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| Stations of the Cross
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| The
Third Station |
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Jesus
Falls the First Time |
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V.
We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee:
(genuflect)
R.
Because by thy holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world.
THE
READING: (St. John 15:18-20)
Jesus
said to his disciples: If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me
before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love
his own; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out
of the world, therefore the world hated you. Remember the word
that I said unto you: The servant is not greater than his
lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you.
V.
Because I led thee through the desert forty years,
and fed thee with manna, and brought thee into a land exceeding good: thou
hast prepared a cross for thy Savior.
R.
Holy and Immortal, have mercy upon us.
Let us
pray:
Almighty
God, who hast given thy Son to be unto us both a sacrifice for sin and
also an example of godly life: Give us grace that we may always most
thankfully receive that inestimable benefit, and also daily endeavor
ourselves to follow the blessed steps of his most holy life; through the
same thy Son Jesus Christ our
Lord (who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost,
ever one God, world without end). Amen.
V.
O Savior of the world, who by thy Cross and Precious Blood hast redeemed
us:
R.
Save us and help us, we humbly beseech thee, O Lord.
| Reflection:
Jesus,
bowed down under the weight and the length of the unwieldy Cross,
which trailed after Him, slowly sets forth on His way, amid the
mockeries and insults of the crowd. His agony in the Garden itself
was sufficient to exhaust Him; but it was only the first of a
multitude of sufferings. He sets off with His whole heart, but His
limbs fail Him, and He falls.
Yes,
it is as I feared. Jesus, the strong and mighty Lord, has found for
the moment our sins stronger than Himself. He falls--yet He bore the
load for a while; He tottered, but He bore up and walked onwards.
What, then, made Him give way? I say, I repeat, it is an intimation
and a memory to thee, O my soul, of thy falling back into mortal
sin. I repented of the sins of my youth, and went on well for a
time; but at length a new temptation came, when I was off my guard,
and I suddenly fell away. Then all my good habits seemed to go at
once; they were like a garment which is stripped off, so quickly and
utterly did grace depart from me. And at that moment I looked at my
Lord, and lo! He had fallen down, and I covered my face with my
hands, and remained in a state of great confusion. |
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