During the start of Lent I was also moved by some 'Stations of the Cross' postings

that were kindly posted on The Ooze by Catie from Kansas (they were written by

Mother M. Angelica, she is a nun of the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration order).

As an aid to our Lenten reflections, I have posted them below with some images.

Jesus, I pray you receive this page as an act of worship for your glorious sacrifice.

1st Station:

Jesus Is Condemned To Death

"Silent Jesus, give us all the graces we need to stand tall in the face of the ridicule

of the world. Give the poor the strength not to succumb to their privation but to be

ever aware of their dignity as sons of God. Grant that we might not bend to the

crippling disease of worldly glory but be willing to be deprived of all things rather

than lose Your friendship. My Jesus, though we are accused daily of being fools, let

the vision of Quiet Dignity standing before Monstrous Injustice, give us all the

courage to be Your followers."

2nd Station:

Jesus Carries His Cross

"How could any human impose such a burden upon Your torn and bleeding body,

Lord Jesus? Each movement of the cross drove the thorns deeper into Your Head.

How did You keep the hatred from welling up in Your Heart? How did the injustice

of it all not ruffle your peace? The Father's Will was hard on You - Why do I

complain when it is hard on me?"

3rd Station:

Jesus Falls the First Time

"My Jesus, it seems to me, that as God, You would have carried Your cross without

faltering, but You did not. You fell beneath it's weight to show me You understand

when I fall. Is it pride that makes me want to shine even in pain? You were not

ashamed to fall- to admit the cross was heavy. There are those in world whom my

pride will not tolerate as I expect everyone to be strong, yet I am weak. I am

ashamed to admit failure in anything. If the Father permits failure in my life just as

He permitted You to fall, then I must know there is good in that failure which my

mind will never comprehend. I must not concentrate on the eyes of others as they

rest upon me in my falls. Rather, I must reach up to touch that invisible hand and

drink in that invisible strength ever at my side. Look upon all those whom the world

considers unprofitable servants and give them the courage to be more concerned

as to how they stand before You, rather than their fellowmen?"

4th Station:

Jesus Meets His Afflicted Mother

'Did every moment of that short encounter seem like an eternity? As I see so much

suffering in the world, there are times I think it is all hopeless. There is an element of

lethargy in my prayers for mankind that says "I'll pray, but what good will it do? The

sick grow sicker and the hungry starve. " I think of that glance between You and

Mary - the glance that said, "Let us give this misery to the Father for the salvation of

souls. The Father's power takes our pain and frustration and renews souls, saves

them for a new life - a life of eternal joy, eternal happiness. It is worth it all." Give

perseverance to the sick so they can carry the cross of frustration and agony with

love and resignation for the salvation of others.'

5th Station:

Simon Helps Jesus Carry His Cross

"My Jesus, Your tormentors enlisted Simon of Cyrene to help You carry Your cross.

Your humility is beyond my comprehension. Your power upheld the whole universe

and yet You permit one of Your creatures to help You carry a cross. I imagine Simon

was reluctant to take part in Your shame. He had no idea that all who watched and

jeered at him would pass into oblivion while his name would go down in history and

eternity as the one who helped his God in need. Is it not so with me, dear Jesus?

Even when I reluctantly carry my cross as Simon did, it benefits my soul. If I keep my

eyes on You and watch how You suffered, I will be able to bear my cross with

greater fortitude. Were you trying to tell all those who suffer from prejudice to have

courage? Was Simon a symbol of all those who are hated because of race, color

and creed?"

6th Station:

Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus

"My Jesus, where were all the hundreds of peoples whose bodies and souls were

healed by you? Where were they when You needed someone to give You the least

sign of comfort? Ingratitude must have borne down upon Your heart and made the

cross nearly impossible to carry. There are times I too feel all my efforts for Your

Kingdom are futile and end in nothingness. Did your eyes roam through the crowd

for the comfort of just one individual - one sign of pity - one sign of grief? My heart

thrills with a sad joy when I think of one woman, breaking away from fear and

human respect and offeringYou her thin veil to wipe Your bleeding Face. Your

loving heart, ever watching for the least sign of love, imprinted the Image of your

torn Face upon it! How can You forget Yourself so completely and reward such a

small act of kindness? I must admit, I have been among those who were afraid to

know You rather than like Veronica. She did not care if the whole world knew she

loved You. Heartbroken Jesus, give me that quality of the soul so necessary to

witness to spread Your Word - to tell all people of Your love for them. Send many

into Your Vineyard so the people of all nations may receive the Good News. Imprint

Your Divine Image upon my soul and let the thin veil of my human nature bear a

perfect resemblance to your loving Spirit."

