayer", is undoubtedly an interpolation.

In the liturgy of the Church the Our Father holds a very conspicuous place. Some commentators have erroneously supposed, from a passage in the writings of St. Gregory the Great (Ep., ix, 12), that he believed that the bread and wine of the Eucharist were consecrated in Apostolic times by the recitation of the Our Father alone. But while this is probably not the true meaning of the passage, St. Jerome asserted (Adv. Pelag., iii, 15) that "our Lord Himself taught His disciples that daily in the Sacrifice of His Body they should make bold to say 'Our Father' etc." St. Gregory gave the Pater its present place in the Roman Mass immediately after the Canon and before the fraction, and it was of old the custom that all the congregation should make answer in the words "Sed libera nos a malo". In the Greek liturgies a reader recites the Our Father aloud while the priest and the people repeat it silently. Again in the ritual of baptism the recitation of the Our Father has from the earliest times been a conspicuous feature, and in the Divine Office it recurs repeatedly besides being recited both at the beginning and the end.

In many monastic rules, it was enjoined that the lay brothers, who knew no Latin, instead of the Divine office should say the Lord's Prayer a certain number of times (often amounting to more than a hundred) per diem. To count these repetitions they made use of pebbles or beads strung upon a cord, and this apparatus was commonly known as a "pater-noster", a name which it retained even when such a string of beads was used to count, not Our Fathers, but Hail Marys in reciting Our Lady's Psalter, or in other words in saying the rosary.

____________________________________

Theologians ussually are quoted saying that this one of the ipssisima verbum Christi, one of the very words of Christ. It is also one of the well and vastly commented by various authors from the theologians of the liberation theology to the conclave of the Opus Dei. One of the prayers that our separated brethren are also using.

Much is to be said about it from the vast resources, however, let me say my piece. The prayer clearly states that forgiveness of God is based on the conditioned of forgiving. TYes, it is ussually the hardest part that we all carry. Being unforgiver and resentful. That is not in the dictionary, but it seems to be easily understood. God give us an example of what a good giver is, yes, even our hatred has to be offered to Him as He offered his to the father so that salvation might be received by mankind.

We must also offer our hatred to God that he could lift the burden in our hearts and give us peace and serenity. The key is on us to open the grace of love, the grace of mercy, so that mercy might be received not only of other people but especially of each and everyone of us. Forgiveness is primarily for the one who forgives rather than of the one forgiven. Certainly, the Lord Jesus Christ in her merciful heart do not want us to further suffer for being unforgivable.

Prayer For Special Purpose

An Election Prayer to Mary
Ritual for the burning of old palms on Shrove Tuesday before Ash Wednesday
Oratio Imperata (Ulan)

Prayer Of The Saints

Marian Prayers

Prayer To Jesus Christ

Basic Catholic Prayers

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

LITANY OF ST. JOSEPH

LITANY OF ST. JOSEPH

Lord, have mercy;
Christ have mercy!
Christ, hear us;
Christ, graciously hear us!

God, the Father of Heaven
( have mercy on us )
God, the Son, Redeemer of the world,
God, the Holy Spirit,
Holy Trinity, One God,

Holy Mary
( pray for us )
Saint Joseph
Renouwned descendant of David,
Light of patriarchs,
Husband of the Mother of God,
Chaste guardian of the Virgin,
Foster father of the Son of God,
Watchful protector of Christ,
Head of the Holy Family,

Joseph most just,
Joseph most prudent,
Joseph most strong,
Joseph most obedient,
Joseph most faithful,

Mirror of patience,
Lover of poverty,
Model of workmen,
Glory of home life,
Guardian of virgins,
Protector of families,
Comfort of the distressed,
Hope of the sick,
Patron of the dying,
Terror of demons,
Protector of Holy Church,

Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world;

spare us O Lord !

Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world;
graciously hear us O Lord !
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world;
have mercy on us O Lord !

V. He made him lord of his house.
R. And prince of all his possessions.

Prayer

O God, elect Blessed Joseph
spouse of Thy most holy Mother: grant, we
beseech You, that we may have him whom we venerate
as our protector on earth as our intercessor in heaven.
You Who lives and reigns the world without end. Amen.

