Stations of the Cross
Walk with Jesus through his Passion, meditating on his suffering, death, and saving love for our redemption, and asking for the grace to follow him faithfully. As we pray the Stations of the Cross, we bring him our sins, burdens, families, sufferings, and the needs of the Church and the world.
Plenary IndulgenceFirst Station I
Jesus Is Condemned to Death
Genuflect and pray:
We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You, because by Your holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
Consider how Jesus was condemned to death and stood in your place and in the place of all humanity to save us from condemnation and a sentence to hell. Instead, He gives us the hope of eternal life. Thank Him.
Second Station II
Jesus Takes Up His Cross
Genuflect and pray:
We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You, because by Your holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
Consider how Jesus accepted the Cross. It was the Cross for all of humanity. As you meditate on the second station, give your cross to Jesus and ask for help to carry it. In turn, also pledge to carry your cross and bear the weight for love of Him. Thank Him.
Third Station III
Jesus Falls the First Time
Genuflect and pray:
We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You, because by Your holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
Consider how the weight of the Cross, your sins, and the sins of humanity are hard to bear, and He falls from exhaustion. But because He loves you so much, He gets up and moves on toward the fulfillment of His mission to save you. Remember, too, that you fall, but Jesus gives you the courage to confess your sins and begin again. Thank Him.
Fourth Station IV
Jesus Meets His Blessed Mother
Genuflect and pray:
We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You, because by Your holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
Consider how Jesus meets His Mother and her immense sorrow as she watches her Son endure the sins of all humanity and His tortured body struggling to complete His mission. Comfort your Blessed Mother. Offer her your service and love for all that she has done for you. Comfort Jesus as He looks upon His Mother and knows her heart is being pierced. Offer your comfort, love, and reparation for the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart. Thank Him.
Fifth Station V
Simon of Cyrene Helps Jesus Carry the Cross
Genuflect and pray:
We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You, because by Your holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
Consider how the Father provides Jesus with someone to help Him bear His Cross. Simon helps Him carry the Cross. Ask Simon to help you carry your cross as well, and let Jesus know that, like Simon, you will help Him bear the Cross. Thank Him.
Sixth Station VI
Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus
Genuflect and pray:
We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You, because by Your holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
Consider how the Father wipes His face through the hands of Veronica. Ask Veronica to help you care for others and wipe their faces as well. Ask her also to wipe your tears when you are struggling. Thank Him.
Seventh Station VII
Jesus Falls the Second Time
Genuflect and pray:
We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You, because by Your holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
Consider how Jesus, exhausted from the journey, falls again. Unite your exhaustion, tiredness, and fatigue to the second fall of Jesus and to the help He gives you in carrying your own cross. Thank Him.
Eighth Station VIII
Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem
Genuflect and pray:
We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You, because by Your holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
Consider how Jesus tells us not to weep for Him, but for your children and your children's children. Pray for your family, for your friends, for those who hate you, and for all of humanity. Thank Him.
Ninth Station IX
Jesus Falls the Third Time
Genuflect and pray:
We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You, because by Your holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
Consider how Jesus has fallen a third time and how He struggles to get up. He does not quit. His love for you pushes Him to rise once more because He wants so much for you to be happy with Him in heaven. Tell Him you are with Him as He is with you. Comfort Him as He comforts you. Thank Him.
Tenth Station X
Jesus Is Stripped of His Garments
Genuflect and pray:
We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You, because by Your holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
Consider how Jesus is stripped of His garments. Ask Jesus to strip you of yourself and your intentions and to clothe you with Himself, that you may be another humanity to carry out God's will. Thank Him.
Eleventh Station XI
Jesus Is Nailed to the Cross
Genuflect and pray:
We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You, because by Your holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
Consider how Jesus accepts being nailed to the Cross and how you can imitate Him by saying yes to whatever God asks you. Bear your own cross and be nailed to it for love of Him. Thank Him.
