PRIESTLY STATIONS OF THE CROSS
PREPARATORY PRAYER
O God Almighty Father, with the grace of the Holy Spirit, I want to accompany your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, Priest and Victim, on the way of the cross, contemplating his offering and surrender, his sacrifice and consecration for the sanctification of priests. Hear my prayer for them and for all who are preparing for priestly ordination, that they may offer and give themselves, sacrifice and sanctify themselves and be consecrated as “other Christs,” and that your Church may receive life and holiness through them. Through Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Amen.
Station I – Jesus is Condemned to Death
Lord, today you are condemned in those priests who are despised and even brought to death. Grant that I may make reparation for the outrages you receive in them by showing respect, obedience, and love for the priesthood you have entrusted to them. Our Father.
Station II – Jesus Carries the Cross
In embracing the cross you took upon yourself the burden that your priests were to bear. Lord, may they be able to bear their cross, in you and in yours, for the cross is and always will be the mark and guarantee of the priesthood that was consummated in you and that will be fulfilled in them. Our Father.
Station III – Jesus Falls the First Time
Under the weight of the wood and pressed to the ground, you rise, O Lord. Do not let your priests, who are also burdened with our miseries, fall. Encourage them in their weaknesses. Protect those who are preparing for the priesthood, that they may reach the altar with you. Our Father
Station IV – Jesus Meets His Afflicted Mother
Mother, your gaze relieved the suffering of Christ the Priest who was going up to Calvary. Grant that our holy life may stimulate priests to be faithful and that seminarians may be sustained in their vocation under your merciful gaze. Our Father
Station V – Simon of Cyrene Helps Jesus
They looked for one who would help you carry the cross to the end. Lord, when the weight of the cross oppresses your priests until they feel they cannot reach the end, grant that we be given to help carry their cross, that all together may reach your altar. Our Father.
Station VI – Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus
The woman who wiped your face held your “true icon” in her hands. As you are the image of the Father, so priests are your image in the Church. O Jesus, may our prayers help them to be configured to you and form your image also in our hearts. Our Father.
Station VII – Jesus Falls the Second Time
Lord, once again you fall under the weight of the cross and of our sins. But with love you rise with the readiness of the Good Shepherd. May your strength and the trust they have placed in you always lift up your priests, for you have put your trust in them. Our Father
Station VIII – Jesus Speaks to the Women of Jerusalem
In spite of suffering and affliction, you forget yourself in order to comfort those mothers and women who felt compassion for you. Lord, only Master, may your priests attain self-forgetfulness in favor of the portion of the Church entrusted to them. Our Father.
Station IX – Jesus Falls the Third Time
Once again you fall to the ground. O Jesus, when your priests, wearied and tired by apostolic effort, are no longer able to go on, remember them so that, once again on their feet, they may follow you ever more closely. Receive my life for them so that they may reach Calvary with you. Our Father.
Station X – Jesus is Stripped of His Garments
They stripped you of your clothes, your last possession. Lord, may all priests, as your true disciples, living detached and generous lives with your word, in worship, sanctification, and with pastoral care, sanctify their brothers. Our Father.
Station XI – Jesus is Nailed to the Cross
In docility, you stretched out your arms on the cross in an expression of your love; it is our sign of salvation. Grant to your Church, O Lord, holy and wise priests, that they may inspire us in word and deed to esteem and give thanks for the cross for the redemption of the world. Our Father
Station XII – Jesus Dies on the Cross
Christ, High Priest, on the altar of the cross, you have consummated your offering and given your life so that we may have life. May your priests transmit your life to the world, as they share in your unique priesthood. Give them grace to know how and the desire to immolate themselves daily with you. Our Father.
Station XIII – Jesus is Taken Down From the Cross
In your virginal hands, Mother of Christ the Priest, is placed the immolated
Victim, our Lord, Shepherd, and Lamb. Guard, O Mother, your priestly sons
until, having consummated the sacrifice of their lives, you may receive them and
present them, with Christ, before the Father. Our Father.
Station XIV – Jesus is Laid in the Tomb
Lord, your Body remains in the tomb awaiting the resurrection that fills the Passover of the new creation with Life and Holiness. May your priests leave with their lives a path of grace and holiness so that we may reach you in glory. Our Father.
Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be, for the intentions of the Pope.
CLOSING PRAYER
O Jesus, Eternal Priest who offered yourself on the cross to the Father as a propitiatory Victim for our redemption and continue to offer yourself on the altar through your priests, sanctify them in truth so that, united to you, Priest and Victim, in their service to the Church, they may sanctify us for the glory of God. Amen.
You can download the Via Crucis in PDF format, print it and invite more mothers to pray for the priests: ENGLISH Priestly Via Crucis