THE NINTH STATION
Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem
Antiphona
Videte, omnes populi,
si est dolor similis sicut dolor meus.
O vos omnes, qui transitis per viam, attendite, et videte
si est dolor similis sicut dolor meus.
Antiphon
See, O all ye people,
if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow.
O all ye that pass by, behold and see
if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow.
Kyrie eleison.
Christe eleison.
Kyrie eleison.
Pater noster ...
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Our Father ...
Luke 23: 27-31
A large crowd of people followed Jesus, including many women who mourned and lamented him. Jesus turned to them and said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep instead for yourselves and for your children, for indeed, the days are coming when people will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed.' At that time, people will say to the mountains, ‘Fall upon us!' and to the hills, ‘Cover us!' for if these things are done when the wood is green what will happen when it is dry?"
Responsoria
V. Domine Deus virtutum converte nos.
R. Et ostende faciem tuam, et salvi erimus.
V. Ne avertas faciem tuam a nobis.
R. Et ne declines in ira a servis tuis.
Responsory
V. O Lord God of Hosts, turn to us.
R. Show us your face, and we shall be saved.
V. Turn not away your face from us.
R. Nor leave your servants in your anger.
Reflection
There was a time when we would take out our frustrations on the people closest to us. Today, with the advent of social media, the whole world can be a source of sympathy. Those of us who, quite wisely, do not share each of life’s ups and downs with our cyber acquaintances, often treat with suspicion those who actively seek sympathy through their online ramblings, and rightly so. There is something troubling about the motives of those who seek acclaim in the face of suffering. In all good that we endeavour to do, we are told not to seek attention for ourselves. From prayer in the quiet of our private rooms to fasting without a sombre appearance, we are taught that a desire for recognition stands in contradiction to the genuine desire to please God. What more, then, in the acceptance of suffering, should we never seek out nor delight in sympathy, nor seek to arouse pity in others. Along the Via Dolorosa, would we look to the lamenting crowds and weeping women for affirmation and receive their consolation as adulation? Would that be suffering at all, let alone suffering in the pattern of Christ?
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.