7th Station:

Jesus Falls A Second Time

"My Jesus, one of the beautiful qualities the people admired in You was Your

strength in time of ridicule - Your ability to rise above the occasion. But now, You fall

a second time - apparently conquered by the pain of the Cross. People who judged

You by appearances made a terrible mistake. What looked like weakness was

unparalleled strength! I often judge by appearances and how wrong I am most of

the time. The world judges entirely by this fraudulent method of discerning. It looks

down upon those who apparently have given their best and are now in need. It

judges the poor as failures, the sick as useless and the aged as a burden. How

wrong that kind of judgment is in the light of your second fall! Your greatest moment

was Your weakest one. Your greatest triumph was in failure. Your greatest act of

love was in desolation. Your greatest show of power was in that utter lack of

strength that threw You to the ground. Weak and powerful Jesus, give me the grace

to see beyond what is visible and be more aware of Your Wisdom in the midst of

weakness. Give the aged, sick, handicapped, retarded, deaf and blind the fruit of joy

so they may ever be aware of the Father's gift and the vast difference between what

the world sees and what the Father sees that they may glory in their weakness so

the power of God may be manifest."

8th Station:

Jesus Speaks to the Holy Women

"My Jesus, I am amazed at Your compassion for others in Your time of need. When I

suffer, I have a tendency to think only of myself but You forgot Yourself completely.

When You saw the holy women weeping over Your torments, You consoled them

and taught them to look deeper into Your Passion. You wanted them to understand

that the real evil to cry over was the rejection You suffered from the Chosen people -

a people set apart from every other nation, who refused to accept God's Son. The

Act of Redemption would go on and no one would ever be able to take away Your

dignity as Son of God, but the evil, greed, jealousy and ambition in the hearts of

those who should have recognized You was the issue to grieve over. To be so

close to God made man and miss Him completely was the real crime. My Jesus, I

fear I do the same when I strain gnats and then swallow camels - when I take out

the splinter in my brother's eye and forget the beam in my own. It is such a gift - this

gift of faith. It is such a sublime grace to possess Your own Spirit. Why haven't I

advanced in holiness of life? I miss the many disguises you take upon Yourself and

see only people, circumstances and human events, not the loving hand of the

Father guiding all things. Help all those who are discouraged, sick, lonely and old to

recognize Your Presence in their midst."

9th Station:

Jesus Falls the Third Time

"My Jesus, even with the help of Simon You fell a third time. Were You telling me

that there may be times in my life that I will fall again and again despite the help of

friends and loved ones? There are times when the crosses You permit in my life are

more than I can bear. It is as if all the sufferings of a life time are suddenly

compressed into the present moment and it is more than I can stand.

Though it grieves my heart to see You so weak and helpless, it is a comfort to my

soul to know that you understand my sufferings from Your own experience. Your

love for me made You want to experience every kind of pain just so I could have

someone to look to for example and courage. When I cry out from the depths of my

soul, "This suffering is more than I can bear," do You whisper, "Yes, I understand"?

When I am discouraged after many falls, do you say in my innermost being, "Keep

going, I know how hard it is to rise". There are many people who are sorely tried in

body and soul with alcohol and drug weaknesses who try and try and fall again and

again. Through the humiliation of this third fall, give them the courage and

perseverance to take up their cross and follow you."

10th Station:

Jesus is Stripped of His Garments

"It seems that every step to Calvary brought You fresh humiliation, my Jesus. How

Your sensitive nature recoiled at being stripped before a crowd of people. You

desired to leave this life as You entered it - completely detached from all the

comforts of this world. You want me to know without a doubt that you loved me with

an unselfish love. Your love for me caused You nothing but pain and sorrow. You

gave everything and received nothing in return. Why do I find it so hard to be

detached? In your loving mind, dear Jesus, did You look up to the Father as You

stood there on that windy hill, shivering from cold and shame and trembling from

fear, and ask Him to have mercy on those who would violate their purity and make

love a mockery? Did you ask forgiveness for those whose greed would make them

lie, cheat and steal for a few pieces of cold silver? Forgive us all, dear Jesus. Look

upon the world with pity, for mankind has lost its way and the principles of this world

make lust a fun game and luxury a necessity. Detachment has become merely

another hardship of the poor and obedience the fault of the weak. Have mercy on

us and grant the people of this day the courage to see and know themselves and

the light to change."

