I Jesus is condemned to death.
Plant: Passion flower; passiflora purple haze
Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Let him be crucified.” And he said, “Why what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified.” Mathew 27:22-23.
Despite knowing of no wrong-doing, Pilate succumbed to the pressure of the loud crowd and condemned the innocent Jesus to death. I am a witness to that as I stand here now. I pause to consider and reflect on the injustice, the cruelty, the death sentence, the weakness of Pilate, the power of the loud and lousy crowd.
Painful and excruciating as it is, I pause to reflect on the times when I have hidden in the crowd, and either by shouting or by staying silent, when I have not had the strength to stand up for what is right. I acknowledge these instances here and now, with honesty and humility. I plead for mercy and forgiveness, for a clean sheet, for blamelessness. I pause to reflect on the times when I have acted as Pilate did, when I have been swayed from doing what it right to please others, to gain acceptance or to avoid discomfort, discussion, debate, argument or conflict.
Going forward in my life, at those crucial moments prior to speaking or acting, may I pause to reflect on right and wrong as I do now. May I gain the strength to do the right thing, to be a person of integrity however isolating and challenging the consequences may be. May I show compassion and kindness to those who have been wrongly accused and to those who are isolated and marginalised. May I find strength, tenacity and endurance for the times to come when I may be a victim of injustice and suffering. May I gain the confidence to take responsibility for right decisions, right actions and for myself.
MR
II. Jesus takes up His Cross.
Plant: The Lenten Rose; Helleborus X Hybridus (Orientalis)
‘And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. And he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch.” And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible to thee; remove this cup from me; yet not what I will, but what thou wilt.” Mark 14:33-36
Jesus is given the wood of the cross. This is the beginning of the events that had Jesus on his knees and pleading the night before, in the garden of Gethsemane; asking that, if possible, this should pass him by; but ultimately, ‘not my will but yours.’
Stripped, beaten, mocked, head pierced and tortured, he is then given the cold timber that will be the frame and means of his death. He chose this and embraced the cold hard consequences of his loving choice. Many suffer in similar ways, but they neither choose the violence nor welcome the injustice and torment forced on them. Christ embraces his cross in solidarity with all who suffer, and through it transforms suffering and death itself. Walking the stations of the cross provides us an opportunity to experience Jesus as the embodiment of the crucified classes of people in the world. “He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).
Hidden for the most part, are individuals who make loving, self-emptying choices. I knew a girl who cared for her unwell mother and two younger siblings. Every day she would rise, feed and clothe her brother and sister and see to her mum’s medications and other needs. She would then drop her siblings off to primary school and make her way to secondary school. She was 14. In the UK 1 in 10 young people are carers. Far from being passive, their acceptance flows from a place of deeply loving generosity and wide-eyed, open-hearted choice.
Saint Francis of Assisi in his meditations of this station says firstly, Jesus willingly accepted His Cross. Second, He lovingly embraced it. Third, He tenderly kissed it. Fourth, He joyfully carried it. Like his disciples, it might be difficult for us to accept that Jesus is a Messiah who must suffer and die. But to be a disciple in the first place, Jesus made it clear that we have to go on the same journey with our own cross and choose a new life of self-emptying love.
‘Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the praetorium, and they gathered the whole battalion before him. And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe upon him and plaiting a crown of thorns they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they spat upon him and took the reed and struck him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe, and put his own clothes on him, and led him away to crucify him.’ Matthew 27:27-31
LP
III. Jesus falls the first time.
Plant: Partridge foot, Luetkea Pectinata
‘It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God’ – Hebrews 10:31
Though Jesus falls to the ground seemingly losing control of his body, he is never outside the hands of His Father. We too, when we are sick, in our infirmity, sometimes can feel as though we are losing control of our bodies. We become more aware with the passing of time that we are in the hands of the living God, and it can feel dreadful, like a judgement.
Through the weakness he united to himself Jesus will shame the proud and the strong. He will show suffering is not meaningless but moves people to mercy and compassion; humility and littleness are beautiful in the sight of God. This humiliation Jesus willingly endures that we might know physical frailty does not mean we are forsaken by God. ‘Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care and even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows’ (Matt 10:29-31).
