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"O my Jesus,
thank You for the book which You have opened before my soul’s eyes. That book is Your Passion which You underwent for love od me. It is from this book that I have learned how to love God and souls. In this book there are found for us inexhaustible treasures. O Jesus, how few souls understand You in Your martyrdom of love!" (Diary 304). |
THE WAY OF THE CROSS
Elaborated on the basis
of Father Michael Sopocko PhD fragments of the book
GOD’S MERCY IN HIS WORKS
THE FIRST STATION
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JESUS IS CONDEMNED TO DEATH
"I am ashamed, O Lord, to stand before Thy holy face, for I am so unlike Thee.
So greatly didst Thou suffer for me during the scourging that this alone would have caused Thy death, but for the will of the Heavenly Father, and His inexorable sentence that Thou shouldst die on the cross. Yet I find it hard to bear with the trifling faults and human frailties of those I live with, and of my neighbors. Thou, in Thy Mercy, didst pour out Thy blood for me, and I find any sacrifice or act of kindness a burden.
Thou, with ineffable patience, and in silence, didst bear the pain of the scourging,
and I groan and complain if I have to put up with some slight injury from my neighbor"
(Vol. II, p.103).LORD, HELP ME TO FOLLOW YOU WITH CONFIDENCE
THE SECOND STATION
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JESUS CARRIES HIS CROSS
"With deep compassion I will follow Jesus. I will bear patiently any little trouble that comes my way today, in honor of His journey to Golgotha. Why, it is for me that He is going to His death! It is for my sins that He is suffering! How can I be indifferent to this? Thou dost not ask of me, Lord, that I should bear Thy heavy cross with Thee, but that
I should bear my small, everyday crosses patiently. Up to now I have not done so.
I resolve that whatever Thou wilt in Thy Mercy lay upon me, I will accept with trust,
and bear with love" (Vol. II, p. 119).
LORD, HELP ME TO FOLLOW YOU WITH CONFIDENCE
THE THIRD STATION
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JESUS FALLS THE FIRST TIME BENEATH THE CROSS
"O Lord, Thou hast taken on Thyself a terrible burden - the sins of the of the whole world and of all ages. (...) And so Thy strength gives out! Thou canst carry the load no longer, but dost fall under it. O Lamb of God, who in Thy Mercy takes away the sins of the world by the weight of Thy cross, take from me the heavy weight of my sins, and light in me the fire of Thy love, whose flame may never be extinguished"
(Vol. II, p. 123).
LORD, HELP ME TO FOLLOW YOU WITH CONFIDENCE
THE FOURTH STATION
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JESUS MEETS HIS MOTHER
"Holy Mother, Virgin Mother, let me too share the pain in thy Heart! I love thee, sorrowful Mother, walking the same road as that trodden by thy beloved Son - the road of shame and humiliation, the road contempt and revilings. Engrave me on thine Immaculate Heart and, being as thou art. The Mother of Mercy, win for me this grace - that I may not falter as I follow Jesus and thee on that thorny road to Calvary which God in His Mercy has marked out for me too" (Vol. II, p. 126).
LORD, HELP ME TO FOLLOW YOU WITH CONFIDENCE
THE FIFTH STATION
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SIMON OF CYRENE HELPS JESUS TO CARRY CROSS
"To me, as to Simon, the cross is a bitter thing. By nature I shrink from it,
but circumstances compel me to come to terms with it. I will try henceforth to bear
my cross in the same dispositions in which Our Lord bore His. Following the example
of the merciful Saviour, I will carry the cross for my sins, for the sins of others,
and for the souls in purgatory. I shall thus be walking the royal road of Christ,
and will not swerve from it even when a mocking, hostile crowd surrounds me"
(Vol. II p. 129).
