The Way of the Cross with the Saints
ISBN 9781505136173
eISBN 9781505137170
eISBN 9781505137163
I was very excited when I first heard about this volume. First I will state it is an excellent volume for Lent, or any time of the year. I try and pray a Stations each Friday throughout the year and also every day during lent. Second this volume contains some of my all-time favourite Stations in a single volume. And third even though I am a huge eBook guy, but this is a beautiful physical book that I picked up and plan to pick up copies for my children.
The description of this volume is:
“There is no devotion more richly endowed with indulgences than the Way of the Cross, and none which enables us more literally to obey Christ’s call to take up our cross and follow Him.
In this new, deluxe edition from TAN Books, The Way of the Cross with the Saints will guide you to pray and atone for your sins, gain deeper understanding of Our Blessed Mother’s sorrow, contemplate Our Lord’s passion, and grow in meekness and humility as you follow Our Lord to Calvary. With rich, moving meditations and traditional prayers of the Church, this beautifully bound edition will enliven your love and devotion to Christ as you pray and contemplate His passion.
Featuring methods from St. Alphonsus Liguori, St. Francis of Assisi, St. John Henry Cardinal Newman, Bl. Anne Catherine Emmerich, and Ven. Mary of Agreda, along with timeless Lenten hymns and powerful prayers to Our Lord, this thoughtfully designed book is sure to become your family’s guide for Lenten meditations on the passion, death, and resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ.”
We are informed on the copyright page states:
“This edition is a compilation of various sources published by TAN Books. These works under TAN Books’ copyright include Way of the Cross According to St. Francis of Assisi, Way of the Cross According to St. Alphonsus Liguori, and Stations of the Cross According to St. John Henry Cardinal Newman.”
The sections and chapters and sections in this volume are:
Editor’s Note
The Way of the Cross with the Saints
Preparatory Prayer
Prayer to the Shoulder Wound of Jesus
The Prayer to the Shoulder Wound of Jesus
St. Francis of Assisi
St. Alphonsus Liguori
St. John Henry Cardinal Newman
Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich
Venerable Mary of Jesus of Ágreda
Final Prayers
Stabat Mater
Prayers for Meditation Following the Way of The Cross
Act of Resignation
Adoramus Te Christi
Prayer Before The Crucifix
Anima Christi
The Jesus Prayer
Prayer to Jesus Crucified
Prayer to The Wounded Side Of Jesus
How to Gain a Partial or Plenary Indulgence
Appendix Traditional Hymns Sung during Lent and Passiontide
Endnotes
I highlighted 2 passages while working through this volume:
“In this special edition, we’ve compiled The Way of the Cross according to the methods of three spiritual masters: St. Francis of Assisi, St. Alphonsus Liguori, and St. John Henry Cardinal Newman, along with the mystical visions of Bl. Anne Catherine Emmerich and Ven. Mary of Jesus of Ágreda.”
“With these saints as our guide, we can begin our journey to breaking free from worldly things and self-centeredness. We can begin our journey to humility and meekness as we follow in the footsteps of Our Lord. We can begin to ease our restless hearts as we find our true rest in Him.”
Below is a sample station for each of those in the volume
St. Francis of Assisi
“Third Station
JESUS FALLS THE FIRST TIME
O quam tristis et afflicta
Fuit ilia benedicta
Mater Unigeniti!
THIRD STATION
JESUS FALLS THE FIRST TIME
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee,
(Genuflect)
R. Because by Thy holy cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
Priest: Our dear Savior, carrying the cross, was so weakened by its heavy weight as to fall exhausted to the ground. Our sins and misdeeds were the heavy burden which oppressed Him: the cross was to Him light and sweet, but our sins were galling and insupportable.
People: O my Jesus, Thou did bear my burden and the heavy weight of my sins. Should I, then, not bear in union with Thee, my easy burden of suffering and accept the sweet yoke of Thy commandments? Thy yoke is sweet and Thy burden is light: I therefore willingly accept it. I will take up my cross and follow Thee.
Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory Be.
V. Lord Jesus, crucified,
R. Have mercy on us!
All: O, how sad and sore distressed
Was that Mother highly blessed
Of the sole-begotten One!”
St. Alphonsus Liguori
“Third Station
JESUS FALLS THE FIRST TIME
O quam tristis et afflicta
Fuit illa benedicta
Mater Unigeniti!