11th Station:

Jesus is Nailed to the Cross

"It is hard to imagine a God being nailed to a cross by His own creatures. It is even

more difficult for my mind to understand a love that permitted such a thing to

happen! Were You stretching out Your arms to show us how much You love us? As

the feet that walked the hot, dusty roads were nailed fast, did they cramp up in a

deadly grip of pain to make reparation for all those who so nimbly run the broad

road of sin and self-indulgence? It seems, dear Jesus, Your love has held You

bound hand and foot as Your heart pleads for a return of love. You seem to shout

from the top of the hill "I love you - come to me - see, I am held fast - I cannot hurt

you - only you can hurt Me." How very hard is the heart that can see such love and

turn away. Is it not true I too have turned away when I did not accept the Father's

Will with love? Teach me to keep my arms ever open to love, to forgive and to

render service - willing to be hurt rather than hurt, satisfied to love and not be loved

in return."

12th Station:

Jesus Dies on the Cross

"God is dead! No wonder the earth quaked, the sun hid itself, the dead rose and

Mary stood by in horror. Your human body gave up it's soul in death but Your

Divinity, dear Jesus, continued to manifest its power. All creation rebelled as the

Word made Flesh departed from this world. Man alone was too proud to see and

too stubborn to acknowledge truth. Redemption was accomplished! Man would

never have an excuse to forget how much You loved him. The thief on Your right

saw something he could not explain - he saw a man on a tree and knew He was

God. His need made him see his own guilt and Your innocence. The Promise of

eternal life made the remaining hours of his torture. endurable. A common thief

responded to Your love with deep Faith, Hope, and Love. He saw more than his

eyes envisioned - he felt a Presence he could not explain and would not argue with.

He was in need and accepted the way God designed to help him. Forgive our pride,

dear Jesus as we spend hours speculating, days arguing and often a lifetime in

rejecting Your death, which is a sublime mystery. Have pity on those whose

intelligence leads them to pride because they never feel the need to reach out to

the Man of Sorrows for consolation."

13th Station:

Jesus is Taken Down From the Cross

"My Jesus, it was with deep grief that Mary finally took You into her arms and saw all

the wounds sin had inflicted upon You. Mary Magdalene looked upon Your dead

Body with horror. Nicodemus, the man so full of human respect, who came to You

by night, suddenly received the courage to help Joseph take you down from the

Cross. You are once more surrounded by only a few followers. When loneliness

and failure cross my path, let me think of this lonely moment and this total failure -

failure in the eyes of men. How wrong they were - how mistaken their concept of

success! The greatest act of love was given in desolation and the most successful

mission accomplished and finished when all seemed lost. Is this not true in my life,

dear Jesus? I judge my failures harshly. I demand perfection instead of holiness. My

idea of success is for all to end well - according to my liking. Give to all men the

grace to see that doing Your Will is more important than success. If failure is

permitted for my greater good then teach me how to use it to my advantage. Let me

say as You once said, that to do the Will of the Father is my food. Let not the

standards of this world take possession of me or destroy the good You have set for

me - to be Holy and to accomplish the Father's Will with great love. Let me accept

praise or blame, success or failure with equal serenity."

14th Station:

Jesus is Laid in the Sepulcher

"My Jesus, You were laid to rest in a stranger's tomb. You were born with nothing of

this world's goods and You died detached from everything. When You came into the

world, men slept and angels sang and now as You leave it, Creation is silent and

only a few weep. Both events were clothed in obscurity. The majority of men live in

such a way. Most of us live and die knowing and known by only a few. Were You

trying to tell us, dear Jesus, how very important our lives are just because we are

accomplishing the Father's Will? Will we ever learn the lesson of humility that

makes us content with who we are, where we are and what we are? Will our Faith

ever be strong enough to see power in weakness and good in the sufferings of our

lives? Will our Hope be trusting enough to rely on Your Providence even when we

have nowhere to lay our head? Will our Love ever be strong enough not to take

scandal in the cross? My Jesus, hide my soul in Your heart as You lie in the

Sepulcher alone. Let my heart be as a fire to keep you warm. Let my desire to know

and love You be like a torch to light up the darkness. Let my soul sing softly a hymn

of repentant love as the hours pass and Your Resurrection is at hand. Let me

rejoice, dear Jesus, with all the Angels in a hymn of praise and thanksgiving for so

great a love- so great a God- so great a day!"