Composed by Father Linus Clovis
PREPARATORY PRAYER
ACT OF CONTRITION
O, my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended you. I detest all my sins because of your just punishment, but most of all because they offend you, my God, who are all-good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Your grace to sin no more and to avoid the near occasion of sin. Amen.
PRAYER FOR THE POPE
May the Lord preserve our Holy Father Pope N., give him life, and make him blessed upon earth, and deliver him not to the will of his enemies.
LET US PRAY:
O God, the Shepherd and Ruler of all the faithful, in Your mercy look down upon Your servant, N, our Pope, whom You have appointed to preside over Your Church, and grant we beg You that both by word and example he may edify those who are under his charge; so that, with the flock entrusted to him, he may attain life everlasting. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
PRAYER TO RESPECT LIFE
Heavenly Father, You crowned Your creation with the beauty and dignity that You conferred on human life by creating us in your own image and likeness. You further ennobled that life when Your Son stooped down to share our condition in His Incarnation. Help us to recognize the inherent sacredness of all human life and to respect it from the moment of conception until natural death. Grant us the courage to speak out in defence of all human life with truth, love and conviction. May we, with the help of Your grace, extend the gentle hand of mercy and forgiveness to those who do not reverence Your gift of life.
To all of us, grant pardon for the times we have failed to be grateful for Your precious gift of life or to respect it in others. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
PRAYER BEFORE COMMENCING THE STATIONS OF THE CROSS
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, You entered our world that we may have life and have it to the full. By the will of the Father and the work of the Holy Spirit, Your sacred Passion and Death was the means by which our sins would be forgiven. We ask You to pardon our offences, free us from every evil and to allow us to accompany You on Your sorrowful journey to Calvary. In this journey, we wish to make reparation for the sins against life and to make up what is still lacking in Your sufferings for the good of Your Body, the Church. O Good Jesus, You have died for love of us, may we live and die always united to You. Amen.
FIRST STATION: JESUS IS CONDEMNED TO DEATH
Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to release you, and power to crucify you?” Jesus answered him, “You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above; therefore he who delivered me to you has the greater sin.” (John 10:10-11)
V. We adore You, O Christ, and we bless you
R. Because by Your Holy Cross, You have redeemed the world.
MEDITATION:
Jesus is innocent. Nonetheless, by an abuse of power, the State condemned Him to death. In like manner, though innocent, our brothers and sisters in the womb have been condemned to death by an abuse of power. Their humanity, with its rights and dignity, is not recognised. In this, they bear a special likeness to Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
PRAYER:
O my Jesus, I love You with my whole heart; I repent for ever having offended You. Never permit me to separate myself from You again. Grant that I may love you always, and then do with me what You will.
Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory Be…
V. Jesus Christ crucified, have mercy on us.
R. Have mercy on us, O lord, have mercy on us.
V. And may the souls of the faithful departed,
R. Through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
SECOND STATION: JESUS IS MADE TO BEAR HIS CROSS
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. (Colossians 1:24)
V. We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You
R. Because by Your Holy Cross, You have redeemed the world.
MEDITATION:
The agony of the Cross was the heavy price Christ, in His love, paid for the salvation of the world. As He lovingly embraced His Cross, so let us resolve to rejoice in our sufferings that others may live. Let us also be prepared to joyfully pay the price for standing up to defend our pre-born brothers and sisters from abortion and our sick, elderly and disabled from euthanasia.
PRAYER:
O my Jesus, I love You with my whole heart; I repent for ever having offended You. Never permit me to separate myself from You again. Grant that I may love you always, and then do with me what You will.
Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory Be…
V. Jesus Christ crucified, have mercy on us.
R. Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.
V. And may the souls of the faithful departed,
R. Through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
THIRD STATION: JESUS FALLS THE FIRST TIME
Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:6-8)
V. We adore You, O Christ, and we bless you
R. Because by Your Holy Cross, You have redeemed the world.
MEDITATION:
Although His state was Divine, Christ Jesus, by assuming our human condition, chose to be like us. In so doing, He exchanged power for weakness, wealth for poverty, glory for a disgraceful death, as He immersed Himself in a world of Suffering. Let us pray that the privileges, benefits and advantages we enjoy in life, may neither choke our compassion nor deaden our active concern for our defenceless and innocent brothers and sisters.