*** Moment of Silence
*** Back to Main Page

Traditional Station of the Cross

Coming soon!

FOURTH STATION: Jesus is denied by Peter

FOURTH STATION
Jesus is denied by Peter

V/. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.
R/. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.

From the Gospel according to Luke 22:54-62

Then they seized Jesus and led him away, bringing him into the high priest's house. Peter followed at a distance; and when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them. Then a maid, seeing him as he sat in the light and gazing at him, said, "This man was with him." But he denied it, saying, "Woman, I do not know him." And a little later someone else saw him and said, "You also are one of them." But Peter said, "Man, I am not." And after an interval of about an hour still another insisted, saying, "Certainly this man was also with him; for he is a Galilean." But Peter said, "Man, I do not know what you are saying." And immediately, while he was still speaking, the cock crowed. And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, "Before the cock crows today, you will deny me three times." And he went out and wept bitterly.

MEDITATION

Let us go back to the night we had left behind when we entered the hall where Jesus' first trial was taking place. The darkness and the cold are pierced by the flames of a brazier in the courtyard of the palace of the Sanhedrin. The servants and guards are holding out their hands to the warmth; their faces are lighted up. And three voices, one after another, speak out, and three hands point towards a face they recognize, the face of Peter.

The first is a woman's voice. She is one of the maids in the palace; looking the disciple in the eye, she exclaims, "You too were with Jesus!" A man's voice follows: "You are one of them!" Another man later makes the same accusation, after hearing Peter's northern accent: "You were with him!". Faced with these declarations, the Apostle, as if in a desperate crescendo of self-defence, does not hesitate to lie: "I do not know Jesus! I am not one of his disciples! I don't know what you are talking about!" The light of that brazier penetrates far beyond Peter's face, it lays bare his wretched heart, his frailty, his selfishness, his fear. And yet only a few hours earlier, he had proclaimed, "Even though all fall away, I will not! … If I must die with you, I will not deny you!"[9]

* * *

The curtain, however, does not fall on this betrayal, as was the case with Judas. That night a noise pierces the silence of Jerusalem, but above all Peter's own conscience: the sound of the cock crowing. Precisely at that moment Jesus comes forth from the tribunal that has condemned him. Luke describes the exchange of glances between Christ and Peter with a word in Greek that suggests a penetrating stare at someone's face. But, as the Evangelist notes, this is not just any man who looks at another; it is "the Lord", whose eyes peer into the depths of the heart, into the deepest secrets of a person's soul.

From the eyes of the Apostle fall tears of repentance. In his story are condensed countless stories of infidelity and conversion, of weakness and liberation. "I wept, and I believed!" -- in these two simple words, centuries later, a convert [10] would compare his own experience to that of Peter, thus speaking for all of us who daily make petty betrayals, protecting ourselves with cowardly justifications, letting ourselves be overcome with base fears. But, like the Apostle, we too can take the road that brings us to Christ's gaze and we can hear him give us the same charge: you, too, "once you have turned back, strengthen your brothers!" [11].

All:

Pater noster, qui es in cælis:
sanctificetur nomen tuum;
adveniat regnum tuum;
fiat voluntas tua, sicut in cælo, et in terra.
Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie;
et dimitte nobis debita nostra,
sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris;
et ne nos inducas in tentationem;
sed libera nos a malo.

Quæ mærebat et dolebat
pia mater, cum videbat
Nati pœnas incliti.

[9] Mark 14:29, 31.
[10] FRANÇOIS-RENÉ DE CHATEAUBRIAND, The Genius of Christianity (1802).
[11] Luke 22:32.

