PREPARATORY PRAYERS
+ In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
SUSCIPE, Sancta Trinitas, hoc servitutis meae obsequium, quod ad divinae Maiestatis tuae gloriam, et recognitionem redemptionis nostrae, pro satisfactione peccatorum meorum ad impetrandam defunctis requiem, vivisque gratiam, omnibus gloriam offero, in unione meritorum Domini nostri Iesu Christi, Beatae Virginis Mariae et omnium Sanctorum. Tibi laus, honor, et gloria, o beata Trinitas, in sempiterna saecula. Amen.
RECEIVE, O Holy Trinity, this my dutiful service, which I offer to you in union with the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Virgin, and of all the Saints, to the glory of thy divine majesty, in satisfaction for my sins, in remembrance of our redemption, and to obtain for the departed rest, for the living grace, and for all everlasting glory. To Thee be praise, and honor, and glory, O blessed Trinity, forever and ever. Amen.
V. Deus in adiutorium meum intende.
R. Domine ad adiuvandum me festina.
Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto. Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.
V. O God, come to my assistance.
R. O Lord, make haste to help me.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
THE FIRST STATION
Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane
Antiphona
In monte Oliveti oravit ad patrem:
Pater si fieri potest transeat a me calix iste.
Spiritus quidem promptus est caro autem infirma.
Antiphon
On the Mount of Olives he prayed to his Father:
"Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me."
The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
Kyrie eleison.
Christe eleison.
Kyrie eleison.
Pater noster ...
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Our Father ...
Matthew 26:36-41
Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." He took along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to feel sorrow and distress. Then he said to them, "My soul is sorrowful even to death. Remain here and keep watch with me." He advanced a little and fell prostrate in prayer, saying, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet, not as I will, but as you will." When he returned to his disciples he found them asleep. He said to Peter, "So you could not keep watch with me for one hour? Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."
Responsoria
V. Ecce appropinquat hora
R. Et Filius hominis tradetur in manus peccatorum.
V. Vos fugam capietis
R. Et ego vadam immolari pro vobis.
Responsory
V. Behold the hour is at hand
R. And the Son of Man shall be betrayed into the hands of sinners.
V. You shall run away
R. And I will go to be sacrificed for you.
Reflection
We begin our meditation in the quiet intimacy of prayer, asking the Lord for some share in that love which surrenders all things to the will of the Father. We find him on the brink of a suffering so immense that is beyond the comprehension of man in horror. Yet we too often magnify the suffering we experience in our own lives while making of his Holy Passion a mere story to be shared. How many times has the Lord’s prayer been on our lips, “Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me,”? For sure no one desires suffering, for to relish it makes it no suffering at all, but is our assessment of our own suffering too exaggerated to complete the prayer of Christ, “… yet not as I will, but as you will.”? In the eternal dialogue between the Father and the Son, there is but singular will, and we, who are privileged to enter into that communion, which is the love of God, pray daily, “Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven”. Yet in often deciding for ourselves how much suffering is enough to bear, we fail to truly discern the Father’s will for us. Such discernment may only be found in the silence of the prayer of the heart that calls out to God to be fed by his word. Yet our prayers are too often crowded with our own words and supplications to listen with the ears of the heart to what our Father has to say. They Way of the Cross begins with prayer, for without it all we ever do will only fulfil our own desire and will. And here, joining Christ in the Garden of Olives prostrate and empty of self before the Father, let us pray that both spirit and flesh may be willing to walk with Christ the way of his Cross.
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.
