THE TENTH STATION
Jesus is crucified
AntiphonaPopule meus quid feci tibi? Ego te exaltavi magna virtute: et tu me suspendisti in patibulo Crucis. Ego te excelsiorem feci cunctis gentibus; et tu me saturasti opprobriis et maledictis. Quid ultra debui tibi facere, et non feci?
Antiphon
O my people, what have I done to you? I exalted you with great power, and you now hang me on the gibbet of the Cross; I made you higher than all nations, and you have loaded me with reproaches and curses. What could I have done for thee, that I have not done?
Kyrie eleison.
Christe eleison.
Kyrie eleison.
Pater noster ...
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Our Father ...
Luke 23: 33-34
When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him and the criminals there, one on his right, the other on his left. Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do."
Responsoria
V. Quid sunt plagae istae in medio manuum tuarum?
R. His plagatus sum in domo eorum, qui diligebant me.
V. Foderunt manus meas et pedes meos.
R. Et dinumeraverunt omnia ossa mea.
Responsory
V. What are these wounds in the middle of thy hands?
R. With them was I wounded in the house of those who loved me.
V. They pierced my hands and my feet.
R. And have numbered all my bones.
Reflection
We reach the very heart of redemptive suffering as Jesus is nailed to the Cross and looks upon those who have crucified him. Here, Christ suffers directly as a result of the sin of his executioners. There can be no doubt that he suffers innocently and no doubt of their guilt. Their actions cry out for justice but Christ offers his suffering as their justification in the sight of the Father as he prays, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” We do not know the fate of these men who gambled for the clothing of the man they had just hung up to die. But of one thing we can be certain: if at the end of their days they were denied heaven, it was not for crucifying Our Lord. This is redemptive suffering – a suffering that is embraced with all its pain so that the one who is the cause of the pain should not suffer for inflicting it. This is true love; this is God’s mercy and the nature of true forgiveness. Too often do we forgive with imperfect love and still harbour the desire for justice, for the one who causes hurt to share at least some part of the suffering they have inflicted. Yet we to whom forgiveness has been given in perfect love should aspire to embrace that same suffering love which turns justice into justification.
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.
