Prayer to the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

1. "Hail Mary, full of grace!"
Immaculate Virgin, here I am at your feet once again,
full of devotion and gratitude.
I return to this historic Piazza di Spagna
on the solemn day of your feast
to pray for the beloved city of Rome,
for the Church, for the whole world.
In you, "humble and highest of creatures",
divine grace had the full victory over evil.
You are for us, pilgrims on the paths of the world,
the bright model of evangelical fidelity
and the ever-living pledge of sure hope.

2. Virgin Mother, "Salvation of the Roman People!"
Watch over, I pray you, the beloved Diocese of Rome:
over pastors and faithful, parishes and religious communities.
Watch over families especially:
may love sealed by the Sacrament ever reign between spouses,
may children walk on the paths of goodness and true freedom,
may the elderly feel surrounded by attention and affection.
Inspire, Mary, in so many young hearts,
generous replies to the "call for the mission",
a subject on which the diocese has
been reflecting over the years.
Thanks to an intense pastoral program for vocations,
may Rome be enriched by new young forces,
dedicated with enthusiasm to proclaiming the Gospel
in the city and in the world.

3. Blessed Virgin, Queen of Apostles!
Assist those who through study
and prayer are preparing to labor
on the many frontiers of the new evangelization.
Today I entrust to you, in a special way,
the community of the Pontifical Urban College,
whose historic headquarters are located in front of this pillar.
May this wonderful institution founded 375 years ago
by Pope Urban VIII for the formation of missionaries,
be able to continue effectively its ecclesial service.
May those it gathers, seminarians and priests,
men and women religious and laity,
be ready to put their energies at the disposition
of Christ in service of the Gospel to the far corners of the globe.

4. "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us!"
Pray, O Mother, for all of us.
Pray for humanity for those who suffers poverty and injustice,
violence and hatred, terror and war.
Help us to contemplate with the rosary
the mysteries of Him who "is our peace",
so that we will all feel involved
in a persevering dedication of service to peace.
Look with special attention
upon the land in which you gave birth to Jesus,
a land that you loved together with Him,
and that is still so sorely tried today.
Pray for us, Mother of hope!
"Give us days of peace, watch over our way.
Let us see your Son as we rejoice in heaven". Amen!

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FOURTEENTH STATION: Jesus is laid in the tomb

FOURTEENTH STATION
Jesus is laid in the tomb

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

From the Gospel according to Luke 23:50-54

Now there was a man named Joseph from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man, who had not consented to their purpose and deed, and he was looking for the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud, and laid it in a rock-hewn tomb, where no one had ever been laid. It was the day of Preparation, and the sabbath was beginning.

MEDITATION

Wrapped in the winding sheet, the "shroud", the crucified, torn body of Jesus slips slowly from the loving and gentle hands of Joseph of Arimathea into the tomb hewn from the rock. In the hours of silence which follow, Christ will truly be like all men and women who enter into the dark womb of death, the stiffening of the limbs, the end. And yet in that twilight of Good Friday something was already in the air. The Evangelist Luke notes that "the Sabbath was beginning;" lamps were already flickering in the windows of the homes of Jerusalem.

The vigil kept by the Jews in their homes becomes, as it were, a symbol of the hope of those women, of that secret disciple of Jesus, Joseph of Arimathea, and of the other disciples. An expectation that now fills with warmth the heart of every believer who stands before a tomb or feels the cold touch of sickness or death. It is the expection of a new and different dawn, which in just a few hours, once the sabbath has passed, will appear before our eyes, the eyes of Christ's followers.

* * *

When that day breaks, we will be met on the street of the tombs by the angel who will say to us: "Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen"[42]! And as we return home, the Risen One will draw near and walk with us, coming to stay with us and breaking bread with us at table[43]. Then we too will pray in the faith-filled words of the magnificent Saint Matthew Passion, set to music by one of mankind's greatest musicians:[44]

"Though my heart is tearful because Jesus bids me farewell, yet his testament gives me joy. He bequeaths to me a precious treasure, his flesh and his blood… I will offer you my heart; immerse yourself therein, my Saviour! I will cast myself upon you! If the earth is too small for you, then you alone shall be for me more than earth and heaven!"