*** Moment of Silence

PRESENTATION

OPENING PRAYER

FIRST STATION

SECOND STATION

THIRD STATION

FOURTH STATION

FIFTH STATION

SIXTH STATION

SEVENTH STATION

EIGHTH STATION

NINTH STATION

TENTH STATION

ELEVENTH STATION

TWELFTH STATION

THIRTEENTH STATION

FOURTEENTH STATION

BLESSING
*** Back to the main page

Monday, April 16, 2007

THE LITANY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

THE LITANY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Lord have mercy on us.
Christ have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us, Christ hear us.
Christ graciously hear us.
God the Father of Heaven,
Have mercy on us.
God the Son Redeemer of the world,
Have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit,
Have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity , One God
Have mercy on us.
Holy Mary (pray for us).
Holy, Mother of God,
Holy Virgin of virgins,
Mother of Christ,
Mother of Divine Grace,
Mother Most pure,
Mother most chaste,
Mother inviolate,
Mother undefiled,
Mother admirable,
Mother of good counsel,
Mother of our Creator,
Mother of our Savior,
Mother of the Church,
Mother most prudent,
Mother most venerable,
Mother most renowned,
Virgin most powerful,
Virgin most merciful,
Virgin most faithful,
Mirror of justice,
Seat of wisdom,
Cause of our joy,
Spiritual vessel,
Vessel of honor,
Singular vessel of devotion,
Mystical rose,
Tower of David,
Tower of ivory,
House of gold,
Ark of the covenant,
Gate of Heaven,
Morning star,
Health of the sick,
Refuge of sinners,
Comforter of the afflicted,
Help of Christians,
Queen of angels,
Queen of patriarchs,
Queen of prophets,
Queen of apostles,
Queen of martyrs,
Queen of confessors,
Queen of virgins,
Queen of all saints,
Queen conceived without Original Sin,
Queen assumed into heaven,
Queen of the most holy Rosary,
Queen of peace,
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world,
Spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world,
Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world,
Have mercy on us.

V. Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray:
Grant, we beseech You, O Lord God, that we Your servants may enjoy perpetual health of mind and body, and by the glorious intercession of the Blessed Mary, ever Virgin, be delivered from present sorrow and enjoy everlasting happiness. Through Christ Our Lord.
Amen.

*** Moment of Silence
*** Back to Collection of Litanies

Sunday, April 15, 2007

THIRD STATION: Jesus is condemned by the Sanhedrin

V/. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.
R/. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.

From the Gospel according to Luke 22:66-71

When day came, the assembly of the elders of the people gathered together, both chief priests and scribes; and they led him away to their council, and they said, "If you are the Christ, tell us." But he said to them, "If I tell you, you will not believe; and if I ask you, you will not answer. But from now on the Son of man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God." And they all said, "Are you the Son of God, then?" And he said to them, "You say that I am." And they said, "What further testimony do we need? We have heard it ourselves from his own lips."

MEDITATION

The dawn of Good Friday is breaking from behind the Mount of Olives, after brightening the valleys of the desert of Judah. The seventy-one members of the Sanhedrin, the highest Jewish institution, are gathered in a semicircle around Jesus. The hearing is about to begin, and it will follow the usual judiciary procedure: the identification of the defendant, the bringing of charges, the hearing of witnesses. The trial concerns a religious matter which falls within the competence of that tribunal. This is also clearly seen from the two principal questions: "Are you the Christ? … Are you the Son of God?."

Jesus' answer starts from an almost discouraging premise: "If I tell you, you will not believe; if I ask you, you will not answer." He knows, then, that incomprehension, suspicion and misunderstanding are in store for him. He can feel himself surrounded by a icy wall of distrust and hostility, all the more oppressive because it is erected around him by his own religious and national community. The Psalmist before him had experienced such disappointment: "If this had been done by an enemy, I could bear his taunts; if a rival had risen against me, I could hide from him. But it is you, my own companion, my intimate friend! How close was the friendship between us. We walked in together in harmony in the house of God"[6].

* * *

And yet, despite that incomprehension, Jesus does not hesitate to proclaim the mystery within him, a mystery which from that moment on will be revealed as in an epiphany. Using the language of scripture, he acknowledges that he is "the Son of man, seated at the right hand of the power of God." The messianic glory awaited by Israel is now manifested in this prisoner. Indeed, it is the Son of God who now, paradoxically, appears in the guise of one accused. Jesus' response -- "I am" --, which at first sight seems like the confession of a crime, is in reality a solemn profession of his divinity. In the Bible, the words "I am" are the name and title of God himself[7].

