THE SECOND STATION

JESUS CARRIES HIS CROSS

 

We adore you, O Christ,

and we bless you

Because by your holy cross

you have redeemed the world.

 

FROM SACRED SCRIPTURE

Gospel of Mark 15:17-20

[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 on him,

and they knelt down

in homage to him.

And when they had mocked him,

they stripped him

of the purple cloak,

and put his own clothes on him.

And they led him out

to crucify him.

​

Let us contemplate Jesus

in his prison cell.

As he beholds the soldiers

who kneel before him

in mockery and "homage,"
Jesus can see the moment 

when these men will kneel

before him in worship

at the hour of their deaths.

Together, let us consider Jesus

silently reciting the following words 

of Psalm 25 as he endures

the mockery of the

Roman soldiers.

​

PSALM

To you, O Lord,

I lift up my soul.

O my God, in you I trust,

let me not be put to shame;

let not my enemies

exalt over me.

​

My eyes are ever

toward the Lord,

for he will pluck my feet

out of the net.

Turn to me,

and be gracious to me;

for I am lonely and afflicted.

Relieve the troubles of my heart,

and bring me out

of my distresses.

O, guard my life,

and deliver me;

Let me not be put to shame,

for I take refuge in you.

- Psalm 25:1-2, 15-17, 20

​

HYMN

Can the human heart refrain

from partaking in her pain,

in that Mother's pain untold?