The Stations of the Cross in Verse
Prayers before the altar
+ In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Versicle (V.) Christ for us became obedient unto death,
Response (R.) even the death of the Cross.
Let us pray
O CHRIST JESUS, my Lord and my God, with what great love did you traverse the painful road which led you to your death! And I, how often have I forsaken you! But now I love you with all my heart, and because I love you I am sincerely sorry for having sinned against you. Forgive me, Lord Jesus, and look with mercy on me as in spirit I accompany you on the Way of Sorrows. You died for love of me: may I die to sin for love of you, my most holy Saviour.
V. O Saviour of the world, who by your Cross and precious Blood has redeemed us,
R. save us and help us, we humbly beseech you, O Lord.
The First Station: Jesus is condemned to death
V. (Genuflecting) We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you,
R. because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
Good Friday morn: the priests and rulers, Lord,
have hurried you to Pilate’s judgement-hall,
where packed before the portico a horde
of riff-raff joins them, void of pity all.
When pagan Pilate seeks to have you freed,
your people with united voice reply,
“Barabbas is our choice: we’re all agreed.
Jesus? Away with Jesus, let him die”.
The chant of “Crucify” begins to grow,
until at last before this Devil’s choir
Pilate gives way. He lets Barabbas go,
and you he sends to death as they desire.
Prayer
O HOLY JESUS, it was not Pilate; it was my sins that condemned you to die. I beseech you, by the merits of this sorrowful journey, to assist my soul on its journey to eternity.
Act of contrition
O GOD, we love you with our whole hearts and above all things, and are heartily sorry that we have offended you. May we never offend you any more. May we love you without ceasing, and make it our delight to do in all things your most holy will.
Our Father Hail Mary
V. O Saviour of the world, who by your Cross and precious Blood has redeemed us,
R. save us and help us, we humbly beseech you, O Lord.
The Second Station: Jesus receives his Cross
V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you,
R. because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
Your kingly beauty cruelly is scored
by brutal scourge and crown of thorns. Your brow
and back are crimsoned o’er with blood new poured.
The soldiers in derisive homage bow.
The terrifying instrument of death
is laid on you. The journey now begins
to Calvary, but till your dying breath
you bear the greater weight of all our sins.
Prayer
O HOLY JESUS, help me to accept whatever tribulations may be in store for me until the day of my death, and to unite them with your own. By the merits of the pain which you suffered in carrying your Cross, give me your strength that I may carry mine with patience and courage.
Act of contrition
O GOD, we love you with our whole hearts and above all things, and are heartily sorry that we have offended you. May we never offend you any more. May we love you without ceasing, and make it our delight to do in all things your most holy will.
Our Father Hail Mary
V. O Saviour of the world, who by your Cross and precious Blood has redeemed us,
R. save us and help us, we humbly beseech you, O Lord.
The Third Station: Jesus falls the first time under his Cross
V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you,
R. because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
In vain you look for pity or relief
as now the path, long prophesied, you tread;
despised, rejected and a man of grief,
in lamb-like silence to the slaughter led.
Exhausted by your wounds, and by the baulk
of heavy timber burning like a fire
your shoulders raw, no farther can you walk,
but fall and crumple in the city mire.
Forced to your feet, you take the Cross again.
No lashes and no curses are you spared.
You stumble on along the street of pain:
a beast of burden would have better fared.
Prayer
O HOLY JESUS, it was the weight, not only of the Cross, but of the sins of human beings which caused you so much pain. By the merits of this first fall, save me from falling into serious sin.
Act of contrition
O GOD, we love you with our whole hearts and above all things, and are heartily sorry that we have offended you. May we never offend you any more. May we love you without ceasing, and make it our delight to do in all things your most holy will.
Our Father Hail Mary
V. O Saviour of the world, who by your Cross and precious Blood has redeemed us,
R. save us and help us, we humbly beseech you, O Lord.
The Fourth Station: Jesus meets his Mother
V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you,
R. because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
A Roman trooper in his scarlet cloak
and crested helmet clatters on ahead
to clear the way, when from the crowds that choke
the street, your Mother steps with falt’ring tread.
What agonising feelings then arose
within your minds, no human words can frame.
