NINTH STATION
Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem
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 Lk 23,27-28.31
And there followed him a great multitude of the people, and of women who bewailed and lamented him. 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?".
MEDITATION
Cries of mourning accompany the journey of the One condemned to death. Along the road that leads to Calvary the women weep and beat their breasts. They do not know that in exchange for their tears they will receive a fearful prophecy of what is yet to come. Do not cry over me. Save your lament for the days and years to come, for if they treat the Innocent One in this way, what will they do to you and your children? Jesus knows the answer to the question that he puts to the women of Jerusalem. Carrying his Cross, he staggers under the weight of human sin and pain, the sin and pain of those he loved as a brother. He knows already how far into history extends the sorrowful way that leads to the "Calvaries" of the world.
PRAYER
Lord Jesus Christ,
you know the depths of our heart,
the capacity for good and evil
that is in every person: teach us to forgive
and to ask forgiveness,
to have mercy on ourselves and on others.
Remember Jerusalem, blessed by your love,
ravaged by human hatred.
Grant to the men and women
of that Holy Land peace and resurrection.
On your face, Jesus,
there shines the light of the Father
and the tenderness of the Mother;
to you be praise and glory
with the eternal Light and the eternal Love,
in this time of expectation
and in the eternal fulfilment.
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.
Eia,
mater, fons amoris,
me sentire vim doloris
fac, ut tecum lugeam.
O you
Mother, fount of love!
Touch my spirit from above,
make my heart with yours accord