LORD, HELP ME TO FOLLOW YOU WITH CONFIDENCE
THE SIXTH STATION
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VERONICA WIPES THE FACE OF JESUS
"Our Lord now no longer suffers, so I cannot give Him a kerchief with which to wipe away His blood and sweat. But the suffering Saviour lives on in His Mystical Body,
in His brethren burdened with the cross - the sick, the dying, the poor and those in want, who still need a kerchief to wipe away the sweat. For He said: "As long as you did it for one of these, the least of my brethren, you did it for me"( Matt. 25:40). I will stand then, beside my sick or dying neighbor with true love and patience, to wipe away his sweat, to strengthen and cheer him" (Vol. II, p. 132).
LORD, HELP ME TO FOLLOW YOU WITH CONFIDENCE
THE SEVENTH STATION
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JESUS FALLS THE SECOND TIME
"O Lord (...) being so, how canst Thou still bear with me, a sinner, who daily offends Thee by innumerable venial sins? I can only explain it by the greatness of Thy Mercy in still giving me time for amendment. Enlighten me, O Lord, with the light of Thy grace, that I may know all my transgressions and evil inclinations, which led to Thy second fall beneath the cross, and that I may henceforth systematically uproot them" (Vol. II, p. 136).
LORD, HELP ME TO FOLLOW YOU WITH CONFIDENCE
THE EIGHT STATION
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JESUS COMFORTS THE WEEPING WOMEN
"For me, too, there is a time of God’s Mercy - a limited time. When that time is past, there will follow the hour of justice of which Our Lord spoke warningly. (...) I am burdened with many sins, so that I wither and dry up with fear; but I will follow in Christ’s footsteps, my heart will be pierced with sorrow for my sins, and I will, in this life, try to do justice by making the sincere penance. To this penance excites me the infinite Mercy of Jesus, Who has changed the crown of glory to the crown of the thorns and come out to look after me and when He found me He hugged me to His heart" (Vol. II, p. 139).
LORD, HELP ME TO FOLLOW YOU WITH CONFIDENCE
THE NINTH STATION
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JESUS FALLS THE THIRD TIME
"It is for me that Jesus suffers, for me He falls under the cross! Where should I be today but for these sufferings of the Saviour(...) Everything, then, that we have today, everything ( in the supernatural sense) that we are, we owe only to thy Passion of Our Lord. Even the carrying of the cross counts for nothing without grace. It is the Saviour’s Passion, and that alone, which makes our repentance meritorious, and our penance effective. Only His Mercy, revealed in the three falls, is the guarantee of my salvation"
(Vol. II, p.142).LORD, HELP ME TO FOLLOW YOU WITH CONFIDENCE
THE TENTH STATION
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JESUS IS STRIPPED OF HIS GAMENTS
"During this terrible mystery, Our Lady was present, and saw everything, heard everything, noted everything. We may imagine her anguish as she saw her Son put to such deep shame in His blood - drenched nakedness, and tasting the bitter drink - to whose bitterness I add by my lack of restraint in eating and drinking. I now want - and, with the help of God’s grace, resolve - to practice prudent mortifications in this respect, that the nakedness of my soul may not offend the eyes of Our Lord or His Immaculate Mother" (Vol. II, p. 145).
LORD, HELP ME TO FOLLOW YOU WITH CONFIDENCE
THE ELEVENTH STATION
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JESUS IS NAILED TO THE CROSS
"Let us stand in spirit on Golgotha, beneath Our Lord’s cross, and consider the terrible scene. The Saviour hangs between heaven and earth, outside the town, cast forth by His own people - hangs there like a criminal, between two criminals - the picture of utter wretchedness, dereliction and suffering. But He is like a leader who conquers
the nations, not with a sword, not by force of arms, but with the cross; not to destroy,
but to save them. For the Saviour’s cross was to be, ever after, the instrument of God’s glory, of justice and infinite Mercy" (Vol. II, p. 150).