We might find the words of the psalm that Jesus utters on the cross on our lips when we are sick: ‘My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?’. Our own frailty can be overwhelming. We can feel, or be made to feel, useless or unimportant. This psalm which Jesus places on his own lips, of a just man unjustly condemned to death, ends in trust that vindication will come from God. Jesus will rise again and be vindicated. We too by humility, with faith, and faithfulness through taking up our Cross and following Jesus; we will be vindicated on the day of the resurrection.
TM
IV. Jesus meets His mother.
Plant: Our Lady’s Mantle; Alchemical Erythropoda & Mollis.
‘Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against and a sword will pierce through your own soul also, that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed.’ Luke 2:34-35
The moment of encounter between Jesus and Mary is not recorded. It is a moment of profound silence amid the violence they are experiencing. There are no words for this type of encounter.
This last journey is a mirror of his infancy journey, where they had to flee a violent and bloody persecution. As refugees, the Holy Family asks us a question in our response to the current worldwide movement of the vulnerable and dispossessed.
All mothers journey with their child’s suffering through temporary illness or difficulties. For some they spend a lifetime journeying alongside their child who has a life limiting disease or condition. To lose a child is one of the greatest sufferings.
For many mothers such loss is from death in the womb, infancy or even late adulthood, for others it is a result of war or natural disaster. A humanitarian aid worker tells about a mother who’s son was kidnapped to become a child soldier. Every year, around the boy’s birthday, the aid worker makes contact to check how she is and let her know that they haven’t ended their search. Every night, she says, she unlocks the door of their home, in case he returns and has lost his key. He disappeared more than 30 years ago.
But what of the mother who forgets her child? The suffering of women due to poverty, abuse, addiction or mental illness may leave them unable to journey with their child. Yet, God will never forget any of his children ‘Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have graven you on the palms of my hands;’ Isaiah 49:15-16.
Over the centuries Mary has been honoured with hundreds of titles and epithets; Queen of Heaven, Throne of Wisdom, Star of the Sea, Immaculate Conception, Theotokos (God-bearer), Queen of Angels – but of all titles, the highest, given by Jesus himself, is simply, Mother.
On the cross, St John describes one of the final acts of Jesus;
‘… standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.’ John 19:26-27
JP & LP
V. Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry the Cross.
Plant: Valerian; Valerians officinalis.
And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyre’ne who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus. Luke: 23:26
The guards pulled Simon from the crowd and forced him to pick up the back of the cross. They didn’t do that out of compassion: they were fearful that if Jesus died en route, the crowd would be denied the spectacle of Jesus’ death on a cross on the hill of Calvary. As I stand here now, I am a witness to the scene.
How do I respond when I am pressed into service to carry a cross, one I didn’t seek, one that’s inconvenient? Am I angry, bitter, reluctant, resentful? Do I continue to be angry, bitter, reluctant, resentful? The grace of quiet acceptance in the carrying of Jesus’ cross caused a change of heart in Simon. From a compulsory commission, the cross bestowed humility. The carrying of it became a privilege. I reflect on and pray for forgiveness for the times when I have been asked or forced to help someone and was filled with bitterness, rage, resentment. Going forward, may I be filled with the strength and good grace to accept with humility and gentleness the burdens that I am asked to or forced to carry. May I also be filled with the grace to accept the fact that I may never understand why I am forced to carry certain burdens. May my lack of understanding and acceptance of circumstances not be an obstacle to an opportunity to experience grace, humility and personal growth.
How ready and willing am I to offer help to those in need? Do I make time to carry the crosses of others without having to be asked, or forced? Simon saw the struggle in the face of Jesus. Do I taken any time to see suffering in the faces of strangers? Or indeed of family and friends? What do I do to help share the load?
And what about Jesus in this scene? He had nothing left. He was a broken man. He was forced to experience the hardship and humiliation of not being able to carry his burden alone. He feels the interior agony of having to accept help. He undergoes the experience of those dependant on others for survival. How do I deal with accepting help from others? Does pride and stubbornness get in the way?
MR
VI. Veronica wipes the face of Jesus.
Plant: Veronica. Veronica gentianoides
‘It is your face, O Lord, that I seek; hide not your face’ (Ps 27.8)
‘If I can just touch his clothes, I shall be saved.’ (Mark 5.28)
What do we see when we look at the face of the suffering Jesus, our dearest Lord?