Twelfth Station XII
Jesus Dies on the
Cross
Genuflect and pray:
We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You, because by Your holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
Consider the Lord in His Crucifixion, and at the foot of the Cross imagine that you are offering Him up to His Father in heaven. The best gift to give to the Father is your acceptance of Jesus and then offering Him back up to Him. Ask the Blessed Virgin, St. John, and Mary Magdalen to pray for you and to offer Jesus to the Father with you. Thank Him.
Thirteenth Station XIII
Jesus Is Taken Down from the Cross
Genuflect and pray:
We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You, because by Your holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
Consider how Jesus is taken down from the Cross and laid in the arms of His Mother. Her face is distraught with sorrow. Place yourself in her arms as well, making yourself a gift to her, and resolve to “do whatever He tells you” for love of her and for the greater glory of God in time and in eternity. Thank Him.
Fourteenth Station XIV
Jesus Is Placed in the Tomb
Genuflect and pray:
We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You, because by Your holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
Consider how Jesus is placed in the tomb and all seems lost. Yet, in just three days, He rises from the dead. As you consider your own life’s journey and how things are overbearing, remember that with God all things are possible, and that “some day” you will rise again. Thank Him.
A Plenary Indulgence
The Church describes the Via Crucis as a spiritual journey in which we seek to be conformed to Christ’s Passion and learn to carry our own crosses in union with him. [1] Pope John Paul II likewise taught that praying the Stations helps us enter more deeply into the love revealed through Christ’s Cross. [2]
The Stations of the Cross are among the pious works to which the Church attaches a plenary indulgence, when the prescribed conditions are fulfilled.
An indulgence is the remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven. A plenary indulgence remits that temporal punishment completely. [3]
The indulgence may be gained:
- For yourself, or
- By applying it by way of suffrage for a deceased person.
When an indulgence is offered for a soul in Purgatory, we do not command or guarantee that the soul is released. Rather, the Church presents the indulgence to God as a prayerful suffrage, asking him to apply its fruits to that soul. The final judgment belongs to God. [3]
Conditions for a Plenary Indulgence
- Devoutly make the Stations of the Cross.Ordinarily, this means moving from station to station and prayerfully meditating on the Passion of Christ. The Stations should be made before legitimately erected stations.
- Receive sacramental Confession.
- Receive Holy Communion.
- Pray for the intentions of the Holy Father.One Our Father and one Hail Mary are sufficient, although another suitable prayer may be used. [4]
- Be free from all attachment to sin, including venial sin.This means sincerely rejecting sin and desiring to live in friendship with God. It does not mean that a person must be incapable of temptation or completely free from every imperfection. [5]
A plenary indulgence may ordinarily be gained only once each day. One sacramental Confession may serve for several plenary indulgences, but each plenary indulgence requires a separate Holy Communion and prayer for the Pope’s intentions. [3]
The Confession may be made several days before or after the indulgenced work, although Holy Communion and prayer for the Pope’s intentions are fittingly made on the same day as the Stations. [4]
If one or more of the conditions for a plenary indulgence is not fulfilled, the indulgence is ordinarily received as a partial indulgence, provided the person is at least contrite. [4]
An Invitation
This Lent—or at any time of the year—come and pray the Stations of the Cross.
Come to stand beneath the Cross with Mary, John, and the faithful women. Come to place your sins and sufferings into the hands of Christ. Come to learn again that Christian discipleship means following Jesus—not only in moments of joy, but also along the difficult roads of sacrifice, forgiveness, and perseverance.
You may offer your prayer for yourself, or for a deceased loved one:
Lord Jesus, as I walk with you through your Passion, unite my prayer to your perfect sacrifice. In your mercy, apply the fruits of this indulgenced devotion to the soul of [name], if it is your holy will. May that soul soon behold your glory and praise you forever. Amen.
Through the Stations of the Cross, we remember that the Cross was not the end. Christ’s Passion leads to his Resurrection, and those who unite themselves to him in faith and love are called to share in his victory.