THIRD STATION
Jesus falls the First Time
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee,
(Genuflect)
R. Because by Thy holy cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
Priest: Consider this first fall of Jesus under His cross. His flesh was torn by the scourges, His head crowned with thorns, and He had lost a great quantity of blood. He was so weakened that He could scarcely walk, and yet He had to carry this great load upon His shoulders. The soldiers struck Him rudely, and thus He fell several times in His journey.
People: My beloved Jesus, it is not the weight of the cross, but of my sins, which has made Thee suffer so much pain. Ah, by the merits of this first fall, deliver me from the misfortune of falling into mortal sin. I love Thee, O my Jesus, with my whole heart; I repent of having offended Thee. Never permit me to offend Thee again. Grant that I may love Thee always; and then do with me what Thou wilt.
Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory Be.
All: O, how sad and sore distressed
Was that Mother highly blessed
Of the sole-begotten One!”
St. John Henry Cardinal Newman
“The Third Station
JESUS FALLS THE FIRST TIME BENEATH THE CROSS
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.
R. Quia per sanctam Crucem tuam redemisti mundum.
V. We adore Thee O Christ and we praise Thee.
(Genuflect)
R. Because by Thy Holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
Jesus, bowed down under the weight and the length of the unwieldy Cross, slowly sets forth on His way, amid the mockeries and insults of the crowd. His agony in the Garden itself was enough to exhaust Him! Yet, it was only the first of many sufferings. He sets off with His whole heart, but His limbs fail Him, and He falls.
Yes, it is as I feared. Jesus, the strong and mighty Lord, has found for the moment our sins stronger than Himself. He falls—yet He bore the load for a while; He tottered, but He bore up and walked onwards. What, then, made Him give way? I say, I repeat, it is an intimation and a memory to you, O my soul, of your falling back into mortal sin. I repented of the sins of my youth and went on well for a time; but at length a new temptation came, when I was off my guard, and I suddenly fell away. Then all my good habits seemed to go at once; they were like a garment which is stripped off, so quickly and utterly did grace depart from me. And at that moment I looked at my Lord, and lo! He had fallen down, and I covered my face with my hands and remained in a state of great confusion.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be.
V. Have Mercy upon us O Lord.
R. Have Mercy on us.
May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.”
Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich
“The Third Station
Jesus Falls the First Time
Excerpt
Leader: “Just here, where the street begins to ascend, there was a hollow place often filled, after a rain, with mud and water. In it, as in many such places in the streets of Jerusalem, lay a large stone to facilitate crossing. Poor Jesus, on reaching this spot with His heavy burden, could go no farther. The executioners pulled Him by the cords and pushed Him unmercifully. Then did the Divine Cross-bearer fall full length on the ground by the projecting stone, His burden at His side. The drivers, with curses, pulled Him and kicked Him.” (246)
Reflection
Leader: Jesus is exhausted, in unimaginable pain, shuffling His feet along to accomplish the Father’s will. Jesus, carrying the heavy weight of the cross, becomes stuck in the mud and stumbles over the stone in the pathway. It is easy for anyone to fall or stumble, but much easier in Jesus’s condition. In our lives, we will have our falls, not just literally, but the little stumbles along the path of Christian discipleship. Like Jesus, we will need to garner our strength, pick up the cross, and continue on our way.
Prayer
All: By the grace of Jesus’s first fall, O Lord, help me to follow the gospel without stumbling. Amen.”
Venerable Mary of Jesus of Ágreda
“The Third Station
Jesus falls the first time
Excerpt
Leader: “The executioners, bare of all human compassion and kindness, dragged our Savior Jesus along with incredible cruelty and insults. Some of them jerked Him forward by the ropes in order to accelerate His passage, while others pulled from behind in order to retard it. On account of this jerking and the weight of the Cross, they caused Him to sway to and from and often to fall to the ground.” (656)
Reflection
Leader: Jesus falls to the ground because of the way His executioners treat and torment Him. The cross becomes heavy, yes, because the wood is heavy, but because my sins make it heavy too. What does Jesus think of when He falls underneath the cross? He thinks of me. His passion was for me.
Prayer
All: Jesus, my words and prayers cannot begin to express how sorry I am for what You endured. Please let me never forget how You were treated and help me to never treat You or another person like that ever again. Amen.”
I hope those samples of the third station give you a feel for this volume. This is an excellent collection of versions of this devotion. The top three are among my favourites and are ones I return to often. The last 2 were new to me and I greatly enjoyed them. The formatting on the eBook version is great, and the physical edition is stunning.
This would be a great gift book, or pick it up for your personal use or use as a family. A wonderful new prayer book from TAN that I can easily recommend.
