O Lord Jesus Christ, you who enlightened me, as well as many others, with your excessive love towards me, and called me today to become more and more immersed in the depth of this love, help me to follow with courage the way of the Royal Cross where I can see you close to me at each step. Grant me especially this grace, which is to understand my happiness that is based on doing God’s will, repeating like you, this sublime saying: “Father … yet not my will, but yours be done!” (Luke 22:42).
And you, O Mary, Mother of Mercy, keep in the depth of my heart the memory of these tragic scenes which affected Jesus, so that I can be in the future his obedient son forever, he, who is the living King with God the Father, with the union of the Holy Spirit forever and ever, Amen.
Consider Jesus condemned to death
“When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness” (1 Peter 2:23).
Meditation: Jesus, the merciful, does not find mercy. His friends fled and he remained alone among his enemies, and waited for his sentence. Pilate sat on his throne in a high place while Jesus was standing under the ruler’s footstool. Jesus, the God, makes the will of man, what a revolution! The servant is high and the Master is low; the villain boasts and the righteous fades; the nothingness speaks, and the Word jesus is silent!
O Jesus, you who bowed your head in front of Pilate’s judgment, and remained silent without demonstrating to the world your righteousness and without requesting victory from Heaven, teach me to endure people’s judgment and to remain silent by bearing the complaint if I was innocent.
Consider Jesus carrying his cross on his shoulders
“After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities” (Isaiah 53:11).
Meditation: Like Isaac carried the firewood prepared for the sacrifice; and like the king carries his scepter confirming his absolute power on all the people; and like the victorious holds the souvenir of his victory; thus, Jesus went out to meet his cross, kissed it and carried it on his shoulder with joy, “and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).
O Jesus, you accepted to carry the cross, not only for my salvation, but to teach and encourage me to carry my life’s crosses.
Consider Jesus falling under his cross for the first time
“My sins have been bound into a yoke; by his hands they were woven together. They have come upon my neck and the Lord has sapped my strength. He has handed me over to those I cannot withstand” (Lamentations 1:14).
Meditation: The forces of the Lord were sapped so he fell … He fell, he who “his glory covered the heavens and his praise filled the earth” (Habakkuk 3:3); he fell to “strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way” (Isaiah 35:3).
Jesus fell and mixed his pure blood with soil, opened the gates of Paradise and the expelled man was invited in.
O Master, some people refuse the cross, some of them drag it grudgingly, and some of them lift it a little from the ground for fear of fatigue. Help me to be one of those who gladly carry the cross raised upon their shoulders.
Consider Jesus meeting his sad mother
“What can I say for you? With what can I compare you, O Daughter of Jerusalem? To what can I liken you, that I may comfort you, O Virgin Daughter of Zion? Your wound is as deep as the sea. Who can heal you?” (Lamentations 2:13).
Meditation: Mary was unable to carry the cross with her son, but she carried it in her heart. What a terrible sword! Here, she surrenders her will to her son’s will and looks at him as if he is telling her: “O beloved, return to the ark until the water of the flood of pain goes dry. There is no place for you here among the torturers and insulters.” Mary responded with the bravery, faithfulness and tenderness of the mother: “My ark, my place and my rest are found in my being with you and wherever you are.”
O Mary, my mother, walk with me on the paths of life as you walked with your son; stabilize my footsteps and rectify my ways.
Consider Simon of Cyrene helping Jesus to carry his cross
“A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross” (Mark 15:21).
Meditation: They assigned Simon to carry the cross for Jesus, not out of love for him, but out of fear that Jesus might die before being crucified, as such some of the hatred and revenge of the crucifiers was reduced. But Jesus accepted this Golgotha march in order to complete our salvation.
Before my death, I want to be a Cyrene man for you Jesus, helping my brothers who hold their crosses painstakingly, and if I encounter ingratitude or if I am suffering from my weighty loads, be my Cyrene Jesus!
Consider Veronica wiping the face of Jesus with her veil
“I called to my lovers, but they deceived me … They heard my groaning, yet there is no one to comfort me … All your enemies open their mouths wide against you; they scoff and gnash their teeth and say: We have swallowed her up. This is the day we have waited for; we have lived to see it” (Lamentations 1:19 and 21; 2:16).
Meditation: Where are your apostles, Jesus? Where are the masses that you satisfied with food and healed their patients? Only Veronica announced publicly and without fear her love for you, and wiped your face with her veil, and your image was immediately imprinted upon it.
Like Veronica, we can wipe your face: your face represents the poor, the hungry, the weepers, the patients, the blind, the lame, the disabled and the elderly.
O Jesus, make me wipe your divine face in my service using the scents of my faith, the balm of my love and the oil of my hope.
Consider Jesus falling under the cross for the second time
“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3/22).