Do we see a reflection of our own suffering and loss, perhaps through the illness or death of someone who is dear to us?
Lord God, we lift them to you: let your face shed its light on us and on that person.
Do we see a reflection of human misery and wrong, the loads too heavy to bear that are loaded on so many in this world? Of people we know who are struggling day by day with terrible physical or mental burdens?
Lord God, we lift them to you: let your face shed its light on us and on each of those people.
Do we also see the faces of the other people who look at you with love and draw strength from you, our fellow servants of God, men and women?
An ancient tradition offers us one such women, Berenice, or Veronica, identified with the woman with an issue of blood who was healed by touching Jesus’ garment. In this tradition, she saw Jesus on his way to Calvary, and wiped the sweat and blood from his face with a cloth of her own, on which his face was then imprinted.
The Holy Face of Jesus, turned so often in love towards those who were in doubt, or searching, or suffering. The Face which had looked at the rich young man, and loved him. The Face stained with saving tears for Lazarus, and turned in love towards Martha and Mary. The Face which saw the poor. The Face of God.
‘He is the image of the invisible God’ (Colossians 1.15), the visible and tangible reality in time of God’s love for us and for every human being made in the image of God. May we in our turn become images of Christ, our God incarnate, following Him and letting his suffering face leave an imprint on us for the healing of others.
SP
VII. Jesus falls the second time.
Plant: Thymus Serphyllum, Christmas Rose
‘Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious…’ Romans 11:11
We fall in ways Jesus did not: Jesus was like us in all things but sin. It is our sinfulness that lead Christ to the Cross. We describe our failures in the moral life sometimes, the sin we have done, as ‘falling’ but why? Perhaps it is because those who fall can rise. St. Thomas Aquinas wrote in his commentary on Romans: ‘If we see someone obviously sinning, we should not despise him and rashly judge that he will never rise again; rather, we should presume that he will stand again, not considering the human condition but God’s power’.
Most of us have our favourite sins that we find hard to overcome even when living a life of prayer. Knowing our own frailty can serve to make us more humble and merciful with others as well as reliant on God and our neighbour. Just because we have fallen once, just because we have fallen twice, does not mean we will never rise again, and the same is true of others. By God’s grace we will rise again to new life.
Our weaknesses can help us to grow in love for God’s mercy and, by experiencing the mercy and forgiveness of others, love for others too. ‘Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little’ (Luke 7:47).
Where do I need to seek forgiveness in my life? How can I bestow the gift of forgiveness to others and to whom? St. Thomas wrote: ‘Nothing so likens us to God as to forgive one who has injured us’.
TM
VIII. Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem.
Plant: Jerusalem Sage
‘A large number of people followed him, and women, who beat their breasts and mourned for him. But Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me but weep for yourselves, and for your children. For look, the days are coming when people will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, the wombs that have not borne children, the breasts that have not given suck!’. Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’, and to the hills, ‘Hide us!’ For if they do this when the wood is green, what will they do when it is dry?” ‘ (Luke 23.27-32)
Their pity for him meets an answering pity for them in Jesus. The horror of the women of Jerusalem at what has been done and is being done to this most wonderful of all prophets, the darling child all mothers would love to have, leads them to publicly take the risk of showing their dissent. They had called down blessings on the breasts that first fed him- now they beat their own breasts and cry out in outrage and sorrow. But he looks at them and prophetically sees the terrible fate of Jerusalem all this will lead to forty years later, when siege and famine will doom mothers and their children together to terrible deaths.
Women and children suffer terribly in war, often becoming in their turns icons of the suffering Christ. Let us follow Jesus’ gaze and pray for the victims of war, of atrocities, of public violence, of the untold private agony beyond measure caused by political evil. Let us pray for all victims of political violence, and learn from the Prince of Peace to be peacemakers, and to keep working for justice for the innocent when the wood is green, lest we ourselves be left completely without it when the wood is dry.
SP
IX. Jesus falls the third time.
Plant: Rosemary prostrate; Rosmarinus officinalis rostratus
We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair: persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 2 Corinthians 4: 8-9
I pause to contemplate Jesus falling to the ground for a third time: weary, weak and utterly exhausted. His agony exacerbated by the reopening of wounds from previous falls. He is spent, almost lifeless. I consider what is going through his head, his doubts about his capacity to get up again, to keep going, to carry on, to persevere. He does rise again. He continues on his journey.