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.

Quando corpus morietur,
fac ut animæ donetur
paradisi gloria.
Amen.


[42] Luke 24:5-6.
[43] Luke 24:13-32.
[44] JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH, St Matthew Passion, BWV 244, Nos. 18-19.

*** Moment of Silence

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*** Back to Main Page

THIRTEENTH STATION: Jesus dies on the cross

THIRTEENTH STATION
Jesus dies on the cross

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

From the Gospel according to Luke. 23:44-47

It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun's light failed; and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit!" And having said this, he breathed his last. Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, and said, "Certainly this man was innocent!".

MEDITATION

At the beginning of our journey, the veil of night had fallen upon Jerusalem; now it is the darkness of an eclipse that spreads like a shroud over Golgotha. The "power of darkness"[39] seems to loom over the land where God is dying. Yes, the Son of God, to be truly human and our brother, must also drink from the chalice of death, that death which is really the mark of every descendent of Adam. And so Christ "has been made like his brethren in every respect"[40]; he has become fully one of us, standing at our side even in that final struggle between life and death. A struggle perhaps taking place even now for a man or a woman in this city of Rome, and in countless other cities and towns throughout the world.

This is no longer the God of the Greeks and Romans, impassible and remote, like an emperor confined to the gilded skies of his Olympus. In the dying Christ, God is now revealed as passionately in love with his creatures, even to the point of freely imprisoning himself within their twilight of pain and death. The crucifix is thus a universal human sign of the solitude of death, and of injustice and evil. But it is also a universal divine sign of hope for the fulfilment of the expectations of every centurion, that is, of every restless and searching person.

* * *

Indeed, even high on the cross, dying on that gibbet, Jesus, as he breathes his last, does not cease to be the Son of God. At that moment every human experience of suffering and death is embraced by the divine. It is made radiant with eternity, a seed of eternal life is planted within it, a spark of divine light bursts forth.

Death, while losing nothing of its tragedy, now shows an unexpected face: it has the same eyes as the heavenly Father. That is why Jesus at that final hour utters a touching prayer: "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit." Let us make that plea our own, in the prayerful words of a poet:[41] "Father, let your fingers also close my own eyes. / You who are a Father to me, turn to me like a tender Mother, / at the bedside of her gently sleeping child. / Father, come to me and take me into your arms."

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.

Vidit suum dulcem Natum
morientem desolatum,
cum emisit spiritum.


[39] Luke 22:53.
[40] Hebrews 2:17.
[41] MARIE NOËL, Song and Hours (1930).

*** Moment of Silence

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*** Back to Main Page

ELEVENTH STATION: Jesus promises his Kingdom to the good thief

ELEVENTH STATION
Jesus promises his Kingdom to the good thief

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

From the Gospel according to Luke. 23:39-43

One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, "Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!" But the other rebuked him, saying, "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong." And he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." And he said to him, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise."

MEDITATION

The minutes pass, as the crucified Jesus approaches his death; his life and his strength are slowly ebbing away. And yet he still has the strength to make a final gesture of love to one of the two men condemned to death who are beside him at that tragic moment, when the sun is still high in the heavens. Between Christ and that man a brief dialogue takes place, consisting of two essential phrases.

First, there is the plea of the criminal, whom tradition calls the "good thief", who is converted at the final hour of his life: "Jesus, remember me when you enter into your kingdom!" It is almost as if he was reciting his personal version of the "Our Father" with its invocation "Thy Kingdom come!" But he addresses it directly to Jesus, calling him by name, a name of extraordinary significance at that moment: "The Lord saves". Then, an imperative: "Remember me!" In the language of the Bible this verb has a particular force which conveys much more than our colourless word "remember". It is word that breathes certainty and confidence, as if to say: "Take care of me, do not abandon me, be like a friend who supports me and defends me!".

