THE SIXTH STATION
Jesus is scourged and crowned with thorns
Antiphona
Humiliavit semetipsum Dominus noster Iesus Christus usque ad mortem, mortem autem Crucis, propter quod et Deus exaltavit illum et donavit illi nomen, quod est super omne nomen.
Antiphon
Our Lord Jesus Christ humbled himself unto death, even the death of the cross; for which cause God also has exalted him, and has given him a name which is above all names.
Kyrie eleison.
Christe eleison.
Kyrie eleison.
Pater noster ...
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Our Father ...
John 19: 1-3
Then Pilate took Jesus and had him scourged. And the soldiers wove a crown out of thorns and placed it on his head, and clothed him in a purple cloak, and they came to him and said,"Hail, King of the Jews!" And they struck him repeatedly.
Responsoria
V. Ipse vulneratus est propter iniquitates nostras.
R. Attritus est propter scelera nostra.
V. Disciplina pacis nostrae super eum.
R. Et livore eius sanati sumus.
Responsory
V. He was branded for our iniquities.
R. He was bruised for our sins.
V. The chastisement of our peace was upon him.
R. And by his bruises we are healed.
Reflection
We have, at once, been desensitised to pain and protected from it by a world with such disparity that we have become voyeurs of suffering while self-medicating our own physical, mental, and spiritual hardship to the point that we have become numb. The anguish of the Passion was real and its pain beyond our comprehension, yet Christ endured it without complaint. There is no suffering on our part that can compare, and yet our pain threshold has been so lowered that we are wont to complain to God over mere trifles. The great blessing that comes with modern standards of living, which mitigate the suffering of the more fortunate, is only a blessing if, when unavoidable suffering hits, we remain strong in our faith and persevere. But many turn to God in their suffering looking not for strength but for remedy, and when an end to their suffering does not come, they rile against God. Following the Way of the Cross demands endurance that is never beyond our capacity to sustain because we walk it with Christ, strengthened by his grace. Without Christ suffering is meaningless, plunging the victim into a black hole of self-pity and despair. But with Christ there is hope, and that hope gives meaning; a meaning that draws us beyond ourselves, beyond the pain, into the arms of the Risen Lord.
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.