I consider the times when I have felt broken or utterly overwhelmed by my lack of strength, willpower, persistence, resilience. How did I handle myself? My intentions and aspirations to keeping going may have been positive, but did I falter when it all felt too much? How did I falter? Did I fall into the same traps that continually trip me up? Do I need help to stop falling? Do I need help to carry on in a way that reduces my habit of falling? I acknowledge the truth of my patterns and my habits, here and now, with honesty and humility. I acknowledge my shortcomings and failure without judgement but with a clear assessment.
The next time I feel overwhelmed, paralysed, incapable of continuing, may I pause to be inspired by the courage and conviction of Jesus. May I come to learn and appreciate that when my spirit grows weary, it does not automatically mean falling down again.
May I come to exercise compassion towards myself in the same way as I would be compassionate to another who is broken and defeated. May I grow in capacity to make the small changes that will make a big difference. May I gain and retain strength, confidence, courage and hope.
MR
X. Jesus Is stripped of his garments.
Plant: Lily of the valley
‘They divided my garments among them, and for my robe they cast lots.’ (John 19.24)
Greek and Roman men were used to public nudity, though not like this. But for a Jewish man, it was a horror to be publicly naked at all. This is the moment when Jesus’ physical abuse becomes also sexual abuse- when he is completely exposed before the gaze of the crowds.
The Gospels never actually spell out what was involved, though everyone knew. But this was what the apostle Paul was thinking of when he said he was not ashamed of the Gospel. Second-century Christians saw Christ’s death on the cross as prefigured by the sleep of Noah drunk with wine, his nakedness uncovered by his son Ham.
A hostile world invites us constantly to be voyeurs, to make ourselves delighted spectators of the nakedness of the vulnerable. To gaze with curiosity and pleasure on others’ weakness, for our own mean satisfaction. But Christ in his suffering took the part of those who are weak to shame the strong, so if we would be strong, we must learn to treat our own weakness and that of others with gentleness and compassion.
May we have reverence always for the vulnerability of others. May we not uncover their nakedness, but always see them for what they are, human beings in the image of God, with a dignity that must never be forgotten.
XI. Jesus Is nailed to the Cross.
Plants: Astrantia claret, salvia royal bumble, oriental poppy papaver, Crocosmia
‘No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.’ – John 10:18
Jesus lays down his life willingly. He sees what is coming and he willingly lays it down that we might have life abundantly (John 10:10), that our joy might be complete (John 15:11). Jesus is God, his life is his own. Our lives belong to God. We have been bought, as Sts. Peter and Paul make clear, at a heavy price: the blood of Jesus the Messiah (1 Peter 1:18-19, 1 Corinthians 6:20).
On the cross Jesus revealed for all to see the height and the depth, the length and the breadth of God’s love. He reveals to us that ‘God is Love’ (1 John 4) as he dies from asphysxia, naked, mocked, wrongfully condemned, tortured, the iron running through the blood in his veins meeting the iron nails fixing him to the cross. The boundary marker of his skin shredded like ribbons. The blood of the lamb anointing the cross as the blood of the lambs coated the lintels of the doorposts. As he is mocked he says: ‘Father, forgive them, they know not what they do’ (Luke 23:34).
Jesus knows what lays before him and he chooses it willingly because He loves you. ‘For what greater Love has anyone than this? That He should lay down His life for His friends’ (John 15:13).
Life comes through His blood.
‘Without blood there is no remission of sin’ (Hebrews 9:22), expiation comes by blood (Romans 3:25-26), indeed life is in the blood (Leviticus 17:11).
He connects his sacrifice, the exsanguination, with the last supper ‘This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins’ (Matthew 26:28). We share in his passion, death, and resurrection, His new and eternal covenant through Holy Communion.
Our life comes through His blood.
‘So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.’ – John 6:53-59
My eternal life comes through His blood.
Thanks be to God.
TM
XII. Jesus dies on the Cross.
Plant: Hyssop
A bowl full of vinegar stood there; so they put a sponge full of the vinegar on hyssop and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the vinegar, he said, “It is finished”; and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. John 19:29 -30.