* * *

Then there is the reply of Jesus, quick, almost a whisper: "Today you will be with me in Paradise." This word, "Paradise", so rare in the Scriptures as to appear only two other times in the New Testament[37], in its original meaning suggests a lush and fruitful garden. It is a fragrant image of the Kingdom of light and peace that Jesus had proclaimed in his preaching and inaugurated with his miracles and which would shortly appear in its glory at Easter. It is the goal of our toilsome journey through history, it is fullness of life, it is the intimacy of God's embrace. It is the final gift which Christ makes to us, in the sacrifice of his death which opens up to the glory of the resurrection.

On that day of anguish and pain, those two crucified men said nothing else, yet the few words gasped from their parched throats echo even today. They will continue to echo as a sign of hope and salvation for those who have sinned, but have also come to believe and trust, even at life's final frontier.

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.

Sancta mater, istud agas,
Crucifixi fige plagas
cordi meo valide.


[37] Cf. 2 Corinthians 12:4; Revelation 2:7.

*** Moment of Silence

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*** Back to Main Page

TENTH STATION : Jesus is crucified

TENTH STATION
Jesus is crucified

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

From the Gospel according to Luke. 23:33-38

And when they came to the place which is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on the right and one on the left. And Jesus said, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." And they cast lots to divide his garments. And the people stood by, watching; but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, "He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!" The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him vinegar, and saying, "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!" There was also an inscription over him, "This is the King ofthe Jews."

MEDITATION

It was merely a rocky spur, called Golgotha in Aramaic and, in Latin, Calvary, "the Skull", perhaps because of its physical appearance. On that peak rise three crosses, the crosses of men sentenced to death, two "criminals", probably anti-Roman revolutionaries, and Jesus. The last hours of Christ's earthly life begin, hours marked by the rending of his flesh, the dislocation of his bones, progressive asphyxia, interior desolation. These are hours that demonstrate the complete solidarity of the Son of God with human beings who suffer and slowly die.

A poet[33] once said: "The thief on the left and the thief on the right / felt only the nails driven into their hands. / But Christ felt the pain offered for salvation, / his side torn open, his heart run through. / It is his heart that burned. / His heart consumed by love." Truly, all around that cross there seem to echo the words of Isaiah: "He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are healed. He makes himself an offering for sin"[34]. The outstretched arms of that mangled body want to draw to themselves the entire horizon, embracing humanity, "as a hen gathers her brood under her wings"[35]. For this was his mission: "When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to myself"[36].

* * *

Beneath that dying body files the crowd, anxious to "view" a ghastly spectacle. It is a scene of superficiality, crass curiosity, thrill-seeking. A picture in which we can also see a society like our own, which looks for stimulation and excess as if they were a kind of drug capable of arousing a sluggish soul, an unfeeling heart, a darkened mind.

Beneath that cross there is also cold hard cruelty, that of the leaders and the soldiers who in their ruthlessness are even capable of profaning suffering and death by their mockery: "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!" They are unaware that their words of sarcasm and the official title above the cross -- "This is the King of the Jews" -- are full of truth. Certainly, Jesus does not come down from the cross in a sudden dramatic turnabout: he does not desire servile obedience based on miracles, but a faith that is free, a love that is authentic. And yet, in his abject humiliation and in the very powerlessness of his death, he opens the door to glory and life, and reveals himself as the true Lord and King of history and of the world.

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.

Fac ut ardeat cor meum
in amando Christum Deum,
ut sibi complaceam.


[33] CHARLES PÉGUY, The Mystery of the Charity of Saint Joan of Arc (1910).
[34] Isaiah 53:5, 10.

[35] Luke 13:34.
[36] John 12:32.

*** Moment of Silence

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*** Back to Main Page

NINTH STATION: Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem

NINTH STATION
Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem

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

From the Gospel according to Luke. 23:27-31

And there followed him a great multitude of the people, and of women who bewailed and lamented him. But Jesus turning to them said: "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, 'Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never gave suck! Then they will begin to say to the mountains, 'Fall on us'; and to the hills, 'Cover us. ' For if they do this when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?"