The accusation, which will end in a death sentence, thus becomes a revelation, and also our own profession of faith in Christ, the Son of God. That defendant, humiliated by a disdainful court, by the sumptuous courtroom, by a sentence already sealed, reminds us of our own duty to bear witness to the truth. A witness which must be forcefully rendered even when there is a powerful temptation to hide, to give up, to go along with the prevailing opinion. In the words of a young Jewish woman destined to die in a concentration camp[8]: "each new horror or crime, we must oppose with a new fragment of truth and goodness which we have gained in ourselves. We can suffer, but we must not surrender".

All:

Pater noster, qui es in cælis:
sanctificetur nomen tuum;
adveniat regnum tuum;
fiat voluntas tua, sicut in cælo, et in terra.
Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie;
et dimitte nobis debita nostra,
sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris;
et ne nos inducas in tentationem;
sed libera nos a malo.

O quam tristis et afflicta
fuit illa benedica
mater Unigeniti!

[6] Psalm 55(54): 12-15.
[7] Cf. Exodus 3:14.
[8] Etty Hillesum, Diary 1941-1943 (3 July 1943).

*** Moments of silence

PRESENTATION

OPENING PRAYER

FIRST STATION

SECOND STATION

THIRD STATION

FOURTH STATION

FIFTH STATION

SIXTH STATION

SEVENTH STATION

EIGHTH STATION

NINTH STATION

TENTH STATION

ELEVENTH STATION

TWELFTH STATION

THIRTEENTH STATION

FOURTEENTH STATION

BLESSING
*** Back to the main page

SECOND STATION: Jesus is betrayed by Judas and arrested

SECOND STATION
Jesus is betrayed by Judas and arrested

V/. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.
R/. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.

From the Gospel according to Luke. 22:47-53

While Jesus was still speaking, there came a crowd, and the man called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He drew near to Jesus to kiss him; but Jesus said to him, "Judas, would you betray the Son of man with a kiss?" And when those who were about him saw what would follow, they said, "Lord, shall we strike with the sword?" And one of them struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his right ear. But Jesus said, "No more of this!" And he touched his ear and healed him. Then Jesus said to the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders, who had come out against him, "Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs?" When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness."

MEDITATION

Amid the olives of Gethsemane, plunged in darkness, a small crowd now comes forward: leading them is Judas, "one of the twelve", one of Jesus' disciples. In Luke's account he does not say a single word, he is merely an icy presence. It almost seems that he does not succeed in kissing the face of Jesus, stopped by the one voice that rings out, the voice of Christ himself: "Judas, would you betray the Son of man with a kiss?" These words are regretful but firm; they lay bare the knot of evil lodged in the restless, hardened heart of the disciple, who may have been disillusioned, disappointed and on the verge of despair.

Down the centuries, that betrayal and that kiss have become a symbol for countless infidelities, apostasies, deceptions. And so Christ faces another trial: betrayal and its resulting sense of abandonment and isolation. This is not the kind of solitude he loved when he would withdraw to the mountains to pray, it is not the interior solitude which is a source of peace and quiet, since it gives us a glimpse of the mystery of the soul and of God. Rather, it is the bitter experience of all those persons who, at this very moment when we are gathered here, as at other times of the day, find themselves alone in a room, facing a bare wall or a silent telephone, forgotten by everyone because they are elderly or infirm, foreigners or outsiders. Along with them, Jesus drinks from this chalice, which contains the gall of abandonment, loneliness and hostility.

* * *

The scene of Gethsemane, then, suddenly comes alive: the earlier picture of prayer, solemn, intimate and silent, is now replaced, beneath the olive trees, by agitation, uproar and even violence. Yet Jesus remains always at the centre, unmoved. He knows full well that evil encircles human history with its shroud of bullying, aggression, brutality: "This is your hour, and the power of darkness".

