SIXTH STATION
Jesus is Scourged and Crowned with Thorns
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 15,17-19
The
soldiers clothed him in a purple cloak, and plaiting a crown of thorns they put
it on him. And they began to salute him:
"Hail, King of the Jews!" And they struck his head with a reed, and spat upon
him, and they knelt down in homage to him.
MEDITATION
O Christ, you are the true King, yet men mocked you and gave you a crown not to adore but to deride you. We suffer with you because people are blind and deaf to your message of salvation. Your Kingdom is not of this world, but we humans look for honour, power, success, wealth: a world without suffering. Yet we inflict pain upon others, even the unborn, even animals. By your sacrifice you taught us to break the cycle of violence. True man, you bore unspeakable pain; contemplating your face, we find strength to bear our sorrows, in the hope of finding welcome in your Kingdom, the true and only Kingdom.
PRAYER
O Jesus, our King,
forgive us our duplicity:
we weep for your suffering,
yet we strike others
to assert our own selfishness.
When we go astray, be our sure guide,
in our time of trial,
be strength in our weakness,
give us, inconsistent as we are,
perseverance in following you.
Grant that human violence may be overcome
by your gentleness,
and that incomprehensible suffering,
accepted in faith,
may be an instrument of peace and salvation.
You, Jesus, are the King crowned with thorns,
the King with the mild and peaceful face:
to you be honour and glory,
with the Father and the Holy Spirit
in time that passes
and on the day that never ends.
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.
Quis non
posset contristari,
piam matrem contemplari
dolentem cum Filio?
Can the
human heart refrain
From partaking of her pain,
In that mother's pain untold?