LORD, HELP ME TO FOLLOW YOU WITH CONFIDENCE
THE TWELFTH STATION
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JESUS DIES ON THE CROSS
"No one present at this sacrificial act followed it with such wonderful and appropriate feelings and thoughts as the Mother of Mercy. Just as, at the conception and nativity,
she stood for the whole of humanity, adoring and ardently loving the Lord of Hosts,
so at her Son’s death she adored the lifeless body hanging on the cross, mourned over
it from the bottom of her heart, but at the same time remembered her adopted children. The representatives of those children were the Apostle John and the dying thief - the thief who had only just been converted, and for whom she had interceded with her Son. Intercede for me too, O Mother of Mercy; remember me too, when, in my agony, I commend my soul to the Father" (Vol. II, p. 195).LORD, HELP ME TO FOLLOW YOU WITH CONFIDENCE
THE THIRTEENTH STATION
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JESUS IS TAKEN DOWN FROM THE CROSS
"Most merciful Saviour, can any heart resist the overwhelming, overpowering eloquence with which Thou speakest to us by the innumerable wounds of Thy dead body as it rests on the bosom of Thy Sorrowful Mother? (...) any act of Thine would have sufficed to reconcile Divine justice and make satisfaction for our sins. But Thou didst choose this mode of Redemption, to show us the great value of our souls and Thy fathomless Mercy, so that even the greatest sinner might come to Thee with trust and contrition and receive forgiveness, as the dying thief received it long ago"
(Vol. II, p. 208).
LORD, HELP ME TO FOLLOW YOU WITH CONFIDENCE
THE FOURTEENTH STATION
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JESUS IS LAID IN THE TOMB
"Mother of Mercy, who didst choose me for thy child, that I might become the brother
of Jesus - Jesus whom thou mournest, after laying Him in the tomb (...) Do not look at my weakness, instability and carelessness, which I deplore unceasingly and now firmly renounce. But remember the will of Our Lord, who put me under thy protection. Fulfill, then, mission towards me, unworthy as I am; apply the Saviour’s graces to my weakness, and be to me always the Mother of Mercy!" (Vol. II, p.224).
LORD, HELP ME TO FOLLOW YOU WITH CONFIDENCE
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THE RESURRECTION OF LORD JESUS
"Our Lord’s resurrection was the crown set on the life and work of the world’s Saviour".
"That which the Saviour had begun on Mount Tabor, was now a reality; He clothed Himself in His body, in glory and beauty; He spiritualized it completly, making it subtle and penetrable, and wholly obedient to His will. (...) We, too, long for the glorified life, for a spiritualized body, for the spiritualizing of external forms. We long for our own Easter; we long for our souls to win the victory over the lower impulses of the body,
"Shall we rise again? To acquire the certainty of that truth, let us remember that it is
and so to attain eternal happiness" (Vol. II, p. 227).
a dogma of our faith: "The resurrection of the body". We should begin by "rising again" spiritually, even in this life (...) There are those who are spiritually dead, and who might be considered living corpses. To such a person. Scripture says: "Thou hast the name of being alive, and thou art dead (...) For I do not find thy works complete before my god" (Apoc. 3: 1-2). Everyone is dead who lives, works and produces results only for the world, and who seeks worldly glory. This is the tragedy of earthly life, worldly life, the life of unbelievers" (Vol. II, p. 231)."It is impossible for eternal life to grow out of a life that is empty and idle, a life which ignores the spirit - just as it is impossible for an oak to grow from an empty acorn. That is why, while I am still on earth, I must lead a life modeled on that of eternity - in other words, a supernatural life. I must, then, think, wish, suffer, struggle, rejoice and love according to the principles of faith" (Vol. II, p. 234)."And you also bear witness" (John 15: 27). These words, addressed to the Apostles, apply also to me. I am to bear witness to Christ by my life and daily behavior, and this witness must be one of virtue and holiness, a witness in word and deed, perhaps a witness of blood and martyrdom, but at least a witness of mercy towards the souls and bodies of my neighbors. I know that of myself I am incapable of this. Then Holy Spirit, help me! I am conscious of the fact that I must be bear witness, but without Thy inspiration, I cannot. Create in me, then, a new spirit! Let the light of Thy heavenly glory fall on my face! Give me wings, that I may soar up to the joy above! Help me to "launch out into the deep", that my boat may not founder by the shore" (Vol. II, p.18). (see The Shroud of Turin)
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