MEDITATION

On that spring Friday, the path leading to Golgotha was thronged not only with the idle, the curious and those hostile to Jesus. There was also a group of women, perhaps the members of a group devoted to consolation and ritual lamentation for the dying and those condemned to death. Christ, during his earthly life, had overcome convention and prejudice, and had often surrounded himself with women, conversing with them, listening to their troubles, small and great: from the fever of Peter's mother-in-law to the tragedy of the widow of Nain, from the weeping prostitute to the interior anguish of Mary Magdalen, from the affection of Martha and Mary to the sufferings of the woman afflicted by hemorrages, from the young daughter of Jairus to the crippled elderly woman, from the noble Joanna, the wife of Chuza, to the poor widow and the women in the crowd that followed him.

Jesus, to his final hour, is thus surrounded by a world of mothers, daughters and sisters. Standing at his side we now can also imagine all those women who have been abused and raped, ostracized and submitted to shameful tribal practices, anxious women left to raise their children alone, Jewish and Palestinian mothers, and those from all countries at war, widows and the elderly forgotten by their children… a long line of women who bear witness before an arid and pitiless world to the gift of tenderness and compassion, even as they did for the Son of Mary on that late morning in Jerusalem. They teach us the beauty of emotions: that we should not be ashamed when our heart is moved by compassion, when tears sometimes come to our eyes, when we feel the need of a caress and comforting words.

* * *

Jesus does not disregard the charitable concern shown by those women, just as once he had accepted other gestures of kindness. But paradoxically, he is now the one who is concerned for the sufferings about to befall those "daughters of Jerusalem": "Do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children." Looming on the horizon is a firestorm about to break upon the people and the holy city, a "dry wood" ready to stir up the blaze.

Jesus' gaze turns to the divine judgement soon to be visited on the evil, injustice, and hatred that feed that flame. Christ is distressed at the grief that is about to overtake those mothers once God's just intervention bursts in upon history. But his ominous words are not the seal set upon a hopeless fate, because he speaks with the voice of the prophets, a voice that creates not suffering and death, but conversion and life: "Seek the Lord and live… Then shall the maidens rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy, I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow"[32].

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.

Eia mater, fons amoris,
me sentire vim doloris
fac, ut tecum lugeam.

[32] Amos 5:6; Jeremiah 31:13.

*** Moment of Silence

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*** Back to Main Page

SIXTH STATION: Jesus is scourged and crowned with thorns

SIXTH STATION
Jesus is scourged and crowned with thorns

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

From the Gospel according to Luke. 22:63-65

Now the men who were holding Jesus mocked him and beat him; they also blindfolded him and asked him, "Prophesy! Who is it that struck you?" and they spoke many other words against him, reviling him.

From the Gospel according to John. 19:2-3

And the soldiers plaited a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and arrayed him in a purple robe; they came up to him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" and struck him with their hands.

MEDITATION

One day, walking in the valley of the Jordan not far from Jericho, Jesus halted and spoke to the Twelve with words of fire, words they found impossible to understand: "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the Gentiles, and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon; and they will scourge him and kill him, ….[14]". Now at last, the full meaning of those enigmatic words is revealed: in the courtyard of the pretorium, the residence of the Roman governor in Jerusalem, the grim ritual of torture has begun, while outside the palace the murmur of the crowd begins to swell, in expectation of the spectacle of the death march.

In that room closed to the public, things take place that will be repeated down the centuries in a thousand sadistic and perverse ways, in the darkness of countless prison cells. Jesus is not only physically struck but mocked. Indeed, the Evangelist Luke, to describe those insults, uses the word "blaspheme", as if to bring out the deepest meaning of the violent abuse which the soldiers heap on their victim. And the torments inflicted upon Christ's flesh are accompanied by a gruesome farce that is an affront to his personal dignity.

* * *

The Evangelist John recounts that insulting parody, based on the popular game of the mock king. There is a crown whose points are made of thorny twigs; the royal purple is replaced by a red mantle; there is the imperial salute: "Hail, Caesar!". And yet, behind all this mockery, we can see a glorious sign: yes, Jesus is reviled like a mock king, yet in reality he is the true Sovereign of history.