PRAYER:
O my Jesus, I love You with my whole heart; I repent for ever having offended You. Never permit me to separate myself from You again. Grant that I may love you always, and then do with me what You will.
Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory Be…
V. Jesus Christ crucified, have mercy on us.
R. Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.
V. And may the souls of the faithful departed,
R. Through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
FOURTH STATION: JESUS MEETS HIS AFFLICTED MOTHER
Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow which was brought upon me, which the Lord inflicted on the day of his fierce anger. (Lamentations 1:12)
V. We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You
R. Because by Your Holy Cross, You have redeemed the world.
MEDITATION:
There is no deeper relationship than that which exists between mother and child. They belong together. When one suffers, the other suffers too. To love and defend one means to love and dfend the other as well. To be pro-life means to serve both the child and the mother. It means asking our society, “Why can’t we love them both?”
PRAYER:
O my Jesus, I love You with my whole heart; I repent for ever having offended You. Never permit me to separate myself from You again. Grant that I may love you always, and then do with me what You will.
Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory Be…
V. Jesus Christ crucified, have mercy on us.
R. Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.
V. And may the souls of the faithful departed,
R. Through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
FIFTH STATION: SIMON HELPS JESUS TO CARRY HIS CROSS
And the King will answer them, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.” (Matthew 25:40)
V. We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You
R. Because by Your Holy Cross, You have redeemed the world.
MEDITATION:
Many people watched Our Lord suffer. Some indifferently, some compassionately, some self-righteously. Simon the Cyrenian alone helped alleviate that suffering. Many lament abortion and euthanasia. Some actually get involved to help stop it. Let us pray and work to make our society a compassionate one where everyone takes an active role in protecting all innocent human life.
PRAYER:
O my Jesus, I love You with my whole heart; I repent for ever having offended You. Never permit me to separate myself from You again. Grant that I may love you always, and then do with me what You will.
Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory Be…
V. Jesus Christ crucified, have mercy on us.
R. Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.
V. And may the souls of the faithful departed,
R. Through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
SIXTH STATION: VERONICA WIPES THE FACE OF JESUS
Love is patient and kind; …it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. …Love never ends. (1 Corinthians 13:4, 6-8)
V. We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You
R. Because by Your Holy Cross, You have redeemed the world.
MEDITATION:
Veronica’s compassion broke through the mockery of the crowd to offer a little relief to the suffering Christ. The courage of the many doctors and nurses who recognise the humanity of their patients and treat them with compassion and dignity, and sometimes even risk and jeopardise their own careers, reflects that of Veronica. Let us pray for the conversion, repentance and the renewal of the medical profession, that the skills and tools of healing may never more be used for killing.
PRAYER:
O my Jesus, I love You with my whole heart; I repent for ever having offended You. Never permit me to separate myself from You again. Grant that I may love you always, and then do with me what You will.
Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory Be…
V. Jesus Christ crucified, have mercy on us.
R. Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.
V. And may the souls of the faithful departed,
R. Through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
SEVENTH STATION: JESUS FALLS THE THIRD TIME
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, to show that the transcendent power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair, persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed, always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For while we live we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you. (2 Corinithians 4: 7-12)
V. We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You
R. Because by Your Holy Cross, You have redeemed the world.
MEDITATION:
Despite Simon’s practical help and Veronica’s tender compassion, the exhausted Redeemer falls a second time. In the work of defending life, little progress seems to be made, and often many setbacks and obstacles are encountered. We are beset by despondency and are often tempted to give up, but, by imitating Jesus who rose from His second fall, we come to know the meaning and the strength of the Cross and of Christ whose power reaches perfection in weakness. Let us not, therefore, look to our own strengths or depend on our own talents, but let us trust rather in Christ, whose strength alone can sustain us.
PRAYER:
O my Jesus, I love You with my whole heart; I repent for ever having offended You. Never permit me to separate myself from You again. Grant that I may love you always, and then do with me what You will.
Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory Be…
V. Jesus Christ crucified, have mercy on us.
R. Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.
