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Stations of the Cross with the Dead Sea Scrolls (XII-XIV)

April 07, 2023

Fr. John Colacino C.PP.S.

Twelfth Station: Jesus Dies on the Cross

V/. We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You.

R/. Because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.

Scripture

Christ must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For he “has put everything under his feet.” Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. (1 Cor.:15:25-27)

Psalm

The throes of death [encompass me]

and Hell is upon my bed;

my couch utters a lamentation

[and my pallet] the sound of a complaint.

My eyes are like fire in the furnace

and my tears like rivers of water;

my eyes grow dim with waiting,

[for my salvation] is far from me

and my life is apart from me.

But behold,

from desolation to ruin,

and from the pain to the sore,

and from the travail to the throes,

my soul meditates on Thy marvellous works.

In Thy mercies Thou hast not cast me aside;

season by season, my soul shall delight

in the abundance of mercy.

I will reply to him who slanders me

and I will rebuke my oppressor;

I will declare his sentence unjust

and declare Thy judgement righteous.

For I know by Thy truth,

and I choose Thy judgement upon me:

I delight in my scourges

for I hope for Thy loving-kindness.

Thou hast put a supplication

in the mouth of Thy servant

and Thou hast not threatened my life

nor rejected my peace.

Thou hast not failed my expectation,

but hast upheld my spirit in face of the scourge.

For it is Thou who hast founded my spirit

and Thou knowest my intent;

in my distress Thou hast comforted me.

I delight in forgiveness,

and am consoled for the former transgression;

for I know there is hope in Thy grace

and expectation in Thy great power.

For no man can be just in Thy judgement

or [righteous in] Thy trial.

Though one man be more just than another,

one person [more] wise [than another],

one mortal more glorious

than another creature [of clay],

yet is there no power to compare with Thy might.

There is no [bound] to Thy glory,

and to Thy wisdom, no measure;

...

and my oppressor shall [not] prevail against me.

I will be a stumbling-block to [those who swallow me up,

and a snare to] all those who battle against me;

[I will be for my enemies a] cause of shame,

and a cause of disgrace

to those who murmur against me.

For Thou, O my God ...

Thou wilt plead my cause. Hymn 18

Collect

Lifted up among us, O God,

is Jesus the crucified:

sign of your steadfast love

and pledge of your will to save.

To those who look upon the cross with faith

grant healing of soul

and life eternal.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

God for ever and ever. Amen.

Thirteenth Station: Jesus is Taken Down from the Cross

V/. We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You.

R/. Because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.

Scripture

Christ himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed. (1 Pt. 2:24)

Psalm

[Behold, I am] carried away with the sick;

[I am acquainted] with scourges.

I am forsaken in [my sorrow] ...

and without any strength.

For my sore breaks out in bitter pains

and in incurable sickness impossible to stay;

[my heart laments] within me

as in those who go down to Hell.

My spirit is imprisoned with the dead

for [my life] has reached the Pit;

my soul languishes [within me]

day and night without rest.

My wound breaks out like burning fire

shut up in [my bones],

whose flames devour me for days on end,

diminishing my strength for times on end

and destroying my flesh for seasons on end.

The pains fly out [towards me]

and my soul within me languishes even to death.

My strength has gone from my body

and my heart runs out like water;

my flesh is dissolved like wax

and the strength of my loins is turned to fear. Hymn 18

Collect

Remember, Lord, your tender mercies,

which you showed in ages past;

watch over and sanctify your servants,

for whom Christ your Son, by shedding his blood,

has established the paschal mystery.

Grant this in the name of Jesus, the Lord. Amen.

Fourteenth Station: Jesus is Laid in the Tomb

V/. We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You.

R/. Because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.

Scripture

Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. (Rom. 6:3-5)

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