Only John mentions hyssop. It is puzzling because the plant we know as hyssop is not like a reed or a stick upon which you might put a sponge soaked in vinegary wine soldiers drink. Hyssop is neither long nor sturdy. This mention of hyssop comes just Jesus speaks for the last time and dies and therein lies its meaning. Now he has accomplished everything the Father gave him to do. It is important to remember that in John’s Gospel even on the cross, even in his extreme vulnerability, Jesus remains in control. When he says “I thirst”, Jesus echoes what you or I might say, you these same words on his lips have a deeper meaning. They turn the whole of reality upside down and inside out. He thirsts for God as we do each day, and will do until the day we die, but his thirst is God’s thirst for our salvation. His thirst is God’s pure and unmixed love. A new covenant is ratified in these final moments on the cross. For when in Egypt, the Israelites were first told to eat the Passover lamb, because their deliverance was at hand, God told them to take some hyssop and to dip it in the blood of the lamb and then to sprinkle the blood on their door posts. And then when God gave Moses the Law, even that Covenant involved blood and hyssop.
Hebrews 9:18-20, “For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded you.”
In these moments to whole of scripture is fulfilled. God’s purposes are not finished but rather, they are accomplished. A simple sprig of hyssop, once soaked in his sacred blood, silently sings of our way to the Father.
A reading from the Instruction of St John Chrysostom to Cathechemens.
Do you wish to know the power of Christ’s blood? Let us go back to the ancient accounts of what took place in Egypt, where Christ’s blood is foreshadowed. Moses said, “Sacrifice a lamb without blemish and smear the doors with its blood. “ What does this mean? Can the blood of a sheep without reason save man who is endowed with reason? Yes, Moses replies, not because it is blood but because it is a figure of the Lord’s blood. So today if the devil sees not the blood of the figure smeared on the door posts, but the blood of the reality smeared on the lips of the faithful, which are the temple of Christ, with all the more reason will he draw back.
DM
XIII. Jesus is taken down from the Cross
New push plates (not yet installed) on the entrance doors to the Capel shows sycamore leaves as they fall to the earth. When they are installed a meditation will be added here.
XIV: The body of Jesus is laid in the tomb
The Sanctuary Lamp holder is formed in copper from a cluster of falling sycamore seeds
‘When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathe’a, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. And Joseph took the body, and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock; and he rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb, and departed.’ (Matt 27: 57-60)
‘Jesus’ Body is placed in the tomb.’ is the customary text of the Fourteenth Station, the burial of Jesus’ Sacred Body. Being born in a borrowed manger, fleeing as a refugee from a murderous regime, living quietly until his ministry began. Having nowhere to ‘lay his head’ and at the end, being buried in a borrowed tomb.
The violence of the previous hours and days has ended. The tomb is the setting for the great silence. The survivors and witnesses are recoiling in horror and shock. Joseph’s act of mercy offers a degree of comfort to the grieving, especially Mary and Jesus’ friends and followers.
The 14th station reminds us to pause and to see; to really encounter and choose to serve the crucified peoples of our times, the marginalised, disinherited and the broken. The grieving, the sick and the despairing.
I spent time with a group of people who have profoundly broken minds, trapped in bodies that are deaf, mute and blind, as well as being physically paralysed. Their days involve being lowered onto soft mats and gently rolled several times each day. Touch offers the fullest experience of human contact they can encounter. It is an experience of being human that is profoundly different to what is ‘normal’. Their bodies and minds are tomb-like, locking them in a great silence but these most vulnerable of individuals are loved and cared for daily. Perhaps we can take the reality of their lives as an invitation to pause, to hear the voice of God, and make choices about the orientation of our lives and hearts.
There are also tomb-like places around the world that are filled with the great silence. The devastated cities and villages bombarded in conflicts and the now uninhabitable islands of the South Pacific, emptied of people, histories and cultures, through climate change. This station invites us to pause and recall these people and places of silent grief.
This station also invites and challenges us to respond like Joseph of Arimathea. To take the broken and wounded body of Christ where we encounter Him; in the crucified, disowned, dispossessed, and marginalised. To offer our own lives as a resting place of refuge and hope and embrace a new life of self-emptying love. The tomb is also a place of fundamental transformation; for Christians it is here that the resurrection occurs. From this tomb Christ the Lord comes forth.
‘We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the sinful body might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For he who has died is freed from sin. But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. For we know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.’ Romans 6:4-9
LP