V. And may the souls of the faithful departed,
R. Through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
EIGHTH STATION: JESUS SPEAKS TO THE WOMEN OF JERUSALEM
But Jesus turning to them said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. …For if they do this when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?” (Luke 23:28, 31)
V. We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You
R. Because by Your Holy Cross, You have redeemed the world.
MEDITATION:
Although suffering greatly, the Lord Jesus told the women to weep not for Him but for themselves and for their children. Victims of injustice do not want tears, even those of compassion. Rather, their need is for justice and their yearning is for the recognition of their human dignity and rights. Additionally, the suffering innocent are not to be pitied as much as the perpetrators of injustice and violence and the society that condones the killing of the innocent. May all who believe in Christ the Innocent Victim of sin, stand up for the rights of innocent and defenceless victims of injustice and violence.
PRAYER:
O my Jesus, I love You with my whole heart; I repent for ever having offended You. Never permit me to separate myself from You again. Grant that I may love you always, and then do with me what You will.
Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory Be…
V. Jesus Christ crucified, have mercy on us.
R. Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.
V. And may the souls of the faithful departed,
R. Through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
NINTH STATION: JESUS FALLS THE THIRD TIME
Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love is strong as death, jealousy is cruel as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, a most vehement flame. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. If a man offered for love all the wealth of his house, it would be utterly scorned. (Song of Songs 8:6-7)
V. We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You
R. Because by Your Holy Cross, You have redeemed the world.
MEDITATION:
The Saviour’s energy is spent. He is exhausted and falls a third time, but rises once again because He is on a mission of love, which nothing can stop and only He can fulfil. In this, He shows that love is stronger than death and more powerful than hell. If love is not the animating principle of the pro-life movement, then pro-life activism is nothing at all. Without love, the pro-life movement itself is nothing at all. Animated and driven by love however, it is redemptive and nothing can stop it. Let us pray that all pro-life activists will be motivated and act with an all-consuming love.
PRAYER:
O my Jesus, I love You with my whole heart; I repent for ever having offended You. Never permit me to separate myself from You again. Grant that I may love you always, and then do with me what You will.
Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory Be…
V. Jesus Christ crucified, have mercy on us.
R. Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.
V. And may the souls of the faithful departed,
R. Through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
TENTH STATION: JESUS IS STRIPPED OF HIS GARMENTS
This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you… You did not choose me, but I chose you… so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. (John 15:12-17)
V. We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You
R. Because by Your Holy Cross, You have redeemed the world.
MEDITATION:
The Lord Jesus is stripped of all His possessions, but He continues “to love those who were His own in the world.” Those stronger than we may strip us of our possessions – our liberty, our reputation, our popularity, our friendships and even our influence and power, but they cannot strip us of our love. They have no power to stop us loving our pre-born, our sick, our disabled, our elderly, and indeed, all our brothers and sisters who are at risk. Let us therefore pray for the gift of grace that we might continue to love our pre-born brothers and sisters with the same kind of love with which Christ loves us.
PRAYER:
O my Jesus, I love You with my whole heart; I repent for ever having offended You. Never permit me to separate myself from You again. Grant that I may love you always, and then do with me what You will.
Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory Be…
V. Jesus Christ crucified, have mercy on us.
R. Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.
V. And may the souls of the faithful departed,
R. Through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
ELEVENTH STATION: JESUS IS NAILED TO THE CROSS
Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glorification. None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. (1 Corinthians 2:6-8)
V. We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You
R. Because by Your Holy Cross, You have redeemed the world.
MEDITATION:
The powers of this world crucified the God who made this world. Although all power and authority comes from God, the creature rose up, and with an abuse of power, condemned its Creator to death. All who exercise power will have to give an account of their use of it before the throne of God. Let us pray for those exercising power in the Legislature and the Judiciary, that they will use their power to protect and defend all innocent human life and especially that of the most vulnerable among us.
PRAYER:
O my Jesus, I love You with my whole heart; I repent for ever having offended You. Never permit me to separate myself from You again. Grant that I may love you always, and then do with me what You will.
Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory Be…
V. Jesus Christ crucified, have mercy on us.
R. Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.