Meditation: Behold the King of Heavens and the Creator of the world fallen on the ground for the second time under the heavy cross. Jesus fell to approach you and give you a hand! He is the Man of sorrows, the Man of obedience and humility, the Man of duty and work, the Man of love and sacrifice, the Man of tolerance and self-sacrifice …
Strengthen me with your power, O Jesus, to become able to get up and help others, and bring them your endless mercies, and your clemency that does not fade away.
Consider Jesus speaking to the daughters of Jerusalem
“A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. Jesus turned and said to them: ‘Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children’” (Luke 23/27).
Meditation: Who wants to dry the stream, must cut off the water of the spring. The source of Jesus’ torment is sin; and he did not forbid weeping over his passion, but he wants us to weep over our sins which are the cause of his passion.
O Jesus, my God, soften my heart which does not weep, illumine my mind that does not understand, suppress my will that is resistant, for I repent over my sins from the bottom of my heart.
Consider Jesus falling under the cross for the third time
“Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes. Cease to do evil. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1/16).
Meditation: The reason why Jesus fell for the third time is that he extended his hands of mercy and compassion over the past and future generations; however, they mocked his love for them because of their frequent madness. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, because our God is a forgiving and merciful God who does not want the death of the sinner but his life.
In the Cross we find salvation, life, protection, joy of the soul and perfection of sanctification. Strengthen me Jesus in order to accept my cross by heart and mind.
Consider Jesus stripped of his garments and given vinegar and gall
“They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst” (Psalm 69:21).
Meditation: Jesus was stripped of everything except his deep love for us, because his enemies and torturers failed to take that off him. The Son of God was naked although he is clothed with light, and he is the one who clothes humans, fills the sky with clouds, gives feathers to birds, and gives plants and flowers to the land. He did that to clothe the sinner with the garment of grace and atone for the nakedness of Adam …
O heart of Jesus, my God, I beg you to remove from my heart all attachment that is different and contradictory to the emotions of your Sacred Heart.
Consider Jesus nailed to the cross
“I lift up my eyes to the mountains, where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:1).
Meditation: The hands that healed the patients, raised the dead and were only lifted to give blessing, are nailed today! The two legs that grew weary in search for the desperate are punctured! The heart that has never ceased to love is injured! With the entitlement of his torments, Jesus wrote the act of our salvation, not on paper but on his divine body, not by a pen but by a nail of iron, and not with ink but with his own Holy blood!
Blessed is he who drinks of this bitterness that you drank; blessed is he who came to despise the world’s lies because of seeing you shamed; blessed is he who was strongly nailed on your cross, so that he is no longer able to extend his hands and arms but toward the sky.
Consider Jesus dying on the cross
“And He was numbered with the transgressors and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:12).
Meditation: The place is one, the Cross is one and the Redeemer is one, however, one thief is saved and the other perishes on the day of salvation of mankind! He perished near the tree of life; what can we say then about those who are far away. “O thief, you did not forget your profession, even when you are hanging on the cross. You were plundering people’s properties, and here you embezzled and robbed the eternal paradise” (John Chrysostom).
O my beloved Jesus , clean myself, wash it with your blood, garnish it with your graces so that when it goes to meet you it becomes known by you and a decent bride to live with you in the heavenly Kingdom.
Consider Jesus taken down from the cross and laid in the arms of his mother
“He said to her, ‘Woman, here is your son,’ and to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother’. (John 19:26).
Meditation: Before his death, Christ gave us his mother and she became the mother of all human beings. She is truly the Mother of God, and her love exceeds all maternal love and also her torment. Her feelings towards us are like her feelings towards her son, she protects us and defends us.
O Mary, when your beloved son was taken down from the cross, you accepted him, kissed him and put him in your lap, make me follow suit.
Consider Jesus lain in the sepulcher
“Now there was a man named Joseph, a good and upright man, who was waiting for the kingdom of God, then he took the body down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid” (Luke 23:50–53).
Meditation: God created the heavens and the earth with one word, but the work of salvation cost him the death of his Son. What has been said about God’s rest on the seventh day, pointed to the Christ’s rest in the sepulcher; however, this body without spirit, is watched over by God the Father, and surrounded by angels that honor it.
Teach me Jesus to bury with you in the grave my tendencies and vices, so that I deserve to enter heaven like you.
Consider Jesus rising from the dead
“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (Colossians 3:1–3).
Meditation: Vainly, the enemies of Jesus have asked him to come down from the Cross so they could believe in him. He did not meet their request, but handed himself to death, and death deadened him.
In his resurrection, everything has changed: the Man of Sorrows became the King of glory; the dead kills death today!
Glory be to your body my God which got out from the tomb victoriously, and to your deity announcing your ability with wonderful magnificence and splendor
