THE FOURTH STATION
Jesus is denied by Peter
Antiphona
Omnes amici mei dereliquerunt me,
et praevaluerunt insidiantes mihi:
tradidit me, quem diligebam.
Antiphon
All my friends have deserted me,
And plotters have prevailed over me.
He whom I loved has betrayed me.
Kyrie eleison.
Christe eleison.
Kyrie eleison.
Pater noster ...
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Our Father ...
Matthew 26: 69-75
Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. One of the maids came over to him and said, "You too were with Jesus the Galilean." But he denied it in front of everyone, saying, "I do not know what you are talking about!" As he went out to the gate, another girl saw him and said to those who were there, "This man was with Jesus the Nazorean." Again he denied it with an oath, "I do not know the man!" A little later the bystanders came over and said to Peter, "Surely you too are one of them; even your speech gives you away." At that he began to curse and to swear, "I do not know the man." And immediately a cock crowed. Then Peter remembered the word that Jesus had spoken: "Before the cock crows you will deny me three times." He went out and began to weep bitterly.
Responsoria
V.Tunc respondens Petrus dixit ei ecce nos reliquimus omnia
R. Et secuti sumus te quid ergo erit nobis
V. Amen dico tibi quia in hac nocte
R. Antequam gallus cantet ter me negabis
Responsory
V. Then Peter said in reply, ‘Look, we have left everything
R. And followed you. What then shall we have?
V. Amen I say to you, that this very night
R. Before the cock crows you will deny me thrice
Reflection
Betrayal hurts most at the hands of those we have loved and all of our hearts bear the scars of hurts we find it difficult to forgive and even harder to forget. The three-times rule about getting hurt by someone, which seems to prevail in modern discussion of relationships, presumes the exclusion from our lives of any person who does us harm. How many people have we ‘forgotten’ in order to protect ourselves? How many broken relationships still leave wounds that bleed and fester long after the offending party has departed? True forgiveness does not forget pain nor the person who caused it; it does not protect against further injury by excluding the possibility of a recurrence. Forgiveness is active in presenting chance after chance for amendment, each time exposing ourselves to the vulnerability of being hurt again, just as Peter’s three denials engendered the thrice-repeated question, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”. Beware the scars of the heart. Though caused by the sins of others against us, they can soon become obstructions to charity and the occasion of our own sin as we refuse to love as we have been commanded, for fear of still greater hurt. These scars can only be healed by the salve of the Spirit, who calls us to ever deeper charity; to give the chance for love to mend the broken heart.
V. Domine, exaudi orationem meam.
R. Et clamor meus ad te veniat.
Oratio
DOMINE Iesu Christe, qui de caelis ad terram de sinu Patris descendisti, et sanguinem tuum pretiosum in remissionem peccatorum nostrorum fudisti: te humiliter deprecamur, ut in die iudicii ad dexteram tuam audire mereamur: VENITE BENEDICTI. Qui vivis et regnas cum Deo Patri in unitate Spiritus Sancti, Deus per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.
V. Lord, hear my prayer.
R. And let my cry come before you
Prayer
O LORD Jesus Christ, who out of the bosom of the Father descended from heaven to earth, and shed your most Precious Blood for the remission of our sins; we humbly beseech you, that in the day of judgment we may be found worthy to stand at your right hand, and to hear you say to us, "Come, blessed ones." You, who live and reign with the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever. Amen.
