FOURTEENTH STATION
Jesus Is Laid in the Tomb
V.Adoramus
te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
R.Quia
per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.
Because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
From the Gospel according to Mk 15,46
Joseph
of Arimathea bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the
linen shroud, and laid him in a tomb
which had been hewn out of the rock; and he
rolled a stone against the door of the tomb.
MEDITATION
After the terrible thunder at the moment of death, the great silence. His night-time disciples, who out of fear followed him in secret, are no longer afraid. In the light of day they ask Pilate for the body of Jesus for the burial. The Virgin of the great silence whose womb bore the blessed Fruit - the One that the universe could not contain - receives once more in her lap the body of Jesus taken down from the Cross: in adoration she contemplates him, in her immense sorrow she venerates him. The King sleeps, but his Bride watches: it is the day of God's rest. Together with the King, creation too sleeps in anticipation of its reawakening. The Son of God descends to the dead in order to rescue those detained by death. His light overthrows the darkness of Hades. The earth shakes and the tombs open. Jesus comes to free the just and restore them to the light of the resurrection. He has been swallowed up by the darkness of death, but only to be brought back to the fulness of light and life: as the whale keeps Jonah in its belly, only to give him back after three days, so the earth will open its jaws to release the radiant body of the One who lives.
PRAYER
Jesus, you have become the least
among men,
you let yourself fall onto
the earth like a grain of wheat.
Now, from this seed there sprouts
the tree of Life that embraces the universe.
Just as the pious women went early to the tomb
with spices and ointments,
Lord, grant that we will come to you
with the scents and aromas of our poor love.
Jesus, in our churches you are waiting:
you wait in expectation for someone
who will be small and humble like you
in the Eucharist,
adore you and bear witness to you before the people,
recognize you in the poor and suffering.
Grant that each one of us will adore you
and be your witness in the Eucharistic tabernacle
and in the sacrament
of the hungry, the thirsty, the sick.
To you, Jesus,
whose face is peaceful in the solemn rigidity of
death, our love and our adoration
at this evening hour and on the day
which knows no end.
R.Amen.
All:
Pater noster, qui es in cælis:
sanctificetur nomen tuum;
adveniat regnum tuum;
fiat voluntas tua, sicut in cælo, et in terra.
Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie;
et dimitte nobis debita nostra,
sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris;
et ne nos inducas in tentationem;
sed libera nos a malo.
Quando
corpus morietur,
fac ut animæ donetur
paradisi gloria. Amen.
While my
body here decays,
may my soul your goodness praise,
safe in paradise with you. Amen.