When, in the end, his kingship will be revealed -- as another Evangelist, Matthew, tells us[15] -- he will condemn every torturer and tyrant, and summon into his glory not only their victims, but all those who visited prisoners, healed the wounded and the suffering, and assisted the hungry, the thirsty and the persecuted. Now, however, the face transfigured on Tabor [16] is disfigured; the one who is "the reflection of God's glory"[17] is darkened and abased; as Isaiah had proclaimed, the messianic Servant of the Lord has his back furrowed by the lash, his beard plucked, his face covered with spittle [18]. In him, the God of glory, our suffering humanity is revealed; in him, the Lord of history, the frailty of every creature is revealed; in him, the Creator of the world, the painful cry of every living creature finds an echo.

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.

Pro peccatis suae gentis
vidit Iesum in tormentis
et flagellis subditum.


[14] Luke 18:31-32
[15] Cf. Matthew 25:31-46.

[16] Cf. Luke 9:29.
[17] Cf. Hebrews 1:3.
[18] Cf. Isaiah 50:6

*** Moment of Silence

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BLESSING
*** Back to Main Page

FIFTH STATION : Jesus is judged by Pilate

FIFTH STATION
Jesus is judged by Pilate

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

From the Gospel according to Luke. 23:13-25

Pilate called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, and said to them, "You brought me this man as one who was perverting the people; and after examining him before you, behold, I did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him; neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Behold, nothing deserving death has been done by him; I will therefore chastise him and release him." But they all cried out together, "Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas -- a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city, and for murder. Pilate addressed them once more, desiring to release Jesus; but they shouted out, "Crucify, crucify him!" A third time he said to them, "Why, what evil has he done? I have found in him no crime deserving death; I will therefore chastise him and release him. But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified. And their voices prevailed. So Pilate gave sentence that their demand should be granted. He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, whom they asked for; but Jesus he delivered up to their will.

MEDITATION

Jesus is now surrounded by the insignia of empire, the banners, eagles and standards of Roman authority, in yet another fortress of power, the palace of the governor Pontius Pilate, an obscure man whose name is overlooked in the histories of the Roman Empire. And yet it is a name which is heard every Sunday throughout the world, precisely because of the trial now taking place: for Christians proclaim in the Creed that Christ "was crucified under Pontius Pilate". On the one hand, he seems to incarnate repressive brutality, inasmuch as Luke, on one page of his Gospel, speaks of the day in the temple when he had mingled the blood of Jews with that of the sacrificial animals [12]. At his side we encounter another dark, strange power: the savage power of the masses, manipulated by occult forces hatching plots in the shadows. The result is the decision to release an insurgent and a murderer, Barabbas.

On the other hand, however, a different image of Pilate emerges: he seems to stand for the traditional equity and impartiality of Roman law. Three times, in fact, Pilate attempts to release Jesus for insufficient evidence, imposing at most the disciplinary sanction of scourging. The charges against him did not stand up to a serious judicial inquiry. As all the Evangelists show, Pilate displays a certain openness, a receptiveness that nonetheless slowly fades away and dies.

* * *

Pressured by public opinion, Pilate embodies an attitude which appears common enough in our own times: indifference, lack of concern, personal expediency. To avoid trouble and to get ahead, we are ready to trample on truth and justice. Explicit immorality generates at least a shock or some reaction, whereas this approach is pure amorality; it paralyzes the conscience, stifles remorse, and blunts the mind. Indifference is the lingering death of authentic humanity.

The outcome is found in Pilate's final choice. As the ancient Romans would say, a false and apathetic justice is like a spiderweb in which gnats are caught and die, but which birds can tear apart by the strength of their flight. Jesus, one of the little ones of the earth, powerless to utter a word, is smothered by this web. And as we ourselves so often do, Pilate looks on from afar, washes his hands and, as an alibi, tosses off -- so the Evangelist John tells us [13] -- the age-old question typical of every form of scepticism and ethical relativism: "What is truth?".

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.

Quis est homo qui non fleret,
matrem Christi si videret
in tanto supplicio?


[12] Cf. Luke 13:1.
[13] John 18:38

*** 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
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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