Christ does not want his disciples, ready to draw their swords, to react to evil with evil, to violence with more violence. He is certain that the power of darkness -- apparently invincible and never sated by its triumphs -- is destined to be defeated. Night will give way to dawn, darkness to light, betrayal to repentance, even for Judas. That is why, in spite of everything, we must continue to hope and to love. As Jesus himself taught us on the mount of the Beatitudes, if a new and different world is to come about, we need "to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us"[5].

All:

Pater noster, qui es in cælis:
sanctificetur nomen tuum;
adveniat regnum tuum;
fiat voluntas tua, sicut in cælo, et in terra.
Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie;
et dimitte nobis debita nostra,
sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris;
et ne nos inducas in tentationem;
sed libera nos a malo.

Cuius animam gementem,
contristatam et dolentem
pertransivit gladius.

[5] Matthew 5:44

*** Moment of silence

PRESENTATION

OPENING PRAYER

FIRST STATION

SECOND STATION

THIRD STATION

FOURTH STATION

FIFTH STATION

SIXTH STATION

SEVENTH STATION

EIGHTH STATION

NINTH STATION

TENTH STATION

ELEVENTH STATION

TWELFTH STATION

THIRTEENTH STATION

FOURTEENTH STATION

BLESSING
*** Back to the main Page

FIRST STATION: Jesus in the Garden of Olives

FIRST STATION
Jesus in the Garden of Olives

V/. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.
R/. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.

From the Gospel according to Luke. 22:39-46

Jesus came out, and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples followed him. And when he came to the place, he said to them, "Pray that you may not enter into temptation." And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed, "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless not my will but yours be done." And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, and he said to them, "Why do you sleep? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation."

MEDITATION

When the veil of darkness descends upon Jerusalem, the olives of Gethsemane even today seem to bring us back, with the rustling of their leaves, to that night of suffering and prayer that Jesus experienced. He stands out, alone, at centre stage, kneeling on the soil of that garden. Like every person facing death, Christ too is filled with anguish; indeed, the original word used by the Evangelist Luke is "agonia", struggle. Jesus' prayer is dramatic, tense as if in combat, and the sweat streaked with blood running down his face is evidence of a harsh, bitter torment.

He cries out to heaven, to that Father who seems mysteriously silent: "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me", the chalice of suffering and death. One dark night, on the banks of a tributary of the Jordan, one of the patriarchs of Israel, Jacob, had also encountered God as someone mysterious, and "wrestled with him until the breaking of the day"[2]. Praying at times of trial is an experience which disturbs the body and soul alike, and Jesus, in the darkness of that evening, "offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death"[3].

* * *

In the Christ of Gethsemane, struggling and filled with anguish, we see ourselves reflected, whenever we pass through the night of searing pain, of separation from friends, of God's silence. In this sense, it has been said that Jesus "will be in agony until the end of the world: we cannot sleep until that moment, for he seeks companionship and comfort"[4], like everyone else who suffers on this earth. In him too, we see our own face, when it is wet with tears and racked by distress.

But Jesus' struggle does not yield to the temptation of despair and surrender, but to a profession of confident trust in the Father and his mysterious plan. In that bitter hour it is the words of the "Our Father" that he holds out to us: "Pray that you may not enter into temptation… Not my will, but yours be done!". And then an angel of consolation, strength and comfort appears, who helps Jesus, and us, to persevere to the end of the journey.

All:

Pater noster, qui es in cælis:
sanctificetur nomen tuum;
adveniat regnum tuum;
fiat voluntas tua, sicut in cælo, et in terra.
Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie;
et dimitte nobis debita nostra,
sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris;
et ne nos inducas in tentationem;
sed libera nos a malo.

Stabat mater dolorosa,
iuxta crucem lacrimosa,
dum pendebat Filius.

[2] Cf. Genesis 32:23-32.
[3] Cf. Hebrews 5:7.
[4] Blaise Pascal, Pensées, No. 555, ed. Brunswieg.