The mutual anguish in your faces shows:
the Via Dolorosa earns its name.
Prayer
O HOLY JESUS, by the sorrow which you experienced in this most sorrowful meeting, grant that with you I may truly love your holy Mother.
AND, O MOTHER OF CHRIST, who yourself were overwhelmed with grief, obtain for me by your intercession a frequent and tender remembrance of the Passion of your Son.
Act of contrition
O GOD, we love you with our whole hearts and above all things, and are heartily sorry that we have offended you. May we never offend you any more. May we love you without ceasing, and make it our delight to do in all things your most holy will.
Our Father Hail Mary
V. O Saviour of the world, who by your Cross and precious Blood has redeemed us,
R. save us and help us, we humbly beseech you, O Lord.
The Fifth Station: Simon of Cyrene is compelled to bear the Cross
V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you,
R. because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
You struggle on in manifest distress.
Alarmed, your escort fear that you may die
before you can be crucified, unless
the Cross is laid upon some passer-by.
So Simon of Cyrene is compelled
to take up and to bear the Cross abhorred;
and thus is brought, his first resentment quelled,
to own you as his Master and his Lord.
Prayer
O HOLY JESUS, give me your grace that I may not refuse to carry my cross, whatever form it may take. Grant that I may peacefully accept my death and any pains which may accompany it. I now offer it, in union with your own death, and pray that it may be my final and total consecration of myself to you. As you have died for love of me, help me, Good Lord, to love you without wavering to the end.
Act of contrition
O GOD, we love you with our whole hearts and above all things, and are heartily sorry that we have offended you. May we never offend you any more. May we love you without ceasing, and make it our delight to do in all things your most holy will.
Our Father Hail Mary
V. O Saviour of the world, who by your Cross and precious Blood has redeemed us,
R. save us and help us, we humbly beseech you, O Lord.
The Sixth Station: Veronica wipes the face of Jesus
V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you,
R. because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
Along the route you see brutality
and scorn in every face, until your plight
calls forth a gleaming act of charity –
a single star that lights the stormy night.
Veronica, amid the callous jeers,
wipes from your face with gentle reverence
the blood and dirt; and on the cloth appears
the imprint of your holy countenance.
Prayer
O HOLY JESUS, your face was beautiful before, but in this journey it has been disfigured by injuries and blood and dirt. Alas, my soul also was once beautiful when it received your grace in Baptism; but since then I have disfigured it by my many sins. You alone, my Saviour, can restore its former beauty. Do this, Lord Jesus, by your Cross and precious Blood.
Act of contrition
O GOD, we love you with our whole hearts and above all things, and are heartily sorry that we have offended you. May we never offend you any more. May we love you without ceasing, and make it our delight to do in all things your most holy will.
Our Father Hail Mary
V. O Saviour of the world, who by your Cross and precious Blood has redeemed us,
R. save us and help us, we humbly beseech you, O Lord.
The Seventh Station: Jesus falls the second time
V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you,
R. because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
Weakened by pain and weariness you go,
bearing the Cross along the winding street.
Again you fall, and still the escort show
no mercy as they drag you to your feet.
Prayer
O HOLY JESUS, how often have you pardoned me, and yet how often have I fallen again into sin! By the merits of this your second fall, help me to persevere in your grace until death; and grant that in all temptations I may turn to you without delay.
Act of contrition
O GOD, we love you with our whole hearts and above all things, and are heartily sorry that we have offended you. May we never offend you any more. May we love you without ceasing, and make it our delight to do in all things your most holy will.
Our Father Hail Mary
V. O Saviour of the world, who by your Cross and precious Blood has redeemed us,
R. save us and help us, we humbly beseech you, O Lord.
The Eighth Station: the women of Jerusalem mourn for Our Lord
V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you,
R. because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
The daughters of Jerusalem bewail
your fate and fill the air with uncontrolled
laments; but you can move aside the veil
of time, and see the city’s fate unfold.
You bid them, with compassionate concern,
to mourn the anguish of Jerusalem,
when old and young within its walls will yearn
for Judah’s hills to fall and cover them.