V. And may the souls of the faithful departed,
R. Through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
TWELFTH STATION: JESUS DIES ON THE CROSS
For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. …For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men… He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom, our righteousness and sanctification and redemption. (1 Corinthians 1:18, 25, 30)
V. We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You
R. Because by Your Holy Cross, You have redeemed the world.
MEDITATION:
Jesus Christ our Lord and God died on the Cross, the Victim of human injustice. So many of His children have died with Him. Since He considers whatever is done to the least person as being done to Him, He relives His Passion in every abortion. While we can only imagine the horror of Christ’s Crucifixion, we know in part the horror of a single act of abortion on the child, on its mother and in the sight of God. May all our brothers and sisters killed by abortion and euthanasia rest in Christ’s peace and may those responsible for their deaths be saved by His Blood shed on the Cross.
PRAYER:
O my Jesus, I love You with my whole heart; I repent for ever having offended You. Never permit me to separate myself from You again. Grant that I may love you always, and then do with me what You will.
Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory Be…
V. Jesus Christ crucified, have mercy on us.
R. Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.
V. And may the souls of the faithful departed,
R. Through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
THIRTEENTH STATION: JESUS IS TAKEN DOWN FROM THE CROSS
And the king was deeply moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept; and as he went, he said, “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!” (2 Samuel 18:33)
V. We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You
R. Because by Your Holy Cross, You have redeemed the world.
MEDITATION:
Eve, perhaps only came to fully appreciate the consequences of her disobedience when she stumbled across the dead body of her son Abel. Mary, the new Eve, experienced pain immeasurable when the Body of her dead Son was placed in Her arms. So many mothers grieve after their abortions. May Our Lady the Comforter of the afflicted, help them face up to the truth about abortion, console them in their grief and lead them to see forgiveness and healing from Christ who died that we might have life and have it abundantly.
PRAYER:
O my Jesus, I love You with my whole heart; I repent for ever having offended You. Never permit me to separate myself from You again. Grant that I may love you always, and then do with me what You will.
Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory Be…
V. Jesus Christ crucified, have mercy on us.
R. Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.
V. And may the souls of the faithful departed,
R. Through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
FOURTEENTH STATION: JESUS IS LAID IN THE TOMB
“O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labour is not in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:55-58)
V. We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You
R. Because by Your Holy Cross, You have redeemed the world.
MEDITATION:
A tomb is a memorial to help us remember the one who can no longer speak. Aborted children have no memorial and are forgotten. May we always remember the humanity of the babies who cannot speak and, by speaking in their defence, convince our society to acknowledge their dignity and respect their rights. Let us also remember Our Lord’s Resurrection and His promise to share His victory over death with His disciples. He has already conquered the Culture of Death, because He has conquered death itself. Let us pray and work to bring His victory and His life-giving message to every part of our world.
PRAYER:
O my Jesus, I love You with my whole heart; I repent for ever having offended You. Never permit me to separate myself from You again. Grant that I may love you always, and then do with me what You will.
Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory Be…
V. Jesus Christ crucified, have mercy on us.
R. Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.
V. And may the souls of the faithful departed,
R. Through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
FIFTEENTH STATION: JESUS RISES FROM THE DEAD
For we know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:9-11)
V. We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You
R. Because by Your Holy Cross, You have redeemed the world.
MEDITATION:
Christ our Lord never spoke of His Passion and Death without immediately mentioning His Resurrection on the Third Day. We live this Third Day whenever we recall His Resurrection. He has conquered all that leads to death and even death itself. Let us pray His victory over death may be manifest in our lives and in our world, and that we may possess the abundant and eternal life that He offers us.
PRAYER:
O my Jesus, I love You with my whole heart; I repent for ever having offended You. Never permit me to separate myself from You again. Grant that I may love you always, and then do with me what You will.
Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory Be…
V. Jesus Christ crucified, have mercy on us.
R. Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.
V. And may the souls of the faithful departed,
R. Through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
CONCLUDING PRAYER
Father in heaven, You have given Your only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, for the life of the world, accept our act of reparation for the sins committed against life and send on us the gift of Your life-giving Spirit that He may renew the face of the earth. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
Begin the Glorious Mysteries of the Holy Rosary.