The Seventh Station: Jesus Falls the Second Time
Jesus Falls a Second Time
Scripture: It was our weaknesses that He carried, our sufferings that He endured, while we thought of Him as stricken, as One struck by God and afflicted. But He was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins, Upon Him was the punishment that makes us whole, by His stripes we were healed. We had all gone astray like sheep, each following his own way; but the Lord laid upon Him the guilt of us all.
Though he was harshly treated, He submitted and opened not His mouth; Like a lamb led to the slaughter or a sheep before the shearers, He was silent and uttered no cry (Is.53:4-7).
From a sculpture based on the Shroud of Turin
Meditation: From Book 2, Chapter 12, of The Imitation of Christ
Do you think you can escape what no mortal has been able to avoid? Which of the saints in the world has been without the cross and tribulation? For not even Jesus Christ our Lord was one hour without the anguish of His Passion, so long as He lived: ”It was fitting for The Messiah to suffer,” He said, “and to rise from the dead, and so enter into His glory (Luke 24:46).” And how do you seek another way than this royal Way, which is the Way of the Holy Cross?
Pray: Wonderful Jesus, I praise and glorify You for Your difficult and troublesome setting out on that most unusual journey, which You undertook for us. I praise You for each and every step You took on Your Way, for the great weariness Your Body felt – already weakened by torture- and for the hardship You endured in going up and down that winding road under the burden of Your Cross…Bent over and weighed down under that insupportable burden, You made Your Way to the place called Calvary. Never before had You made such a journey! Never before had you walked so rough a road. Never before had You carried such a yoke! You would have endured this if I alone were the only person in need of Your salvation.Amen (From Chapter 17 of “On the Passion of Christ According to the Four Evangelists, by Thomas a’Kempis, Ignatius Press, 2004).