*** Moment of silence

PRESENTATION

OPENING PRAYER

FIRST STATION

SECOND STATION

THIRD STATION

FOURTH STATION

FIFTH STATION

SIXTH STATION

SEVENTH STATION

EIGHTH STATION

NINTH STATION

TENTH STATION

ELEVENTH STATION

TWELFTH STATION

THIRTEENTH STATION

FOURTEENTH STATION

BLESSING
*** Back to main page

OPENING PRAYER

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
R. Amen.

Dear brothers and sisters, the shadows of evening have fallen on Rome, just as they did that evening on the houses and gardens of Jerusalem. We too will now go out to the olive trees of Gethsemane and follow in the steps of Jesus of Nazareth during the final hours of his life on earth.

It will be a journey into pain, solitude and cruelty, into evil and death. But it will also be a path trod in faith, hope and love, because the tomb which is the final stop on our way will not remain sealed for ever. Once the darkness has passed, at the dawn of Easter, the light of joy will arise, silence will be replaced by the word of life and death will give way to the glory of the Resurrection.

Let us now pray, and join our words to those spoken by an ancient voice of the Christian East.

Lord Jesus, Grant us the tears we lack, that our sins may be washed clean. Grant us the courage to implore your mercy. On the day of your final judgment tear out the pages listing our sins and consign them to oblivion.[1]

Lord Jesus, you repeat to us this evening the words you once spoke to Peter: "Come, follow me". Obedient to your summons, we wish to follow you, step by step, along the way of your Passion, so that we too may learn to think as God thinks and not by human standards.

Amen.

[1]. NIL SORSKIJ (1433-1508), from the Penitential Prayer.

*** Moment of silence

PRESENTATION

OPENING PRAYER

FIRST STATION

SECOND STATION

THIRD STATION

FOURTH STATION

FIFTH STATION

SIXTH STATION

SEVENTH STATION

EIGHTH STATION

NINTH STATION

TENTH STATION

ELEVENTH STATION

TWELFTH STATION

THIRTEENTH STATION

FOURTEENTH STATION

BLESSING
*** back to main page

PRESENTATION

It was a late spring morning, somewhere between the years 30 and 33 of our era. In a street of Jerusalem -- which in centuries to come would be known simply as the "Via Dolorosa" -- a small procession was winding its way: escorted by a patrol of Roman soldiers, a man condemned to death advanced, carrying the patibulum, the horizontal arm of a cross whose vertical arm was already standing amid the stones of a small, rocky promontory called in Aramaic, Golgotha, and in Latin, Calvary, "the place of the skull".

This was the last chapter of a familiar story whose central figure is Jesus Christ, the man crucified and humiliated, the Lord risen and glorious. It was a story that began in the darkness and gloom of the evening before, beneath the olive branches of a field called Gethsemane, "the olive-press". A story that quickly unfolded in the strongholds of religious and political power and culminated in a sentence of death. Yet the case of that condemned man was unlike that of so many other victims of the brutal torture of crucifixion, which the Romans reserved for the punishment of revolutionaries and slaves. Not even the tomb, offered by a man of means named Joseph of Arimathea, could be the end of the story.

There would in fact be another chapter, astonishing and unexpected: the condemned man, Jesus of Nazareth, would splendidly reveal another nature hidden beneath the features of his human countenance and body: that of the Son of God. The end of the story was not the Cross and the tomb, but rather the brilliant light of his Resurrection and his glory. As the Apostle Paul, a few years later, would say: the one who renounced his glory to become powerless and weak like us, and abased himself even to accepting a shameful death by crucifixion, was exalted by the Father, who made him the Lord of earth and heaven, of history and eternity (cf. Phil 2:6-11).

For centuries Christians have retraced the steps of the Via Crucis, a path that leads to the hill of the crucifixion, with their gaze fixed on its ultimate goal, the light of Easter. They have made that journey as pilgrims along that same street in Jerusalem, but also in their cities, their churches and their homes. For centuries writers and artists, both famous and forgotten, have sought to touch the hearts of the faithful by bringing to life those steps or "stations", making them moments of meditation along the way to Golgotha. They have painted pictures ranging from the striking to the ordinary, from the sublime to the simple, from the dramatic to the plain and unaffected.