Prayer
O HOLY JESUS, burdened with sorrow, I grieve for all the offences which I have committed against you. I grieve, not only because of the punishments which they have deserved, but still more for the pain which they have given you, who loves me with an infinite love. May this love of yours, rather than any fear of Hell, ever fill me with true sorrow for my sins.
Act of contrition
O GOD, we love you with our whole hearts and above all things, and are heartily sorry that we have offended you. May we never offend you any more. May we love you without ceasing, and make it our delight to do in all things your most holy will.
Our Father Hail Mary
V. O Saviour of the world, who by your Cross and precious Blood has redeemed us,
R. save us and help us, we humbly beseech you, O Lord.
The Ninth Station: Jesus falls the third time
V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you,
R. because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
You climb the final, steep ascent. Your strength,
from many sleepless hours and pain and loss
of blood, is ebbing fast until at length
you fall once more beneath the heavy Cross.
Prayer
O HOLY JESUS, by the merits of the weakness which you suffered on the way to Calvary, give me sufficient strength so to be freed from the fear and favour of human beings, that I may never seem to hold you cheap nor fail to be your champion and your friend.
Act of contrition
O GOD, we love you with our whole hearts and above all things, and are heartily sorry that we have offended you. May we never offend you any more. May we love you without ceasing, and make it our delight to do in all things your most holy will.
Our Father Hail Mary
V. O Saviour of the world, who by your Cross and precious Blood has redeemed us,
R. save us and help us, we humbly beseech you, O Lord.
The Tenth Station: Jesus is stripped of his garments
V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you,
R. because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
You stand outside the city at the place
decreed. The soothing potion you have sipped
and have refused. With senses keen you face
the torment and the shame of being stripped.
A crowd of sightseers watch the soldiers tear
away your clothes, which to your wounded flesh
adhere. Thus at your journey’s end you bear
the scourging and its agony afresh.
Prayer
O HOLY JESUS, by the merits of this torment which you endured, help me so to strip from myself the love of all material things, that you may always come first in my affection, you who are worthy of all the love my heart and mind can give.
Act of contrition
O GOD, we love you with our whole hearts and above all things, and are heartily sorry that we have offended you. May we never offend you any more. May we love you without ceasing, and make it our delight to do in all things your most holy will.
Our Father Hail Mary
V. O Saviour of the world, who by your Cross and precious Blood has redeemed us,
R. save us and help us, we humbly beseech you, O Lord.
The Eleventh Station: Jesus is nailed to the Cross
V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you,
R. because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
On Calvary the short, sharp ring is heard
of hammers as they nail you to the Tree.
Of bitterness, you utter not a word.
“Father, forgive them” is your only plea.
When we like sheep were gone astray and lost,
you did not shrink from coming to our aid,
ready to pay whate’er might be the cost:
the Crucifixion is the cost you paid.
Your outstretched arms the measure thus reveal
of your immeasurable love for all,
and reaching east and west in mute appeal
they bid us come in answer to your call.
Prayer
O HOLY JESUS, who suffered crucifixion for my sins, I lay my heart at your wounded feet that there it may remain to love you, my Saviour, and never be separated from you again.
Act of contrition
O GOD, we love you with our whole hearts and above all things, and are heartily sorry that we have offended you. May we never offend you any more. May we love you without ceasing, and make it our delight to do in all things your most holy will.
Our Father Hail Mary
V. O Saviour of the world, who by your Cross and precious Blood has redeemed us,
R. save us and help us, we humbly beseech you, O Lord.
The Twelfth Station: Jesus dies upon the Cross
V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you,
R. because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
For three long hours the supernatural night,
which matched the desolation of your soul,
has blotted out the land from human sight,
but in that night you have achieved your goal.
The Devil has himself spared no device
to part you from your Father, but in vain.
Completely sinless, you have paid the price
of entering our world of sin and pain.
Thus, by your perfect sacrifice, you win
the right before your Father’s throne to bring
all contrite, faithful souls now freed from sin;
and, dying, you have drawn from death its sting.
The night has passed, and with it passed the strife.
Your spirit tranquilly you now commend
into your Father’s hands, and bring your life
in trustful calm to its triumphant end.
Prayer
O DYING JESUS, in spirit I kiss the foot of the Cross on which you died for love of me. I have merited by my sins to die in despair, but your death is my confidence and my hope. By its merits give the grace to die in peace, that my heart may be full of love for you, and of good will towards all whom I have injured or who may have injured me. Into your Father’s hands I commit my soul now and at the hour of my death.
Act of contrition
O GOD, we love you with our whole hearts and above all things, and are heartily sorry that we have offended you. May we never offend you any more. May we love you without ceasing, and make it our delight to do in all things your most holy will.
Our Father Hail Mary
V. O Saviour of the world, who by your Cross and precious Blood has redeemed us,
R. save us and help us, we humbly beseech you, O Lord.
The Thirteenth Station: Jesus is taken down from the Cross and laid in his Mother's arms
V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you,
R. because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
All that the Cross
can do, is done;
and, Mary, you take and lament
your Son.
Gentle your touch,
gentle your breast,
as cradled he lies in your arms
at rest.
Crimson his hands,
crimson his feet
with blood that betokens his love
complete.
Mother of Christ,
Mother of pain,
who wept as you looked on your Son
thus slain,
pray for us now,
pray for us all,
that dying we hear unafraid
God’s call.
Prayer
O MOTHER OF SORROW, for the love of your Son, accept me as your humble child and pray for me.
AND JESUS, MY SAVIOUR, since you have died for me, grant that I may love you always and be yours for ever.
Act of contrition
O GOD, we love you with our whole hearts and above all things, and are heartily sorry that we have offended you. May we never offend you any more. May we love you without ceasing, and make it our delight to do in all things your most holy will.
Our Father Hail Mary
V. O Saviour of the world, who by your Cross and precious Blood has redeemed us,
R. save us and help us, we humbly beseech you, O Lord.
The Fourteenth Station: Jesus is laid in the sepulchre
V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you,
R. because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
In Joseph’s costly sepulchre secure
you now are laid, who in the stable cave
were humbly born. Thus you who had a poor
man’s birth, are buried in a rich man’s grave.
His task completed, Joseph rolls the stone
in place across the entrance and departs.
The holy women linger there alone,
until they also leave with stricken hearts.
A peaceful stillness settles on the scene,
whence all the tumult and the strife have fled.
And there your Body, in repose serene,
awaits your Resurrection from the dead.
Prayer
O LORD JESUS CHRIST, Son of the Living God, who after the tumult and torment of the day did rest in the sepulchre, and thereby sanctified the grave to be a bed of hope for your people; make us so to abound in sorrow for our sins, which were the cause of your Passion, that when our bodies lie in the dust, our souls may live with you.
Act of contrition
O GOD, we love you with our whole hearts and above all things, and are heartily sorry that we have offended you. May we never offend you any more. May we love you without ceasing, and make it our delight to do in all things your most holy will.
Our Father Hail Mary
V. O Saviour of the world, who by your Cross and precious Blood has redeemed us,
R. save us and help us, we humbly beseech you, O Lord.
The Fifteeth Station: Jesus is raised from the dead
V. Heaviness may endure for a night,
R. but joy comes in the morning.
Before the dawn of that first Easter Day,
your Body passed beyond all time and space
to be united with your soul for aye,
leaving behind the gravebands still in place.
Vain was the guard before the tomb, and vain
the gloomy realm of death and all its might,
for by the might of God you rose again
to share his realm of everlasting light.
Thus did the ancient prophecy come true
that God would not allow his Holy One
to see corruption, and in raising you
he sealed his pleasure on his righteous Son.
Prayer
O LIVING LORD, who died my soul to save,
may I so love and serve you here below
that when my body lies within the grave,
the joy of your own Presence I may know.
Our Father Hail Mary Glory be
Prayers before the altar
V. We glory in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,
R. in whom is our salvation, our life and resurrection.
Let us pray
O LORD JESUS CHRIST, who on the third day did rise again from the dead, I beseech you by your Resurrection that I may rise in glory at the last day, and be for ever united with you in Heaven to see you and love you for all eternity. Amen.
Acknowledgements
Via Dolorosa: Stations of the Cross in Verse was written by the Rev. Mervyn Pendleton MA. The prayers, with the exception of the one after the Fourteenth Station, are suggested by those of St Alphonsus. The prayer after the Fourteenth Station is adapted from a prayer in the Office of Compline.