In Rome, this spiritual journey in the footsteps of Jesus sets out anew each Good Friday, led by the Pope, the Bishop of this City and the universal pastor, in union with Christians the world over. This year's reflections for each station are narrative and meditative in character, and follow the story of the Passion as recounted by the Evangelist Saint Luke. They have been written by a biblist, Monsignor Gianfranco Ravasi, prefect of the Ambrosian Library and Gallery in Milan, a cultural institution founded four centuries ago by Cardinal Federico Borromeo, Archbishop of that city and a cousin of Saint Charles Borromeo. A century ago, among its prefects, was Achille Ratti, the future Pope Pius XI.

Let us now begin together this journey of prayer, not simply for the sake of remembering past events and a tragic death, but to experience the crude realism of a story which nonetheless speaks of hope, joy and salvation. Perhaps others who are still searching, uncertain and troubled will make this journey alongside us. And as we make our way, step by step, along this path of suffering and of light, we will be able to hear an echo of the stirring words of the Apostle Paul: "Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory?… But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!" (1 Cor 15:54-55, 57).

*** A moment of silence

PRESENTATION

OPENING PRAYER

FIRST STATION

SECOND STATION

THIRD STATION

FOURTH STATION

FIFTH STATION

SIXTH STATION

SEVENTH STATION

EIGHTH STATION

NINTH STATION

TENTH STATION

ELEVENTH STATION

TWELFTH STATION

THIRTEENTH STATION

FOURTEENTH STATION

BLESSING
*** Back to the main page

Stations of the Cross Used by Benedict XVI on Holy Week 2007

This prayer of the Station of the Cross was prepared by Monsignor Gianfranco Ravasi, presided by the Pope in Roman Colosseum on the good friday of 2007.Prefect of the Ambrosian Library and Gallery of Milan.Benedict XVI presided over the event. The Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff released the translation. I break them in parts.

PRESENTATION

OPENING PRAYER

FIRST STATION: Jesus in the Garden of Olives

SECOND STATION: Jesus is betrayed by Judas and arrested

THIRD STATION: Jesus is condemned by the Sanhedrin

FOURTH STATION: Jesus is denied by Peter

FIFTH STATION : Jesus is judged by Pilate

SIXTH STATION: Jesus is scourged and crowned with thorns

SEVENTH STATION Jesus takes up his cross

EIGHTH STATION: Jesus is helped by the Cyrenean to carry his cross

NINTH STATION: Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem

TENTH STATION : Jesus is crucified

ELEVENTH STATION Jesus promises his Kingdom to the good thief

TWELFTH STATION: The crucified Jesus, the Mother and the disciple

THIRTEENTH STATION: Jesus dies on the cross

FOURTEENTH STATION: Jesus is laid in the tomb

BLESSING

***Back to Biblical Station of the Cross

***Back to Traditional Station of the Cross

***Back to Main Stations of the Cross

Biblical Station of the Cross

The biblical stations of the cross came out not because the traditional stations of the cross is wrong. We believe that it is based on oral tradition of the Church. However, there is clamor within the Church to make one which is biblically based so that we could also relate also to other separated to our Christian brethren and for those who have been formerly not in union with the Holy Catholic Church who are biblically oriented.

* Station of the Cross used by Pope Benedict XVI on Holy Week 2007

Stations of The Cross

Stations of The Cross is both a prayer and a form of Meditation. From centuries, the faithful and the clergy used it to meditate the suffering, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Fundamentally, we have two sets of the stations of the Cross. The traditional and the Biblical. Along the way, i will post the prayers as I have time. From both sets there are different versions as there are different reflection as suited to place ,time and people who prayed for it. I will post several of them. It is up to you to choose which one is suited for your spiritual growth.

Traditional

by Mother M. Angelica, P.C.P.A.

Biblical

Pages